[spoolin2]

Getting "Error loading OS" on my new PC and have tried alot of things, still can't fix the issue. see below..

Ok I have built a new PC and it won't load windows on the new harddrive!
BIOS recognizes all drives, and I flashed the BIOS with the newest version.
Here's the problem: I have a brand new Seagate 250gig harddrive ATA100 hooked up, and I have tried to format it and load windows XP. When the system boots it shows "Error loading OS". when i boot from the XP cd it boots up in the blue windows xp screen and when it gets to "Press Enter to Setup Windows xp now", it freezes when you hit enter. I can't even get to the screen to check the partition or re-format it there. I have also tried loading Windows 98, as I hear that can help, but still didn't work. I got a little further, but it still showed errors when going through the process after pretending to reformat the harddrive. Seems some how there is not proper communication somewhere. I have also tried to format the harddrive first with the seagate software. I don't know what to do. Note: this harddrive has not been loaded on any other computer. always shows "Error loading OS" when it tries to boot up, unless it boots from a CD-rom, then it doesn't do what it should when it is supposed to communicate with the harddrive. The harddrive is a ATA100, and I know the mother board also supports SATA. but I don't think this would cause this, assuming it also supports IDE/ATA drives? I have loaded windows on other hard drives in the past. I have also tried to reformat other drives i have.

What I have done:
-Checked jumpers on drives. (harddrive is primary master, cd-rom is secondary slave)
-Flashed BIOS with newest version.
-Tried to load Windows XP and 98. no luck...
-Tried to reformat other harddrives. (a 40gig drive) no luck...

My PC specs:
-ASROCK 939socket SLI-32 motherboard
-2gig ram
-AMD 3700+ 2.2 ghtz processor
-7300GS video card
-ATX case/ATX 520watt power supply


Any advice will help. I have been reading other posts. Thanks

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Hi spoolin2...

Try it with one stick of RAM in the first slot and with the cd-rom drive jumpered and cabled as the Secondary Master. Also make sure that the cd-rom is set as first boot device in the BIOS setup.

wannabe1

[wannabe1]

Hi spoolin2...

Try it with one stick of RAM in the first slot and with the cd-rom drive jumpered and cabled as the Secondary Master. Also make sure that the cd-rom is set as first boot device in the BIOS setup.

wannabe1

[spoolin2]

Well, when it boots up from the XP cd and when I hit enter where it says "Press Enter to Setup Windows XP now" the computer restarts, where before it just froze.

[johnthunder]

Hi
If you are using a windows xp version which is earlier than the XP SP1 then XP will not read the drive as the older version can only see partitions of 137 GB or less.
Partition the drive to 2 x 125GB Partitions, you will probably be able to run the system then.
John

[spoolin2]

I had partitioned the harddrive with the Seagate CD to be 137gig. It will restarts when I hit the Enter key when trying to set up windows using my XP CD. I am using a XP CD with SP1 I have used in the past.

I reformatted the harddrive again to 125gig, and after it restarted and booted from the XP CD a second time, it gave me an error and said XP had to shutdown so it wouldn't cause any harm to my PC. The error was: DRIVER_IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL. Also said to check all my hardware/software is installed correctly...

Any thoughts?

[johnthunder]

If the error is occuring when using different drives then you can rule out that its a drive problem, the error may be caused by the other hardware.
Did you try as wannabe1 mentioned, trying a different stick of ram is an option, if you still get the same error then is probably a motherboard fault, one possibility is a faulty data connector, try putting the hard drive and cd on the same data cable, if you get the error, try it with the other one.

[AitrusSkyy]

I so had this problem 3 years back and cant remember What the... it was that fixed it, but it is relatively simple...

For starters, try these 2 items as they are the only thing that refresh my memory.

Try setting the Hard Drive and Cdrom both to CABLE SELECT setting.

Turn off boot to A: if you have one.

Then try running the instalation again. If not workable then try below.

I will think hard and try to remember what I did to fix this when it happened to me. I also think it may have something to do with a perfectly clean HD not having any boot record on it, sometimes pcs have a crap over this.

Try the cable select thing rather than primary or master...


If that fails then try the following. go to www.download.com search and download PARTITION LOGIC, burn it to a cd, itll boot just like xp will... once you get in, see if you can see your HD...

Make the free space a MAX CYLYNDER drive by defining the max cylynders it will list automatically for you. THEN CHOOSE 07 for type of drive which is NTFS ...

Then write the changes, restart, put xp cd in and try it again

Edited by AitrusSkyy, 11 August 2006 - 07:37 AM.

[spoolin2]

Well nothing has worked so far. Everytime I use the Seagate harddrive disk to format the harddrive, it only seems to do it in FAT format and says NTFS is not readable by DOS. and when I do it as NTFS it still doesn't work. I have formatted it under 136gigs and also formatted it from another computer as well. I can't install Win 98 or XP. The IDE cables are fine because i also used ones from my current PC. I might take it to someone soon to look at. I can post the last error message I got when I tried to load 98 tonight. I got closer with 98, but no cigar....

AitrusSkyy, I will try the Partition logic thing tonight.

Edited by spoolin2, 16 August 2006 - 05:34 PM.

[wannabe1]

What is the boot priority set to in BIOS?

• cd-rom
• HDD
• Floppy

[spoolin2]

Yes, that's what I first started with. This last time I just had the Cd-rom active.

[wannabe1]

During installation you need the boot priority set as I posted. Otherwise and it will go into a reboot loop when it tries to boot to the HDD after loading files.

Does your machine have a floppy drive?

[spoolin2]

I've disconnected the floppy drive.

[wannabe1]

Does it work when it's hooked up?

[spoolin2]

yes, when the floppy is hooked up it does work.

[spoolin2]

Ok, I had some PC techs look at it and they didn't figure it out either. They recommended replacing the motherboard first, then maybe the processor if that doesn't work. I should be able to do a return on the motherboard. Then I'll let you guys know how it went...