I am wondering if someone will be able to help me.
About 2 weeks ago I first recieved this error message when I started up my laptop;
'PXE-E61 Media Test Failure, Check Cable' then the message 'Operating System not Found' is displayed and the laptop hangs at this message.
After about 20-25 attempts to re-start my laptop, it finally started up and worked fine. The next night the same thing happened, and again after about 20 - 25 re-starts the laptop booted up and worked fine.
I have since carried out some research on this problem and I have tried a few solutions posted on various other resources but have not had any luck in solving the problem.
The laptop is a Compaq Presario 2114EA, Intel Celeron Processor 1.9GHz (I think), 256Mb RAM, 30G HDD.
It is running Windows XP Home Edition with Service Pack 2.
The solutions I have tried so far are;
1. Checking the BIOS boot order. I have set the boot order in various orders and all fail to solve the problem. It is currently set to boot from HDD first.
2. I have reset the BIOS to the default settings and this didn't work.
3. I finally wiped the HDD and re-installed Windows XP and I am still getting the same error message.
The strange thing about this problem is that when I first enter the BIOS settings it says that it cannot detect the HDD, in other words it just says [NONE] next to the HDD description. However, if I pesist with re-starting the laptop (20-25 times) it eventually boots. If I then restart the laptop it boots up without a problem and if I enter the BIOS it shows the HDD as being detected. It's a HITACHI HDD.
From what I have read on various forums, it sounds like the HDD could be faulty or on its way out. I am wondering if there is anyone who may have any other ideas why I am receiving this error message or if there is anything else I can try to solve the problem?
Thanks.