[onelife]

Hi!
I am having a problem with my PC I have a Dell Dimension 4500 I am running window Xp I had a problem with my hard drive and I had to replace with a small 20 gig two partition hard drive. After I installed the hard drive the PC takes a long time and several different screen to boot. First I get the Dell Logo screen then after about 30 seconds I get a black screen with a message stating "Reboot and select boot device or insert boot media in selected boot device", I press Ctrl,Alt,Delete and it takes me back to the Dell logo screen for about another 30 seconds (seems longer) then to another black screen with a blinking cursor for about another 30 seconds. Then it finally goes to the Windows Xp start up screen. This all happened after I installed a diff Hard drive after the original bigger one died. As I stated before the hard drive now is small only 20 gigs with two partitions both divided equally but about 85% usage of first partiton C drive. I plan on buying another Hard drive as soon as the funds come. In the meanwhile is there anything I can do to restore the boot time and process to original?

Thank you in Advance!
Onelife

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Chkdsk is a utility designed to check the integrity of the data on a computer's hard disk drive as well as find and fix errors which could corrupt such data.

Running chkdsk on your Windows XP or 2000 system can repair minor Windows problems

There are several different methods that can be used to run chkdsk
.read them both first

1. Click the Start button then... Run
2. In the Run window's Open box... type in ... cmd
3. Click OK and an MS-DOS-style black screen will appear in a new window
4. Run chkdsk by typing one of the the following commands where the cursor is blinking...
chkdsk c: /f /r and then press ...ENTER...

typing chkdsk c... /f /r will both fix errors and recover lost data. Running chkdsk with both the /f and /r options can often take a considerable amount of time depending upon the size of your hard drive and the amount of data stored on it

OR
chkdsk c: /f and then press ...ENTER...

Typing chkdsk c: /f will only fix errors that are encountered but its much faster


5. With either command, a message will appear that says...chkdsk cannot run because the volume is in use by another process. Would you like to schedule this volume to be checked the next time the system restarts? <y/n>"
6. Type y (for "yes") and then press ...ENTER...
7. A message will appear that will say...This volume will be checked the next time the system restarts
8. Type exit and then press ...ENTER...
9. Reboot the computer as you normally would and chkdsk will automatically begin running after your reboot... While chkdsk is running you will see a light blue window with a dark blue band at the top and bottom. Chkdsk will display the specific stage it is checking as well as the percentage of completion of the stage.
You cannot do anything else on your computer while chkdsk is running. When chkdsk is finished, it will automatically reboot your computer.

[happyrock]

Chkdsk is a utility designed to check the integrity of the data on a computer's hard disk drive as well as find and fix errors which could corrupt such data.

Running chkdsk on your Windows XP or 2000 system can repair minor Windows problems

There are several different methods that can be used to run chkdsk
.read them both first

1. Click the Start button then... Run
2. In the Run window's Open box... type in ... cmd
3. Click OK and an MS-DOS-style black screen will appear in a new window
4. Run chkdsk by typing one of the the following commands where the cursor is blinking...
chkdsk c: /f /r and then press ...ENTER...

typing chkdsk c... /f /r will both fix errors and recover lost data. Running chkdsk with both the /f and /r options can often take a considerable amount of time depending upon the size of your hard drive and the amount of data stored on it

OR
chkdsk c: /f and then press ...ENTER...

Typing chkdsk c: /f will only fix errors that are encountered but its much faster


5. With either command, a message will appear that says...chkdsk cannot run because the volume is in use by another process. Would you like to schedule this volume to be checked the next time the system restarts? <y/n>"
6. Type y (for "yes") and then press ...ENTER...
7. A message will appear that will say...This volume will be checked the next time the system restarts
8. Type exit and then press ...ENTER...
9. Reboot the computer as you normally would and chkdsk will automatically begin running after your reboot... While chkdsk is running you will see a light blue window with a dark blue band at the top and bottom. Chkdsk will display the specific stage it is checking as well as the percentage of completion of the stage.
You cannot do anything else on your computer while chkdsk is running. When chkdsk is finished, it will automatically reboot your computer.

[onelife]

Happyrck
I ran the chkdsk c: /f /r as you suggested but after it was completed and the PC rebooted I still had all the same symptoms and processes that the boot process had to go to finally boot to the Windows startup screen.
Thank you for your suggestion any way maybe when I buy a newer hard drive the boot process might be fixed..Hopefully!

Thank you once again!
Onelife

[happyrock]

did it find any errors and did it fix them...

get memtest 86+ here ...this will test your memory...let it run for at least 2 hours...if you get any errors then the ram is bad and will have to be replaced...no errors after 2 hours.......then its probably good and we can try other things..
it will run until you press the escape key
the how to is here..

look in your bios and make sure UDMA is enabled for your drives..

Check to see if your computer is running in PIO mode.

open Device manager... double click on the IDE/Atapi controllers ...double click on the primary controller ... click on the Advanced settings tab and check to see what the drive is set to.... the drive should be UDMA Mode 5 or 6.

Windows XP downgrades the Ultra DMA transfer mode after receiving more than six Read/Write errors. When possible, the operating system will step down one UDMA mode at a time ...
If the mini-IDE driver for the device does not support stepping down transfer modes, or if the device is running UDMA mode 0, Windows XP will step down to PIO mode after encountering six or more CRC errors.

All timeout errors are logged in the system event log. These types of errors could be caused by improper cabling ...or a bad cable...you need a 40-pin 80 wire cable....
if you continue getting such errors it ....would indicate imminent hard drive failure..
BACKUP EVERYTHING YOU CAN'T LIVE WITHOUT NOW

To try fixing it...

Open Device Manager....Double-click IDE ATA/ATAPI Controllers to display the list of controllers

Right-click the icon for the channel to which the hard drive is connected...usually the primary... select Properties... and then click the Advanced Settings tab.

In the Current Transfer Mode drop-down box, select DMA if Available if the current setting is "PIO Only."
If the drop-down box already shows "DMA if Available" but the current transfer mode is PIO... then you must toggle the settings....

Change the selection from "DMA if available" to PIO only, and click OK.

Then repeat the steps above to change the selection to DMA if Available....

Edited by happyrck, 29 March 2008 - 07:38 AM.

[onelife]

When I ran the chkdsk c: /f /r as you suggested it did not find any errors. I will try what you suggested now as soon as I have the time....Weekend time never seems to be enough of it lol. I appreciate all your help and I will keep you posted. You are always such a big help and thankyou very much for your time!

Have a great weekend!
Onelife