[Bad_Disease]

My system includes the following:
Asus A7N8X Deluxe w/ Athlon xp 2800+
Antec Truepower 430W
1 Samsung 512 MB DIMM
1 Corsair 512 MB DIMM
Western Digital Caviar 160 GB 7200 RPM
Asus CDRW 52X24X52
Internal Zip 250MB ATAPI
ATI Radeon 9700 Pro
Windows XP Pro w/ SP 2
Apple lcd monitor w/ usb adaptor

I recently got an error when I booted up telling me that Windows couldn't start because a file was missing or corrupted, and that I should use my Windows disk to do a repair. When I boot from the Windows disk and try to do a repair installation, my computer shuts down before I am able to make repairs. Furthermore, I am unable to detect my hard drive through my BIOS. I tried a different IDE cable from another computer to see if that was the problem, and then tried plugging in a different hard drive, but nothing showed up. After rebooting a few times, now my monitor isn't turning on, and the machine shuts down automatically a short time after turning on.

I have an older computer that I can switch parts out with, but I'm not sure where I should start. I can't get into my OS, so it looks like a hardware problem, but I'm not sure how to know if it's the motherboard, processor, power supply, or something else...

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Are you able to get into the BIOS?

If so, is your CD drive the first boot device?

If not, make it so in the BIOS - put your windows disc in the drive and let it boot from it.

I think you'll be prompted to hit any key to actually boot from the cd.

[Jonesey]

Are you able to get into the BIOS?

If so, is your CD drive the first boot device?

If not, make it so in the BIOS - put your windows disc in the drive and let it boot from it.

I think you'll be prompted to hit any key to actually boot from the cd.

[Bad_Disease]

Yes, I set the CD drive as the first boot device, and it started to load the Windows disk, but as soon as I got to the Windows XP Setup page where I can set-up, repair, or quit, the whole machine immediately turned off. It did this a couple of times, and now, when I turn the computer on, the monitor's screen isn't turning on, so I can't see anything.