[happyrock]

look in the bios...is your hard drive listed...
while your in the bios.... set the bios to fail-safe...it may also be called default or optimized ...save your settings and reboot...
try booting to the rc.iso again... get screenshots of each step...

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Yes, BIOS sees HDD (as per shots in early replies to this thread), but shows it as RAID.

...BIOS sees the HDD, and when I used Puppy Linux to copy some data files to USB, Puppy Linux saw the HDD... What do I do to get RC to see it?

Not sure why it does, thought I had a SATA drive. So, I just pulled up the invoice from Alienware, which specs the purchase as:

[1] Area-51® m5750

• Processor: Intel® Core™ Duo Processor T2500 2.0GHz 2MB Cache 667MHz FSB
• Operating System (Office software not included): Genuine Microsoft® Windows® XP Professional with Service Pack 2
• Display: Alienware® m5750 17" WideXGA+ 1440 x 900 LCD
• Motherboard: Alienware® Intel® 945PM + ICH7 Chipset
• Memory: 2GB Dual Channel DDR2 SO-DIMM at 667MHz - 2 x 1024MB
• Hard Drive: Single Drive Configuration - 100GB Serial ATA 1.5Gb/s 7,200 RPM w/ NCQ & 8MB Cache
• Primary CD ROM/DVD ROM: 8X Dual Layer DVD+/-RW / 24X CD-RW Combo w/Software
• Video/Graphics Card: 256MB ATI Mobility™ Radeon® X1800
• Sound Card: Intel® 7.1 High-Definition Audio
• Wireless Network Card: Internal Intel® PRO Wireless 3945 a/b/g Mini-Card
• Communications: Integrated 10/1000Mb Gigabit Ethernet & 56K V.92 Modem

Yes, I upgraded to a larger HDD than what's in the above spec, but it's still SATA. Upgrade wasn't done recently - it's been running on the upgraded HDD for a year or more.

Please see attached PDF. (Pardon the low quality, working within 500k for high content is a challenge.)

Attached Files

•  Happyrock_1_4_2010a2.pdf   317.96KB   117 downloads

Edited by Rinnie, 04 January 2010 - 11:28 PM.

[Rinnie]

Yes, BIOS sees HDD (as per shots in early replies to this thread), but shows it as RAID.

...BIOS sees the HDD, and when I used Puppy Linux to copy some data files to USB, Puppy Linux saw the HDD... What do I do to get RC to see it?

Not sure why it does, thought I had a SATA drive. So, I just pulled up the invoice from Alienware, which specs the purchase as:

[1] Area-51® m5750

• Processor: Intel® Core™ Duo Processor T2500 2.0GHz 2MB Cache 667MHz FSB
• Operating System (Office software not included): Genuine Microsoft® Windows® XP Professional with Service Pack 2
• Display: Alienware® m5750 17" WideXGA+ 1440 x 900 LCD
• Motherboard: Alienware® Intel® 945PM + ICH7 Chipset
• Memory: 2GB Dual Channel DDR2 SO-DIMM at 667MHz - 2 x 1024MB
• Hard Drive: Single Drive Configuration - 100GB Serial ATA 1.5Gb/s 7,200 RPM w/ NCQ & 8MB Cache
• Primary CD ROM/DVD ROM: 8X Dual Layer DVD+/-RW / 24X CD-RW Combo w/Software
• Video/Graphics Card: 256MB ATI Mobility™ Radeon® X1800
• Sound Card: Intel® 7.1 High-Definition Audio
• Wireless Network Card: Internal Intel® PRO Wireless 3945 a/b/g Mini-Card
• Communications: Integrated 10/1000Mb Gigabit Ethernet & 56K V.92 Modem

Yes, I upgraded to a larger HDD than what's in the above spec, but it's still SATA. Upgrade wasn't done recently - it's been running on the upgraded HDD for a year or more.

Please see attached PDF. (Pardon the low quality, working within 500k for high content is a challenge.)

Attached Files

•  Happyrock_1_4_2010a2.pdf   317.96KB   117 downloads

Edited by Rinnie, 04 January 2010 - 11:28 PM.

[happyrock]

go back in the bios and click on boot priority ...set the cd/dvd drive as first then the hard drive save your settings (F10) and reboot ...then try clicking on safe mode with command prompt...then type in chkdsk /r and press enter
that's a generic bios and if you read the screen on the RAID utility its says you don't have enough drives to make a RAID setup...it also says you have a SATA drive...it calls it a serial_...THEY MEAN THE SAME THING...
the default settings you set to default are only for booting off the LAN...thats not what we are looking for...the section we want should be located in the advanced section of the bios
as for the weird colors ...that's something in the bios itself...it may need to be reflashed but I do not recommend reflashing to anyone except advanced users because if its done improperly you can turn your computer into a paperweight/doorstop

[Rinnie]

BIOS does show boot priority as
1. IDE CD
2. RAID: HDD

I never changed that. Boot device priority is the onlysubmenu in this entire [generic] BIOS. There is no submenu on the Advanced menu/tab. Press F9 from this BIOS to get a popup screen to load default configuration, and it's the same screen no matter which menu you're in at the time. There are no other options. That's why I said it's a more limited BIOS than any I've ever seen before. It just so happened that I had taken a picture of that last menu for ya before I pressed F9. It didn't change the LAN settings.

Of course I have chosen Safe Mode with Command Prompt. YOU CAN'T GET THERE FROM HERE. THAT'S WHAT I'VE BEEN SAYING. As soon as you choose that (or any other option), it starts loading and then it immediately BSODs bad_pool_caller which only remains onscreen for 1 second (yes I freaking timed it) before it restarts.

Edited by Rinnie, 04 January 2010 - 11:30 PM.

[Rinnie]

Answering my own question: Yes, there is another way to boot from CD w/ something to get to a command prompt. Using Hirens boot CD, loaded Mini XP, got to command prompt that way. Chkdsk finally running.

[happyrock]

Chkdsk finally running.

after running chkdsk /r you can boot to windows...Go to Start...Run and type: eventvwr.msc press enter
When Event Viewer opens, click on Applications... then scroll down to Winlogon and double-click on it. This is the log created after running Checkdisk...copy and paste the log back here

I was going to have you use UBCD4Win as a way to run not only chkdsk but other hard drive tools...

[Rinnie]

Chkdsk found & fixed a lot, but OS still won't load. Even choosing Safe Mode with Command Prompt still BSODs before loading. Downloading UBCD4Winv350.exe, assuming it will self-extract an .iso, in which case I'll burncdcc it. Does UBCD4Win have a way to access system restore points? Since the whole ordeal was triggered by Windows updates auto-install, maybe a system restore could roll it back...?

Edited by Rinnie, 05 January 2010 - 10:50 AM.

[happyrock]

don't bother with UBCD4WIN right now
run Chkdsk /r until it no longer has to fix any errors...
if after doing that you still are unable to even boot into safe mode you will have to repair windows...
for the how to repair your operating system guides...
go here...
you have to build UBCD4WIN how to here

Edited by happyrock, 05 January 2010 - 05:02 PM.

[Rinnie]

OK, finally back to this (client deadlines derailed). Will post relevant progress.

update: chkdsk no longer finds errors, but still can't load the OS due to BSOD, so I'm moving on to the instructions for repairing windows

Edited by Rinnie, 08 January 2010 - 06:56 PM.

[Rinnie]

Can't repair XP: it's an OEM install = no hard media, and RC won't load due to RAID.

Back to square one......

[happyrock]

Can't repair XP: it's an OEM install

if you don't have a xp cd you will have to borrow one from a friend or coworker...
it has to be the same flavor of xp you have installed...IE: if you have xp pro...the one you borrow has to be xp pro...then run the repair