[Snicklebits]

Alright so I've done a decent amount of research and messed with my pc for quite some time now. But now I'm just stuck and not sure what else I can do. It would freeze at the welcome screen. Which could be a memory issue, a bad boot.ini file, or a bad power supply. Those are the things I brought it down to anyway. I replaced the power supply, did nothing. I tried booting with one RAM stick at a time, have three. Did nothing. I tried to run a chkdsk, and repair the bad files, which it said it did, but then if you run the scan again it still finds them. I tried to do the repair install of XP, didn't work. So I flat out erased my harddrive, and installed a fresh copy of XP pro, and now when I boot up it gives me a long black screen, then gives me a message (similar look to a command prompt) saying there may be a hardware issue. Now I can't even get into the startup cd, safe mode, etc. Literally the -only- thing I have access to before the problem occurs is the BIOS. Any idea's how I progress from that?

I'm at work at the moment, so I don't know the exact error message it gives me, but I can get back to you on that if it's needed.

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Hello Snicklebits.... Welcome to
GeeksToGo,


I'm sorry to hear about your issue. We will try to help you resolve this as soon as possible.

• Please understand we are all volunteers and we are not here all the time.
• Sometimes it may be a extended amount of time to get back to you. If it has been
  more then 3 days please shoot me a PM and I will try to get back to you quickly
  then.
• Please do the following and supply the requested information as needed. If you
  don't understand my instructions please ask and I will try to explain them
  clearer for you.
• Do not attempt any steps unless instructed or ask before to
  make sure they will not cause any further issues.

I replaced the power supply,

What was old PSU and what is the new PSU?

I tried booting with one RAM stick at a time, have three. Did nothing

Have you tested the memory with something like memtest86 to see if it is bad?

tried to run a chkdsk, and repair the bad files, which it said it did, but then if you run the scan again it still finds them

Could be a sign of a failed installation or repair.

I tried to do the repair install of XP, didn't work. So I flat out erased my harddrive, and installed a fresh copy of XP pro, and now when I boot up it gives me a long black screen, then gives me a message (similar look to a command prompt) saying there may be a hardware issue.

What kind of installation disk? Retail, OEM, Downloaded, Burned, ISO, Borrowed or hacked?
We need the exact error message including any bugcheck code.

First suggestion I would say is to test the HD and memory.

[rshaffer61]

Hello Snicklebits.... Welcome to
GeeksToGo,


I'm sorry to hear about your issue. We will try to help you resolve this as soon as possible.

• Please understand we are all volunteers and we are not here all the time.
• Sometimes it may be a extended amount of time to get back to you. If it has been
  more then 3 days please shoot me a PM and I will try to get back to you quickly
  then.
• Please do the following and supply the requested information as needed. If you
  don't understand my instructions please ask and I will try to explain them
  clearer for you.
• Do not attempt any steps unless instructed or ask before to
  make sure they will not cause any further issues.

I replaced the power supply,

What was old PSU and what is the new PSU?

I tried booting with one RAM stick at a time, have three. Did nothing

Have you tested the memory with something like memtest86 to see if it is bad?

tried to run a chkdsk, and repair the bad files, which it said it did, but then if you run the scan again it still finds them

Could be a sign of a failed installation or repair.

I tried to do the repair install of XP, didn't work. So I flat out erased my harddrive, and installed a fresh copy of XP pro, and now when I boot up it gives me a long black screen, then gives me a message (similar look to a command prompt) saying there may be a hardware issue.

What kind of installation disk? Retail, OEM, Downloaded, Burned, ISO, Borrowed or hacked?
We need the exact error message including any bugcheck code.

First suggestion I would say is to test the HD and memory.

[rshaffer61]

Run hard drive diagnostics: http://www.tacktech....ay.cfm?ttid=287
Make sure, you select tool, which is appropriate for the brand of your hard drive.
Depending on the program, it'll create bootable floppy, or bootable CD.
If downloaded file is of .iso type, use ImgBurn: http://www.imgburn.com/ to burn .iso file to a CD (select "Write image file to disc" option), and make the CD bootable.

NOTE. If your hard drive is made by Toshiba, try the Hitachi DFT CD Image version of the software

Thanks to Broni for the instructions




If you have more than one RAM module installed, try starting computer with one RAM stick at a time.

NOTE Keep in mind, the manual check listed above is always superior to the software check, listed below. DO NOT proceed with memtest, if you can go with option A

B. If you have only one RAM stick installed...
...run memtest...

1. Download - Pre-Compiled Bootable ISO (.zip)
2. Unzip downloaded memtest86+-2.11.iso.zip file.
3. Inside, you'll find memtest86+-2.11.iso file.
4. Download, and install ImgBurn: http://www.imgburn.com/
5. Insert blank CD into your CD drive.
6. Open ImgBurn, and click on Write image file to disc
7. Click on Browse for a file... icon:



8. Locate memtest86+-2.11.iso file, and click Open button.
9. Click on ImgBurn green arrow to start burning bootable memtest86 CD:



10. Once the CD is created, boot from it, and memtest will automatically start to run. You may have to change the boot sequence in your BIOS to make it work right.

To change Boot Sequence in your BIOS

Reboot the system and at the first post screen (where it is counting up memory) start tapping the DEL button
This will enter you into the Bios\Cmos area.
Find the Advanced area and click Enter
Look for Boot Sequence or Boot Options and highlight that click Enter
Now highlight the first drive and follow the directions on the bottom of the screen on how to modify it and change it to CDrom.
Change the second drive to the C or Main Drive
Once that is done then click F10 to Save and Exit
You will prompted to enter Y to verify Save and Exit. Click Y and the system will now reboot with the new settings.


The running program will look something like this depending on the size and number of ram modules installed:




It's recommended to run 5-6 passes. Each pass contains very same 8 tests.

This will show the progress of the test. It can take a while. Be patient, or leave it running overnight.



The following image is the test results area:



The most important item here is the “errors” line. If you see ANY errors, even one, most likely, you have bad RAM.

[Snicklebits]

Thank you for the reply, I went home and messed around with it a bit more. Sadly the only other computer I have access to is my work pc, and we can't download things like memtest , let alone open their computers to stick a RAM stick inside.

I found out somethin interesting last night though, not sure if it will help. I have two harddrives, in the midst of trying to fix the pc I had disassembled everything and put it back together. Now this pc was custom built, but not by me. I had reconnected the harddrives to the motherboard, but didn't think the order mattered. So once reconnected, and booting the pc it will give me this message (the one you asked to see yesterday):

Windows could not start because of a computer disc hardware configuration problem. Could not read from the selected boot disc. Check boot path and disk hardware.

Please check the windows documentation about hardware disk configuration and your hardware referance manuals for additional information.

Now as I was saying above, I messed with the order in which the harddrives are connected to the motherboard. There are three slots on my motherboard to connect the harddrives to. I tried connecting only one harddrive at a time. Would get the same above error message in all the ports but the center one. If Drive C was connected to the center port, it would allow me to access the startup repair cd, but would load extremely slow. Then when it reach the screen to install/repair/exit, I would select a fresh install, but then get this message:

Setup did not find any hard disk drives installed in your computer. Make sure any hard disk drives are powered on and properly connected to your computer, and that any disk-related hardware configuration is correct. This may involve running a manufacturer-supplied diagnostic or setup program.

Setup cannot continue. To quit setup, press F3.

And I get this same message if I click "Repair". Now if I connect Drive D to the motherboard, in ANY spot, it will give me the original error message, and I cannot access the startup disc. If I have Drive C in the spots it works (center) and then connect Drive D to either of the remaining ports, it will give me the original error, even though Drive C is in the correct spot. I've tried all sorts of combinations of the two, and the only way to get to the startup disc is to have Drive C in the center port, with Drive D disconnected completely. I'm not sure if any of this helps, but just something I noticed last night.

The startup disc I have is borrowed from a friend, and is for dell computers. But my pc was made custom so I'm not sure if it can work for it. Text on top is "Operating System, re-installation cd, microsoft windows xp professional service pack 2. The text on the left says, "The software is already installed on your computer. Use this CD only to reinstall the operating system on a Dell Pc". I have a pic of it but don't think this board allows that?

Now I'm wondering if that there is my problem? Do I have the wrong disc completely since I formatted the harddrive and wiped the OS off it? Also my original OS wasn't pro, was just XP, I think 32-bit.

Thank you for all your help.

Edited by Snicklebits, 27 April 2011 - 06:42 AM.

[rshaffer61]

The startup disc I have is borrowed from a friend, and is for dell computers. But my pc was made custom so I'm not sure if it can work for it. Text on top is "Operating System, re-installation cd, microsoft windows xp professional service pack 2. The text on the left says, "The software is already installed on your computer. Use this CD only to reinstall the operating system on a Dell Pc". I have a pic of it but don't think this board allows that?

This will not work regardless. The disk will load drivers for the Dell and cause your system not to boot.

Now I'm wondering if that there is my problem? Do I have the wrong disc completely since I formatted the harddrive and wiped the OS off it? Also my original OS wasn't pro, was just XP, I think 32-bit.

You can borrow a XP Home Edition from anyone as long as you have your original reg key. If not then you will have to purchase a new version so that you have a legal copy with your own reg key.

[Snicklebits]

Alright so all I need is a new/borrowed copy of windows XP and my problems are solved? It just seems like there was something wrong with my harddrive after seeing those error messages. Also can it be any OS? Like could I upgrade to windows 7 and still be fine?

[rshaffer61]

Also can it be any OS? Like could I upgrade to windows 7 and still be fine?

How old is the system? Without knowing the specifics of the system it's hard to tell if Win7 will work.. Being a custom built system the most important part is the mobo to find out if there are Win7 drivers for it.

[Snicklebits]

Also can it be any OS? Like could I upgrade to windows 7 and still be fine?

How old is the system? Without knowing the specifics of the system it's hard to tell if Win7 will work.. Being a custom built system the most important part is the mobo to find out if there are Win7 drivers for it.

Um probably five years or so, not sure the exact date. I probably wont pick up windows 7, it was more of an example. I was just wondering if it had to be a specific operating system.

[rshaffer61]

Was XP originally loaded on it?
Did you get a sticker on the system with the original version and reg key on it?

[happyrock]

if you just want to test your hardware try puppy Linux here...get one of your friends to download it and burn you a cd image (.iso)...set the cd drive as the first boot device then boot up with the cd in the cd drive...puppy will load and run in RAM and will not write anything to the hard drive

[rshaffer61]

Are you still having problems with your issue?
It has been 20 days since your last response and I was wondering if the issue has been resolved?
If so can you explain how it was resolved so others may be able to fix it if they have the same issue.
If not please let us know and we can continue with helping you to resolve the issue.

[rshaffer61]

Are you still having problems with your issue?
It has been 37 days since your last response and I was wondering if the issue has been resolved?
If so can you explain how it was resolved so others may be able to fix it if they have the same issue.
If not please let us know and we can continue with helping you to resolve the issue.