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Windows XP wont boot up, need help


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#1
The Yoshi King

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Hiya,

I have a Dell desktop PC, Dimension C521. I, as a junior high student who is just going to high school, have depended on this computer for a long time. I've had few problems with it before, and nothing that a reformat of the hard drive wont fix. This has gotten to be a problem, though. Seeing as you've guys have helped my dad before (strope411 I think he was), I'm hoping I can get this fixed just as accurately. Ever since my sister went to this website (Roblox ring a bell?), us as a family haven't been able to boot our PC. Whenever booted, we would get an annoying "ticking" noise from the CD drive, as if trying to boot from the CD drive instead of the hard drive. Oh and behold, several "ticking" minutes later, we get an error stating:

Boot from CD:
NO BOOT DEVICE DETECTED, INSERT SYSTEM DISK AND PRESS F1 TO CONTINUE
OR PRESS F2 TO SETUP MENU

So, we predict that whatever virus was given from that website, deleted our boot drive. :unsure: So, following the given directions, we insert the System Disk (Reinstallation CD Microsoft Windows XP Media Center Version 2005 with Update Rollup 2) and follow the directions to get to the screen where it says:

Welcome to Setup
This portion of the Setup program prepares Microsoft®
Windows® XP to run on your computer.

To setup Windows now, press ENTER.

To repair a Windows XP installation using recovery console, press R.

To quit setup without installing Windows XP, press F3.

The only problem is, the keyboard doesn't work up to this point. It is the original keyboard, yet USB, which we think is the problem. USB Legacy is enabled, so I ask: does it enable only certain USB ports, or do we have to find an USB to PS2 port, and then a PS2 keyboard? If so, which ports does it enable?

One last question, after we finally get this installation done, is the job done, or do we need to get some Dell Drivers from a Reinstall CD we might've misplaced in storage? :)

Thanks to anyone with answers,and sorry for the long read,
The Yoshi King
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#2
phillpower2

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Hi The Yoshi King :)

Whenever booted, we would get an annoying "ticking" noise from the CD drive,

Are you certain that it it is not the "click of death" from the HDD!
With the power turned off and disconnected turn the rear of the PC to face you and then connect the keyboard to the top left hand USB port, reconnect the power lead, check any other cables are secure and then reboot and your keyboard should then work, once you can get into the BIOS change the boot sequence to DVD/CD drive 1st and the HDD 2nd, save the new settings (F10) and then Y to accept the changes, let us know if you require any assistance with this.
Dell drivers available @ http://support.dell....n&catid=&impid=
The correct procedure for installing Dell drivers @ http://support.dell....4&isLegacy=true
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#3
The Yoshi King

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Can you define what the "click of death" is?

Also, is the keyboard the only problem for letting me do this re-installation?

Edited by The Yoshi King, 05 June 2011 - 12:39 PM.

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#4
phillpower2

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Can you define what the "click of death" is?

This is a common name for the noise that can often be heard when a HDD is failing, it can be caused by the platters inside the HDD crashing together or a bad actuator arm/s inside the HDD for example;

Also, is the keyboard the only problem for letting me do this re-installation?

That and not being able to get into the BIOS to change the boot sequence, this may possibly be by tapping the F12 key.
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#5
The Yoshi King

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Alright, I've been able to change the boot sequence, I'm sure the clicking noise isn't the "click of death" (comparing it to Wikipedia's media of it), but the only problem is that even having the USB keyboard in the top-left port still doesn't make it work on the Setup screen (unless I'm forgetting to disconnect the power while switching ports :) ). I'll try it once more.

After trying it once more, I'm still stuck at the Welcome to Setup screen. When the Setup says "Press F6 if using third party etc etc", the keyboard still works. The keyboard becomes unresponsive still during the Welcome to Setup, so I'm stumped. :unsure:

Edited by The Yoshi King, 05 June 2011 - 02:09 PM.

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#6
phillpower2

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When you changed the boot sequence did you save the settings by pressing F10 and then Y to accept the changes.
Sorry I`m a bit confused by this;

After trying it once more, I'm still stuck at the Welcome to Setup screen. When the Setup says "Press F6 if using third party etc etc", the keyboard still works.

And then you say

the keyboard still works. The keyboard becomes unresponsive still during the Welcome to Setup,

When does the keyboard actually become unresponsive please.
If you can get into the BIOS and XP starts to install before freezing you could (A) Have a bad HDD and (B) Have a bad OS disk, where did the XP disk come from, was it provided with the PC?
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#7
The Yoshi King

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Sorry for the confusion.

I'm saying that when Setup is loading files, before that they say "Press F6 to download (something can't remember)" and "Press F2 to do Auto Recovery Console" or something similar. Wondering, I press F2 when prompted to. Saying it needs a floppy disc, I pressed ESC to get out of it and resume Setup. So, the keyboard worked for that segment. But, the keyboard becomes unresponsive when it reaches this screen:

Welcome to Setup
This portion of the Setup program prepares Microsoft®
Windows® XP to run on your computer.

To setup Windows now, press ENTER.

To repair a Windows XP installation using recovery console, press R.

To quit setup without installing Windows XP, press F3.

I've tried both ENTER keys, and nothing works.

The CD came with the computer and is from Dell.

Edited by The Yoshi King, 05 June 2011 - 05:09 PM.

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#8
phillpower2

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No worries, when you are ready :)
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#9
The Yoshi King

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Just got back, and tried the F10 and Y on Setup. Nothing happened, so I closed it using ESC. Nothing really has changed, and I still get the same problem.

Now, when I boot the computer, I get:

Phoenix - Award WorkstationBIOS v6.00PG
Copyright © 1984-2003, Phoenix Technologies, LTD

Diskette drive 0 seek failure

Press F1 to continue, F2 to enter SETUP

Edited by The Yoshi King, 05 June 2011 - 05:19 PM.

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#10
phillpower2

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Diskette drive 0 seek failure

Does your computer have the optional floppy drive or the standard card reader fitted?
This message is showing that either the boot sequence is set-up incorrectly or the HDD has failed !
The boot sequence should be as follows;
1: DVD/CD drive.
2: HDD.
3: USB device or floppy disk drive.
Before you change anything what is the boot order at present please.
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#11
The Yoshi King

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1. HDD
2. Onboard CD-ROM Drive
3. Onboard Floppy Drive (not present)
4. Integrated NIC (not present)
5. USB-FDD (not present)
6. USB-ZIP (not present)
7. USB-CDROM (not present)
8. USB Device (not present)

Thing is, the Diskette error has stopped showing. Confused, I looked through the settings of the computer, and saw that the Diskette Drive was turned off, instead of the factory default "Internal", where the integrated floppy drive is enabled. Truth be told, I still don't remember having a floppy disk on this computer.
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#12
phillpower2

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1. HDD
2. Onboard CD-ROM Drive
3. Onboard Floppy Drive (not present)
4. Integrated NIC (not present)
5. USB-FDD (not present)
6. USB-ZIP (not present)
7. USB-CDROM (not present)
8. USB Device (not present)

Set the boot sequence to boot as I described in my previous post please, the computer is attempting to boot from the HDD first and not the CD-ROM drive as is required, if the HDD or the OS on the HDD are bad you will experience the symptoms you describe, booting from the CD drive first is the way to proceed at the moment.
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#13
The Yoshi King

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So is this the reason why the keyboard stops working at the time I described it at?
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#14
The Yoshi King

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After all these months, I finally got a keyboard that'll work with the computer. Hopefully this will help. =D

Thing is, after pressing Enter at:
Welcome to Setup
This portion of the Setup program prepares Microsoft®
Windows® XP to run on your computer.

To setup Windows now, press ENTER.

To repair a Windows XP installation using recovery console, press R.

To quit setup without installing Windows XP, press F3.

I get:

Setup did not find any hard disk drives installed on 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.

I'm thinking the hard drive went kablooie.

Edited by The Yoshi King, 12 August 2011 - 02:03 PM.

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#15
phillpower2

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Have you changed the boot sequence as described below? This will also identify if the HDD is detected.
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 or possibly the F8 key;
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 CD/DVD drive;
Change the second drive to the C or Main Drive/HDD;
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 above must be done so that the system reads data from the disk first and then copy the required data to the HDD second, if you are successful with this I suggest testing the HDD a.s.a.p and I will help you with this if required.
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