[puzzledb]

Hello rshaffer61,Happyrock and all other helpers,
Got new memory today and installed it.Computer up and running but only for a few minutes and back to old problem of freezing.Any ideas on what to do next?

With best regards,

Dave.

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Cable Fault PXE61
Media test failure?
no mouse or freezing mouse
OS froze up
HD not being recognized

Not sure which error you are referring to

[rshaffer61]

Cable Fault PXE61
Media test failure?
no mouse or freezing mouse
OS froze up
HD not being recognized

Not sure which error you are referring to

[puzzledb]

Hello rsharrer61,
See post 223 and others in which you said that I almost certainly had a fault in the RAM.So I replaced the RAM, however my computer loads Windows,runs for a short while and then freezes just as before.On start up I briefly see PXE-E61 Media test failure-check cable.
The hard drive must be getting recognized as WINDOWS loads up and runs for abit.
It just freezes and neither mouse or keyboard will work and then the only thing that can be done is to turn the power off.

With best regards,

Dave.

[rshaffer61]

No doubt in my opinion as I'm sure Happyrock will advise is that the memory was bad.
Now the issue is what else is bad as i pointed out there have been several issue along the way and not that the memory is taken care of we can move on to the rest.
Was there ever a new IDE Ribbon installed on the main hd and controller?
I would like to do a parallel installation as this will tell us if the OS is the culprit or not.
Have you been able to do a backup of the data to make sure it is safe?

[puzzledb]

Hello rshaffer61,
No I have not put in a new (or other) IDE cable between the hard drive and the motherboard.
I have put onto discs photos,home movies ,favourites and documents.I have yet to put onto a disc bookmarks from Firefox but I am still trying to find out how to do it.I bought a 1TB external hard drive just prior to all of these problems and I was going to download a programme that copies everthing on drive C to the external device.If the computer will remain stable long enough I will do this.
What is a parallel installation?

With best regards,

Dave

[rshaffer61]

This is a second installation of OS system on the same hd. This would be like a fresh install but it installs to a different folder thus allowing the current data to remain intact and hopefully safe. I always try to make sure the data is backed up just in case. Go HERE and scroll down to Section 5 to learn how to import and export Firefox's Bookmarks.

[puzzledb]

Hello rshaffer61,
Ran PC twice but it froze after about 5 minutes each time.Then I pushed the IDE cable firmly into the hard disc also the power connector.Turned on and this time it ran for about 1 hour before freezing.Do you think that this has any significance?

With best regards,

Dave.

[rshaffer61]

Something is just not right. it ran outside of the system but inside the case it shuts down as fast as 5 minutes.
The fact that you state you have to firmly push the connection in on the hd for both the IDE and the power indicates a loose connection.
Also when outside of the case you didn't have the cdrom hooked up which may indicate a faulty PSU at this point.

[puzzledb]

Hello rshaffer61,
I used to have a PC and it got to be 9 years old when it failed. As computers had advanced a lot durng that time I bought my present PC (currently the subject of the problems).In order not to lose data I removed the hard disc from the old PC and put it into a drive caddy then connected it to the new current PC by a USB cable and transfered wanted files and folders.The old PC used Windows 98.
I am wondering if it might be possible to plug the old hard drive in its drive caddy into my current PC and in the BIOS make the needed alterations to get it to boot up.If this could be done and the machine ran without frezing then we have an XP or other software problem.However if that set up also froze then that would indicate a hardware problem.
What do you think?
Is this logical and possible?

With best regards,

Dave.

[rshaffer61]

Since old system had 98 then the drivers will not work on the XP system.
Even if it did work then the 98 would most likely have to be reactivated since the main components like the motherboard, cpu would be different then the original system.
Possibly it owuld boot but I can almost say it won't work correctly.
The easiest thing to do is to format and reinstall system fresh.

[puzzledb]

Hello rshaffer61,
You said in your last message that the easiest thing to do would be to format and and reinstall the system afresh.However I just can't tell how long the computer will run without freezing.It could freeze at any point in the process.Then I would be left with no OS.
I am going to get by mail order a new IDE cable and put that in.I did look on the web at these but the number of types seems bewildering.The one installed at present has the following printed on it,
"ULTRA ATA 100 P/N:6859630100 FANTRONIC/SKYCABLE 2005-12",
does all of this mean anything to you?

With best regards,

Dave.

[rshaffer61]

The specs you show means the ribbon is a Ultra ATA 100 ribbon.
They are slower then then Ultra ATA 133 ribbon but still function as they should.
The rest of the information is the manufacturer of the ribbon and the part number for that ribbon.
Now the other option as i stated before is because everything seemed to work outside the case and with the least amount of draw being put on the PSU. Then maybe the the PSU has a problem and cannot handle the extra strain on it now.
Another option is that outside the system the issue didn't happen because as Happyrock stated there may be a short between the case and the motherboard.
Since you have ordered the new IDE cable then I will wait till you have replaced that to take that out of the possibilities of the problem.

[happyrock]

FYI...always use 40 pin 80 wire IDE cables for hard drives ...like these here...scroll down for the 2 drive cables

[puzzledb]

Hello Happyrock,
Thank you for your message.I did take a look at the link but it is in the USA and I live in England.I like the idea of the twisted types as opposed to the flat ones which are a nuisance The cable which I am going to replace has a secondary outlet which I think can be used for some other device like another haard drive.Also I need one of the correct length.I not understand the significance of the colours.It may be after Xmas before I get the replacement due to the mail rush even if I pay the extra for fast delivery.By the way just how do you professionals detach these things?I have found it very hard to do unless of course I have very weak fingers.

With best regards,

Dave.

[puzzledb]

hello rshaffer61,
MOUSE MYSTERY DEEPENS
Computer up and running OK for hours on end.With laser mouse through a USB to PS2 adaptor.Also a PS2 mouse runs OK.However if I take the USB mouse and try it in any of the 6 USB ports on the machine then mouse will not work.I tested all 6 ports with my USB printer and with a memory stick device and all ports work OK.
It seems as if the USB ports do not like the USB mouse.

With best regards,

Dave.