Computer problem! (1 Viewer)

[Ninga]

Hey,

Im having a fair few probs with my computer atm. I was getting problems with it booting up before, with it getting an error during bootup, something bout not being able to access the directory. Solved this by using the WinXP disc i have, running recovery console, and running fixboot, which rewrote a new bootup sector. Seems the one i had was corrupt or dead or i dunno.

Anyways, so then i get a blue screen (of death) which states that theres something wrong with my HD, ie corrupt, bad sectors, virus, etc, lists these possibilities. So i get back into my WinXp recovery console and run chkdsk /r, and it finds and fixes a prob. Ok, so im thinking its all good, and then i get another error booting up, the same blue screen, so figuring that it is the windows files that are corrupt, reinstall win XP over the top of the original installation. Now i get an ARC Firmware boot configuration error, and this stops Windows XP from starting. So, any ideas on how to get around this? I've found this http://www.microsoft.com/resources/...Windows/XP/all/reskit/en-us/prmd_stp_xlxv.asp online, but not quite sure what to do. If worse comes to worse, i just need to access the hard drive to get some Uni stuff off it, but yeah. Any ideas guys? Any chance it could be a motherboard problem? Cheers for any insights guys...

 

[MedNez]

I had a similar problem with my primary hard drive last month. Turns out it was mechanically defunct, or became so after a year, and I lost everything on the drive. I'm not sure how you can get the data off it without formatting.

If you have a second hard drive, you can install XP on that, and set the primary drive to a slave. That way, you may be able to access the drive to get data off of it. If not, you may be unfortunately in the same position I was and will lose some data. Best to see what suggestions anyone else has first, but from experience with two drives over the past few years, that doesn't sound healthy for it.

 

[LoneShadow]

After installing xp sp2 my comp stuffed up after rebooting. It would freeze at start-up every single time. But I was able to start up in safe mod. after a while I could not do that either. After a week of frustration and also consulting my local computer guy...we came to the conclusion that it was a motherboard problem. I dunno what exactly was wrong with it but it was obvious that when a lot was required of it, it would stuff up.

so..

Test your HDD on some other comp if possible.
If you have a seond HDD, install windows on that and start from that HDD and access the "stuffed" up one when windows start. [dis is only helpful if there's something wrong with the windows itself...and not the HDD]
To check if it's a motherboard problem....try all your major components on a diff comp to see whether something goes wrong...if everything looks alrite..then it's a motherboard problem.

 

[Ninga]

Thanks guys, i'll be testing out my HD on a mates computer over the weekend hopefully, just so i can grab the stuff i need. Otherwise i might get my motherboard checked out too, see how it all goes. If theres any other suggestions i'd be much obliged, thanks guys.

 

[LoneShadow]

your welcome......let us know how did it go. Or if you found another way of solving the problem. We might need it for future ref.

 

[AntiHyper]

After a week of frustration and also consulting my local computer guy...we came to the conclusion that it was a motherboard problem.

Is your mboard an AOpen? Mine is 1 and i had to ask the guy there to update it 4 me.. it works

 

[sladehk]

Always regularly backup your important files in case something like a power-surge(and you have not surge protector) happens. This way you won't need to worry as much.

 

[LoneShadow]

@ AntiHyper & sladehk: my mothgerboard was about 3.5 years old.....it wasn't the first time it had stuffed up. I used to get random shutdowns and freezes [it wasn't a virus problem]. and when it finally just gave up...I replaced it. I stioll haven't thrown the old one in the bin yet. But the funny thing is...that my old motherboard works fine with win 98 SE......

 

[Ninga]

Well, i havent tested the HD yet, but yeah, i tried recovery console again, and now my computer wont boot up past the "Boot from cd" page. Sits there and does nothing. Well, nothing for at least 2 minutes, havent left it there longer than that yet. Will test my HD this weekend, and maybe get a new mobo too if it turns out to not be the HD. Thanks for the advice anyways dudes.

 

[sladehk]

You can try formatting your computer if all else fails.

 

[LoneShadow]

You can try formatting your computer if all else fails.

yeah...but he says he has important files on his HDD. If he follow the suggestions given, he will solve the problem or find out da problem is hardware based.

 

[Ninga]

Resurrecting an old thread early sunday morning...

Got all my components checked today/tonight. Seems like the motherboard is gone, im getting a new one tomorrow. My mate that checked it said that the hard drive should be fine, and that i shouldn't lose anything on it at all, so heres hoping. Cheers for the help anyways.

 

[JimmyK]

did u try resetting the BIOS - that *sometimes* can work mirracles - for boot problems and things like that.
Just take out the BIOS battery (the round one on ur motherboard) and leave it out for about 5 mins the pop it back in and try booting your computer. You'll loose all your BIOS settings so you will probally have to go in and set up all the basic settings to get your configuration to work.

 

[Ninga]

Nope, i tried that. Battery out and disconnected power to mobo for about 10mins. Put everything back together and all i got was a black screen, no booting. Black screen and nothing else!

 

[JimmyK]

lol - sounds like your mobo is pretty much dead. although i had a similar problem - it was beeping but nothing was coming up, just jiggled the video card abit.. and it worked fine!!
probally best to get a new mobo if its fairly old!!

 

[Ninga]

Mobo was/is about a year and a half old. I think i burnt it out ages ago, thought it was the cpu but it wasnt. So i've been sorta kinda anticipating it will die anyways. Oh yeah, and there was no beeping from the mobo at all, so yeap, i think it was pretty much dead!

 

[JimmyK]

lol yeah.. when theres no beeping, u can generally assume its dead!!

 

[sladehk]

y wait for it to die, just get a new one

 

[Ninga]

So, i ended up formatting my HD cos i couldnt get anything off it, boot sector was corrupt or something, and i couldnt get past that, with a boot floppy, XP cd, or changing it to a slave drive and putting it in someone elses computer. Now that i've formatted it, reinstalled windows, etc, it won't recognise my 2nd HD. In the computer management program, under control panel and administration tools, it has the HD, but it simply says that it is a simple volume, and won't let me do anything to it other than convert it to a dynamic volume. Yes, BIOS and device manager find this 2nd HD fine, and says that its working fine. So, if i convert this drive to a "dynamic" volume/disc, will it format the HD, and delete everything already on it?? Cheers...