Computer will not boot from HD, only CD

[Heeter]

Hi Guys,

I have here an older celeron500. I removed the existing HD and put in a used replacment (13gigs). Now I am trying to load Win2000 into it. It does boot from the CD, and created an NTFS partiton as well. The problem comes after the setup files have loaded and the 'puter reboots, the screen says "press any key to boot from CD.....". I reboot the 'puter and remove the Win2000CD, now, the screen is black with only a cursor flashing top corner. I checked the BIOS and the HD is listed correctly there as primary master. I also checked boot sequence. All okay there. I tried another known working HD, the same thing happens.

Any Ideas??

Thanks in advance.

Heeter

 

[Xie]

maybe something to do w/ video or video drivers?

 

[Heeter]

It is intergrated video, but it did have a pci video card as well before.

Maybe should I reset the bios?

Heeter

 

[LeeJend]

I'll assume you already made sure the bios is set to auto detect on the drive.

I had problems like that a few years back. Do a Track 0 repair. It's on the WD digital floppy. Not sure for maxtors. I have a utility that does it but its a lot easier off the manufacturers floppy. I go looking for the utility.

I think it had something to do with windows trying to prevent people from making illegal copies. It was a pain for a while then just disappeared.

Tool is called Master Boot Record Tool. Tread carefully it can really screw up a HD. Just do the track 0 repair.

 

[Heeter]

I will look for that utility.

Wouldn't you think that by trying another HD, that situation would of resolved itself. I did try a second HD. Wouldn't this first track get fixed by reformatting and reloading a fresh Windows?

Heeter

 

[Heeter]

Well I am still stumped,

Trying to boot from HD, all I am still getting is the black screen with the cursor flashing on top. Tried another HD, same thing as well. Bios knows and recognizes the HD and serial HD serial number as well. Could it be that it is not the original Compaq HD in there? Original HD is a 6gig. I did try "Set to defaults" in the BIOS to no effect. Maybe I should pull the battery for a bit. Now I am getting "Keyboard not plugged in" errors as well, everything is plugged just fine.

Any ideas anyone?

Thanks

Heeter

 

[Xie]

You said bios saw the drive but did it see it as the correct size? Could possible be a bad IDE controller even or just a dead board. :/

 

[Electronic Punk]

You checked bios revisions?

 

[Glaanieboy]

Well I am still stumped,

Trying to boot from HD, all I am still getting is the black screen with the cursor flashing on top. Tried another HD, same thing as well. Bios knows and recognizes the HD and serial HD serial number as well. Could it be that it is not the original Compaq HD in there? Original HD is a 6gig. I did try "Set to defaults" in the BIOS to no effect. Maybe I should pull the battery for a bit. Now I am getting "Keyboard not plugged in" errors as well, everything is plugged just fine.

Any ideas anyone?

Thanks

Heeter

Compaq is known to have compatibility issues for non-Compaq material, especially for older (business) machines. I know that, because I have delt with Compaq Presario's in the past, I wanted to upgrade the memory, but all of the Non-Compaq RAM modules failed. The same thing I had with the HD's, these compaq's were fitted with an onboard SCSI, and only accepted the very, very expensive Compaq drives. Maybe you can find a cracked BIOS somewhere to solve the problem, though I think it may also be a hardware thing theiy built in.

 

[Heeter]

Should I give up and try to find a direct replacement drive? I guess I should. Maybe a google search for a new bios as well might be an option.

Thanks for all your help so far.

Heeter

 

[LeeJend]

What exactly are you working on? Manufacturer and Model number. Depending on the vintage and make (compaq, gateway, dell) it may not be a true "compatible".

The big names went through a period of very proprietary hadware and software trying to maximize profits. The worst was the non-standard power supply pin outs that could fry computers. Compaq was the worst. Thier Bios and Windows were customized for a while to only work with each other.



PS You don't overwrite track 0 when you do an install, just the rest of the tracks.

 

[LeeJend]

Back to the immediate problem:

"I reboot the 'puter and remove the Win2000CD, now, the screen is black with only a cursor flashing top corner"

Do you get a POST and Boot screens?
-If yes basic VGA is working, MB/CPU/RAM is ok.
Does the flashing cursor come up where it would normally show windows loading?
-If yes this could be a video issue. Check the Integrated Video settings. Make sure they are set to the lowest possible settings, make sure there is enough RAM in the computer to support on board video and win 2000 boot (128 meg min, 192 is better).

Or it could just be a Compaq bios refusing to play with a different "brand" Windows. I transistioned a lot of machines (PI, K5, K6) from Win 3.x up through win 2000 and XP and never had to do a bios flash to get there.

 

[Heeter]

Hi Leejend,

The 'puter sitting here is a Compaq Deskpro ES Series. It has a Celeron500. Looking inside, the RAM is 2x128 of PC133 made from Crucial. Looks like the sticks have been swapped out. The original 6.5gigHD had XPHome in it, Though the sticky on the cover says Win98. The owner did add a couple of pci cards, although I have removed them leaving just the ethernet card.

The machine does POST. It counts the RAM during the POST. The flashing cursor comes up where the Windows Logo should be kicking in. There is no adjustments for the intergrated video, actually there isn't much of anything this BIOS.

Think I should Install Win98, then "Upgrade" to XP. I had to do this once with an old IBM that wouldn't install XP off the bat. Although I remember the IBM reacting differently to this.

Heeter

 

[LeeJend]

I don't see an ES series on the site. EXS maybe? Also, what model numer, should be on a sticker. The site will let you find by model number and processor. http://h18000.www1.hp.com/support/files/ click on deskpro desktops for drievr selection menu.

Any chance you still have the original HD and still loaded? If so try it again to establish a working baseline, though it may hang on windows load because of the installed drivers and missing PCI cards.

--- Download the manual. That vinatge PC may use MB jumpers to set video, etc.

It sounds like the MB video isn't finding its VGA drivers in windows. They may be a "compaq special". Check the site. I'll look aroound some too. You can try booting into safe mode where the default vga should load and then you can try and hand load the video drivers. Another option is disabling on board video and sticking in a vid card to see if it works.

It took a friend and me 4 hours to find some "compaq special" modem drivers a few weeks back. Misnamed chipset, offbrand, etc. what a nightmare. My first computer was a Compaq. Never again, lol.

Lacking the original HD I'd try 98 to make sure everything is working. Or better yet Win XP (it likes everything).

As drivers continue to be an issue run sisoft sandra to read the MB info on chipsets to help find the correct software from the compaq site. It's there. They just want you to give up and buy a new machine from them. Note that approach did not work with me 😉

Good luck and keep posting. Resurrecting an old compaq is always a challenge. Probably the biggest there is.

 

[Glaanieboy]

Hi Leejend,

The 'puter sitting here is a Compaq Deskpro ES Series. It has a Celeron500. Looking inside, the RAM is 2x128 of PC133 made from Crucial. Looks like the sticks have been swapped out. The original 6.5gigHD had XPHome in it, Though the sticky on the cover says Win98. The owner did add a couple of pci cards, although I have removed them leaving just the ethernet card.

The machine does POST. It counts the RAM during the POST. The flashing cursor comes up where the Windows Logo should be kicking in. There is no adjustments for the intergrated video, actually there isn't much of anything this BIOS.

Think I should Install Win98, then "Upgrade" to XP. I had to do this once with an old IBM that wouldn't install XP off the bat. Although I remember the IBM reacting differently to this.

Heeter

Deskpro, that says it all to me. You should definately look for Compaq parts (and make sure they're compatible with the computer, there could be even a different between series of Compaq's), non-Compaq parts won't work (not without a cracked BIOS or something)

 

[Heeter]

Well Glaanieboy, Leejend.

The HD is the difference. The original 6gig jobber was put back in. Computer booted up, no problem. The HD is making a racket, sounds like bearings. We tried to put a new HD in there and slave the original to retrieve info. Well, that at least what the intent was. Oh well, My friend says that this is the last prebuilt machine he is ever going to buy. I think he learned a lesson with this one.

Thanks soooo much for all your help, guys.

Heeter

 

[toretto]

leave the cd in the drive, just dont boot of of it, let it time out and then boot off the hard drive, windows 2000, as i run as well, reads off the cd rom during that part of setup and you need it in the drive after it copies setup files over. if that doesnt work, i have no idea.