too bizarre for me

[greggustin]

I formatted 2 HD
installed winXP Pro
all normal = no mods
loaded sound driver CD
did Windows update
system asked for reboot
I did = got bood sector error plz use sytem CD???
NOTHING I did removed this issue
so, I removed that HD
installed XP onto remaining HD
which now thinks it is C drive
all is well
No issues with fresh install
loaded image burning software
loaded sound driver cd
and during a reboot
got same error again!!!!!
checked all cables and power
same boot sector error on 2 different IDE HD???

helllllllllp with ideas???

 

[kcnychief]

Did you try a repair on the MBR?

Good article here on using the Recovery Console:

http://forum.osnn.net/showthread.php?t=384&highlight=master+boot+record

 

[greggustin]

read the link thanks
but to get same error on 2 diff HD
in same day?
I am doing 3rd install now
and will make an image b4 I do ANY driver updates
oops
spoke too soon
started system with XP pro disk
at boot screen
ie enter, r, f4
and now NO KEYBOARD reponse
arrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrghhhhhhhhhhh

ok
removed power
cleaner fans and cpu
let it rest for 5 mins
(nothing seemed hot)
powered up
saw kb lites
smiles
then CD loaded basic info
promoted for setup/recovery
KEYBOARD DEAD AGAIN
(same usb kb as always)
will try ps2 kb in the morning

 

[canadian_divx]

kinda sounds like a bad mobo. could be the IDE or SATA controler on the motherboard

 

[greggustin]

am thinking the same thing
no sata,just ide
can i swap the ide slots on the MB?
ie is one uniue and required to control the boot HD?
there are also 2 raid connectors
never used
can I use them for the 2 hd?
even though performance might be off
as one HD is 20gb and the other is 80
this machine is for gaming for the kids

 

[greggustin]

progress
used ps2 kb
and fan to make sure no ovt
re-loaded xp
made boot floppy
(heh - worthless??)
rebooted pc - and BAM - bad boot sector again
rebooted into recovery console
wound up in DOS window
ran fixmbr (got that guess from net research)
and viola - I think - after several warnings
wound up back half way through the setup procedures
which had already been completed!
after finishing setup
now making an image
and will keep fingers crossed

 

[canadian_divx]

u can try the Raid controler. just set it up as a JBOD.

also who makes the Hard Drives? i would also sugest that you go to the makers site and download there diag software.

and well if the IDE controlers are dammaged then you are pretty much screwed. a new motherboard would be the best way to fix it.

 

[Mastershakes]

This is a good one, I think canadian_divx is on the right track, I'm searching this one.

 

[greggustin]

did some more things
actually got it to load xp\
made a floppy start disk
(worthless for xp)
backed up image to external HD
made boot CD
feeling good, then BAM
system hangs on bios load??
you know the text screen that usually flys by in 3 secs
check mem, displays correct amount
on the bottom says "del for setup"
and is locked up
even over nite (ie full cool down)
qed
bad memory stick?
only have 1 stick of 512

 

[kcnychief]

Maybe bad RAM - if you go into the BIOS, does it show the full 512MB listed?

I have seen instances where you can have as high as a 1GB module, and in the BIOS it only shows something like 4MB (or another value way off). That usually indicates it's bad. I'd say run a memory testing program, but sounds like you can't get that far.

What is the amount of RAM showing in the BIOS?