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Problems with OS loading (Windows XP)

L

Lem6687

n00b
Joined
May 2, 2003
Messages
45
ive been havin problems with my pc for a while now...and most recently i can't even get it to load windows...everytime it starts up it says error loading operating system...so i finally got my hands on a windows xp copy and try installing it, formatting and everything and then when it goes to load the setup after i format it still gives me the error loading operating system error, and just doesnt go anywhere from there....ive tried this on 2 different HDD's now so im guessing its not the hdd that's not working and i can't figure out what's wrong. Any help or any other questions would be greatly appreciated.
 
Without more information, this one will be hard to diagnose, but you might want to try the following;
  • MBR might be screwed, create a bootdisk in XP (if you can, from another machine) and copy fdisk.com (or .exe, can't remember) to it. Boot the PC and run fdisk /mbr in DOS. I don't think this will cause you to loose data, but use caution, its been a while since I've used that.
  • You may need updated drivers, its odd you can get to the point of install but not boot, I've seen weirder though, try see if there is any information on the motherboard from the maker or any 'boot disk' drivers for IDE/SATA for your make/model.
  • When you went to install, was the drive you created on an odd letter, like "H?" I've seen this happen every once in a while with PCs that had a 20,000-in-one memory card readers connected via usb either internal or external. If you do have one, disconnect it and see if it works.
  • Check your boot order, go in your bios and make sure your boot order is correct, if something odd gets in there (like one of those memory card slots) your HDD might have been pushed out of the boot order or its not getting there because of an error on the card reader/odd device that the bios doesn't know exactly how to handle.
  • You might also want to try resetting your bios, if it has a setting "reset to defaults" in your bios, try that, if now you can short it on the motherboard to reset it using the jumpers or push-button by the battery.
Hope some of this helps.
 
Yeah I would also say to reset the BIOS to default - especially if you are overclocking.

The next two things to check would be the power supply and RAM. A bad power supply can do some really whacked up things some times while bad memory will leave you with a lot of odd errors like the one you're getting now.

Good luck to you! :)
 
Thanks for the responses guys, I appreciate it.

I thought it might be the RAM too, so I went out and bought a new stick of ram and tried it out and same old errors.

I think the power supply is a possible problem. Before this happened I was always having problems with the computer randomly restarting or just randomly shutting off. Also after the first attempt of installing windows I went back and tried it a few more times and always before it ended the computer would just shut off.

I'm not really worried about losing any data so that's not really a main problem. I also have reset the BIOS, but to no avail. I'm going to try some of the other things mentioned and hoped that works...

Before I forget, When i start the installation of Windows it gives me the option to "Repair the previous version" When I go to that, it sends me to a DOS prompt where I can basically do whatever, but im not very good with DOS commands. The help menu gives me a list of commands and I saw the MBR or something similar to that as a command. I tried it out and reset it I believe and it still didn't work.

I'm going to fool around with it some more to see if I can figure out the problem. Again, thanks for the help so far guys.
 
If you want to do a repair install don't go for the first option that shows up. Agree to the license by pressing F8 and then follow the instructions until you see the option to do a repair install.

In my experience though, every time I've done one of those I ended up with more problems then when I first started. However, those repair installs usually last me long enough to back up all my data until I can do a proper clean install. Hopefully your experience will be a little better.

From the sounds of it, it does sound like a possible power supply problem. Another idea that may be worth venturing is heat. Check that your temperatures are within a decent range. If your case hasn't been cleaned in a while and is dusty all over that may cause random shutdowns.

While we're at it, post up the specs of your computer as well as that can help with diagnosing the problem. Good luck man! :)
 
Could be a power supply (like covertash said) or bad capacitor issue. I've seen issues like this be caused by bad capacitors on Dell Optiplex systems as well as other cheap motherboards made from 2003 to about early 2006. The capacitors are the tall, round components on your motherboard, the ones that go bad are typically (but not always) bunched close to the CPU.

Bad caps are usually (but not always) easy to tell, look for caps with rounded tops (should be flat), look 'bulged' or are being pushed up from the bottom. Also if you have a brownish looking dry liquid around them, that's leaked electrolyte from the caps meaning you need a new motherboard.
 
here are the specs of my computer...kinda old, i know...

DFI Ultra Infinify II
1 gig PNY PC 3200 DDR ram
Nvidia Geforce 6200 256mb video card
80gb WD HDD
40GB Samsung HDD
120GB Maxtor HDD
Lite On 42x CDRW
Orion 420W Power Supply

also, is running the recovery console and running fixmbr in DOS the same as running the fdisk /mbr in DOS?
 
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