PC not booting
- Thread starter tiler65
- Start date
- Messages
- 3,661
- Name
- Richard King
- Edit My Images
- No
check the obvious
1. any floppys, memory cards or DVDs in the machine (or printer?)
2. remove all USB cables. run simple - only mouse kb screen
If the same message arrives back, let me know, I will walk you through the next bit of the diagnostics
1. any floppys, memory cards or DVDs in the machine (or printer?)
2. remove all USB cables. run simple - only mouse kb screen
If the same message arrives back, let me know, I will walk you through the next bit of the diagnostics
thanks Richard
I have removed all items as above... I managed to do a diagnostic HD test and that was OK I think and asked me to reboot but back to the blue screen.
PM on the way.
Gary Coyle
In Memoriam
- Messages
- 12,654
- Name
- Gary
- Edit My Images
- Yes
Why PM, surely if theres a possible fix in the offing it might be of benefit to the rest of community to have it explained on thread, isnt this what forums are for.
I was going to ask for his or give my telephone number as I am a bit old for all this jargon......but I would have put a remedy back on the post if it worked....anyhoo I think I have scared him off.......
Is the blue screen, one with white writing commonly known as the blue screen of death? If so, there will be a stop code in it on the second line. Something like 0x0000007b inaccessible boot device
Let me know what the next four blocks of code numbers are.
What OS is it?
Let me know what the next four blocks of code numbers are.
What OS is it?
Thanks.....my 1st post states Win Xp and I can't find a boot disk/dell set up disk.
Even if I had another PC, I wouldn't know how to add it on.......these is being written from my wife's laptop and I am not sure we should be using her school machine....me being paranoid probably.
I think need to get a win xp boot disk from somewhere to see if it boots if not it looks like it is the HD is broken....according to many pages on the web.
- Messages
- 3,661
- Name
- Richard King
- Edit My Images
- No
OK, someone beat me to it
Does it say "unsuitable boot volume"
or "un-mountable boot volume"
Is there important data on the drive?
To fix this, you are going to need a windows disk, and run the recovery option
The hard drive is suspect, although it could just be a corrupted file. If you have vital data on the drive, get it recovered off..
was the drive formatted in NTFS or FAT?
additional check...
Go in the BIOS, and check the date and time - if it looks correct, likley it isnt a BIOS issue, however, you could load the default failsafe settings and re-boot the machine. From memory, you can specify between different drive types in the BIOS, if for some reason this has been changed, you get the message you have seen
Ultimatally, I think you need a windows disk, although you might be able to download some boot disks onto another machine, and get to a command prompt and run a chkdsk -r command. Even if you manage this, and even if it fixes it, I would loose trust in the drive. My gut feeling would be - pop a new drive in, install windows on it, swap the old drive to slave, recover the data off of it
Does it say "unsuitable boot volume"
or "un-mountable boot volume"
Is there important data on the drive?
To fix this, you are going to need a windows disk, and run the recovery option
The hard drive is suspect, although it could just be a corrupted file. If you have vital data on the drive, get it recovered off..
was the drive formatted in NTFS or FAT?
additional check...
Go in the BIOS, and check the date and time - if it looks correct, likley it isnt a BIOS issue, however, you could load the default failsafe settings and re-boot the machine. From memory, you can specify between different drive types in the BIOS, if for some reason this has been changed, you get the message you have seen
Ultimatally, I think you need a windows disk, although you might be able to download some boot disks onto another machine, and get to a command prompt and run a chkdsk -r command. Even if you manage this, and even if it fixes it, I would loose trust in the drive. My gut feeling would be - pop a new drive in, install windows on it, swap the old drive to slave, recover the data off of it
Last edited:
Yes, it does say unmountable and it is my boot drive, i have tried a downloadable boot disk but still no joy
- Messages
- 30,364
- Name
- Neil
- Edit My Images
- No
id second the chkdsk as an initial check to make sure the disk is healthy.
have a google for "bartPE" boot disk, youll need an XP cd though to make it. alternatively get the disk out into another computer or buy a cheap USB enclosure and hook it up to the laptop and run chkdsk from windows.
have a google for "bartPE" boot disk, youll need an XP cd though to make it. alternatively get the disk out into another computer or buy a cheap USB enclosure and hook it up to the laptop and run chkdsk from windows.
- Messages
- 108
- Name
- Montagu
- Edit My Images
- Yes
The BSOD (Blue Screen of Death) could be for a number of different reasons.
In general terms:
1. Try to get into Safe Mode. Start the computer from scratch and as it is booting keep pressing the F8 key on the keyboard. (As in Press, Press, Press etc - not holding it down continuously.) If it responds with a "Stuck Key" error tell it to get over the error (normally "Press F1 to continue" or similar) then keep pressing F8 as it resumes booting.
This should give you a black screen with white writing giving you various options. One of the Options is to boot to Safe Mode. Choose that by using the arrow keys on the keyboard then pressing the Enter key.
2. If it will allow you into Safe Mode the issue is software - either a Driver problem from a newly added piece of hardware or Driver update: corruption within Windows for some reason; or a virus.
3. If it will not allow you into Safe Mode or if it attempts to do so but returns the BSOD again, then the issue is more likely to be hardware, such as failed Hard Drive, Motherboard or Power Supply.
If the issue is software it is generally the case that it is much simpler, and therefore cheaper to repair. A full rebuild of the system is likely to cost from £75 to £120 (depending on who does it, how much work you want them to do and how much you can do yourself, etc) They'll want you to have your software disks or licences (but not the Windows disk as the Licence sticker should be on the side of the PC.)
If the issue is hardware it is likely to cost more as you will have diagnostic time, plus parts plus labour. It is impossible to say how much, but a diagnostic is likely to cost £40 - £50. Some companies will refund that if you go ahead with the work.
It then depends on how old the PC is. Do you want to spend, say, £120 on an old 2nd hand PC which will still be an old 2nd hand PC when it comes back to you? Or would you prefer to think, "Christmas is coming! Time for a new computer" and invest your £120 in that.
Your best option, if you dislike working on computers and don't have the necessary skills, time or CDs, is to find a PC Pro who will look at it and explain the options. Have a look at www.pciq.com for a PC Pro in your area.
In general terms:
1. Try to get into Safe Mode. Start the computer from scratch and as it is booting keep pressing the F8 key on the keyboard. (As in Press, Press, Press etc - not holding it down continuously.) If it responds with a "Stuck Key" error tell it to get over the error (normally "Press F1 to continue" or similar) then keep pressing F8 as it resumes booting.
This should give you a black screen with white writing giving you various options. One of the Options is to boot to Safe Mode. Choose that by using the arrow keys on the keyboard then pressing the Enter key.
2. If it will allow you into Safe Mode the issue is software - either a Driver problem from a newly added piece of hardware or Driver update: corruption within Windows for some reason; or a virus.
3. If it will not allow you into Safe Mode or if it attempts to do so but returns the BSOD again, then the issue is more likely to be hardware, such as failed Hard Drive, Motherboard or Power Supply.
If the issue is software it is generally the case that it is much simpler, and therefore cheaper to repair. A full rebuild of the system is likely to cost from £75 to £120 (depending on who does it, how much work you want them to do and how much you can do yourself, etc) They'll want you to have your software disks or licences (but not the Windows disk as the Licence sticker should be on the side of the PC.)
If the issue is hardware it is likely to cost more as you will have diagnostic time, plus parts plus labour. It is impossible to say how much, but a diagnostic is likely to cost £40 - £50. Some companies will refund that if you go ahead with the work.
It then depends on how old the PC is. Do you want to spend, say, £120 on an old 2nd hand PC which will still be an old 2nd hand PC when it comes back to you? Or would you prefer to think, "Christmas is coming! Time for a new computer" and invest your £120 in that.
Your best option, if you dislike working on computers and don't have the necessary skills, time or CDs, is to find a PC Pro who will look at it and explain the options. Have a look at www.pciq.com for a PC Pro in your area.
Last edited:
Thanks guys..... I have some more questions (I am still get BSoD, tried the safe mode and my boot disk)
If I want to go down the route of buying and installing a new drive and buying windows (7 probably) can I just put the new disk into the spare HD bay I have (it has 1 spare power connector I think)
How do add windows to the new disk.....just by running the CD software?
Will my new disk be read so that I can load the Op System?
If anyone has time to speak to me on the phone about it, I would be grateful.
If I want to go down the route of buying and installing a new drive and buying windows (7 probably) can I just put the new disk into the spare HD bay I have (it has 1 spare power connector I think)
How do add windows to the new disk.....just by running the CD software?
Will my new disk be read so that I can load the Op System?
If anyone has time to speak to me on the phone about it, I would be grateful.
He supplied the error message and stop codes.
-------------------
@OP
As you're unable to get chkdsk to run, and don't have a Windows disc, try running Seatools for DOS to check the hard drive.
http://www.seagate.com/ww/v/index.jsp?locale=en-US&name=seatooldreg&vgnextoid=480bd20cacdec010VgnVCM100000dd04090aRCRD
Instructions are contained on that page.
Be easiest to swap over the hard drives, put the new hard drive into the place where the existing hard drive is.
Insert the disc, boot from the CD drive - either by bringup up the one time boot option - usually F12 - and selecting "CD Drive", or changing the boot sequence in the BIOS.
Assuming your CD Drive works fine and the hard drive is installed correctly, then yes.
- Messages
- 108
- Name
- Montagu
- Edit My Images
- Yes
He did, that is true. But this generally tells us the Hard Drive is unmountable - i.e. can be seen by the BIOS but can't be used for some reason. That could be because the Hard Drive is faulty or the Motherboard is faulty. (In rare instances it could be the power supply is faulty.)
Buying a new hard drive and a new copy of Windows will cost about £100. A lot of expense when the fault isn't definitely known.
Runing Seatools from DOS should work if the drive can be seen but is faulty, so is a good first step.
- Messages
- 3,661
- Name
- Richard King
- Edit My Images
- No
OK
you have a boot disk.
You may need to go into the BIOS to reorder the boot sequence. i.e. Your PC may not be set to boot off a floppy or DVD
There are a few more diagnostic checks to do first
1. sometimes a faulty IDE device can trip out another, remove all of the other IDE devices (DVD drives, other hard drives) simply pull off the IDE cables at either end
reboot, and see what happens with JUST the hard drive
2. Sometimes the BIOS battery dies and you loose your BIOS settings. The time on the clock in the bios is the easiest way to determine this
3. Have you set the BIOS to "failsafe" defaults? that will rule out your BIOS having the wrong UDMA setting, which will prevent a boot
4. In the BIOS, there wil be a Boot sequence, sometimes you can re-order it, set it to boot from DVD & floppy before the HDD - that will make sure your BOOT disk is picked up first (reconnect just the drive you will be booting from)
5. Can you get to a command prompt with the Boot disk? If so run
chkdsk -r
That will check and try to repair your HDD (if it finds it) It will also report back to you what's going on with it
6. If the HDD is not seen, remove the cables for it, and pop the cables back in - it may be the cables are unseated
7. In the BIOS, is the main HDD seen?
----
If you can see the drive in the BIOS, and it does repair, more than likley you will be able to boot windows. however, this is a warning - the drive is probably going to die on you anyway
If you cant see the drive in the BIOS, you need a new drive
Windows 7 is a great OS, but needs A LOT of RAM, and a really punchy machine underneath it. Likley, your old machine wont be good enough. You may be better sticking with Windows XP
There is a off chance, that if you can see the drive in the BIOS, but just cant boot from it, that you can change the drive to a slave, and get yoru data from it. Ideally, you need to take the drive to a tech, and ask them if thier machine can see it, and get them to try to run a chkdsk
You local "little tech person" is likely to have access to a XP disk
Right guys.....here is what has happened.
I went to my local PC shop...and he said I could read the data from the old disk....because my PC is probably past it's sell by date, I bought a new HD drive and I did find my original boot CD that came from Dell with the OP Sys on it.
So now I am loading Win XP on to new HD and then when that is sorted I can plug the old one in to the spare bay and move data that way...... I need a new OP sys because I was running Cs5 and LR with only 2gb of ram and it was painfully slow at times so I will by an upgraded tower and use my HD once I get all my data sorted.
Thanks for the help, I have learned a lot from you all.
I went to my local PC shop...and he said I could read the data from the old disk....because my PC is probably past it's sell by date, I bought a new HD drive and I did find my original boot CD that came from Dell with the OP Sys on it.
So now I am loading Win XP on to new HD and then when that is sorted I can plug the old one in to the spare bay and move data that way...... I need a new OP sys because I was running Cs5 and LR with only 2gb of ram and it was painfully slow at times so I will by an upgraded tower and use my HD once I get all my data sorted.
Thanks for the help, I have learned a lot from you all.
- Messages
- 108
- Name
- Montagu
- Edit My Images
- Yes
Good news tiler65.
If you are installing Win XP to a new hard drive on the old PC, and then intending to buy a new tower in order to add the new hard drive to it, you will most likely have to repeat the installation of Win XP again. The new tower may not like the Windows installed on the new hard drive while it is attached to the old PC.
Not a huge issue really, but make sure you keep the old Hard Drive with data safely.
If you are installing Win XP to a new hard drive on the old PC, and then intending to buy a new tower in order to add the new hard drive to it, you will most likely have to repeat the installation of Win XP again. The new tower may not like the Windows installed on the new hard drive while it is attached to the old PC.
Not a huge issue really, but make sure you keep the old Hard Drive with data safely.
- Messages
- 3,661
- Name
- Richard King
- Edit My Images
- No
swap the jumpers on the old disk to "slave" connect to another IDE cable and power cable and cross your fingers. Windows will then assign the drive a letter. It may see 2 or three drives if you had partitions installed. The size of the found drives will be the give away
BTW
What I do with all PC's is I have my data on a physically different drive to the OS. I install my software and OS to a smallish fast drive, and I have a couple of big slower drives where I store my data
Did the tech run chkdsk on your drive?
- Messages
- 9,438
- Name
- Andy
- Edit My Images
- Yes
How have we got to talking about IDE drives? Seems Monty is cutting/pasting generic (and old) IT advice from somewhere. The current machine has 2Gbytes in which probably means the machine is running with SATA drives.
To the OP, are you going to buy a complete new PC or just a new case?
To the OP, are you going to buy a complete new PC or just a new case?
- Messages
- 3,661
- Name
- Richard King
- Edit My Images
- No
2GB ram is what I understood, not HDD.
My old XP box is IDE and has about 3 gig of ram in it
My new win7 box is SATA and has 10GB ram in it
My old XP box is IDE and has about 3 gig of ram in it
My new win7 box is SATA and has 10GB ram in it
- Messages
- 9,438
- Name
- Andy
- Edit My Images
- Yes
Even the first machine I built in 2003 (which had 512Mbyte in it) ran on SATA drives....
I want a new build tower....better MOTHERBOARD AND PROCESSOR...and so on......
I am having trouble loading my ethernet controller and graphics now...I have laoded win xp onto the new HD but it seems to be missing all the drivers
I am having trouble loading my ethernet controller and graphics now...I have laoded win xp onto the new HD but it seems to be missing all the drivers
- Messages
- 9,438
- Name
- Andy
- Edit My Images
- Yes
OK. You won't be able to just plug the new disk into the new machine and have XP run from it. When you install windows, it installs the correct drivers etc. for your system. Swap the motherboard and it'll probably blue screen. You will of course be able to reuse the disk as a data disk or rebuild windows on it.
As to missing drivers - this is quite common and you'll have to go online and download the required drivers to install. Does the manufacturer of the machine have a support site? Often all the drivers for a particular machine will be there. If not it's a case of searching them out individually (or finding a reliable program to do it for you - does anyone know of one?)
As to missing drivers - this is quite common and you'll have to go online and download the required drivers to install. Does the manufacturer of the machine have a support site? Often all the drivers for a particular machine will be there. If not it's a case of searching them out individually (or finding a reliable program to do it for you - does anyone know of one?)
- Messages
- 108
- Name
- Montagu
- Edit My Images
- Yes
Tiler65
If you don't have the original driver disk for the PC then you need to get another computer which is connected to the internet and find the drivers, download them to the working computer and transfer them - by memory stick if possible - to the rebuild PC.
If the old PC is a Dell then browse to http://support.euro.dell.com/support/downloads/index.aspx?c=uk&cs=ukdhs1&l=en&s=dhs - using the PC Serial Number (also known as the Service Tag) you should be able to download the correct drivers.
(I'm not sure why Arad85 thinks, "Seems Monty is cutting/pasting generic (and old) IT advice from somewhere." The point I made about this rebuilt Hard Drive then being transferred to a new tower and possibly needing another Windows reinstall is due to this very driver issue. Windows XP will much prefer the correct drivers from Day One, rather than trying to uninstall and reinstall Drivers.)
If you don't have the original driver disk for the PC then you need to get another computer which is connected to the internet and find the drivers, download them to the working computer and transfer them - by memory stick if possible - to the rebuild PC.
If the old PC is a Dell then browse to http://support.euro.dell.com/support/downloads/index.aspx?c=uk&cs=ukdhs1&l=en&s=dhs - using the PC Serial Number (also known as the Service Tag) you should be able to download the correct drivers.
(I'm not sure why Arad85 thinks, "Seems Monty is cutting/pasting generic (and old) IT advice from somewhere." The point I made about this rebuilt Hard Drive then being transferred to a new tower and possibly needing another Windows reinstall is due to this very driver issue. Windows XP will much prefer the correct drivers from Day One, rather than trying to uninstall and reinstall Drivers.)
- Messages
- 108
- Name
- Montagu
- Edit My Images
- Yes
My first machine (1994?) had 4 MB memory. I added another 4 MB at a cost of £120! You tell the young folk of today that and they just don't believe you!
- Messages
- 9,438
- Name
- Andy
- Edit My Images
- Yes
Apologies. I thought you made a post re IDE drives. It was Richard.... As you see in the post just above yours, I said exactly the same as you about a new drive
Cheers probably too much for me to do but I found this
http://alduncan77.angelfire.com/files/Doing_a_Fresh_Install_of_XP_Pro_on_a_Dell_E520_Desktop.pdf
and it confirms about the win xp not having the correct drivers.....not sure I can do all this...
http://alduncan77.angelfire.com/files/Doing_a_Fresh_Install_of_XP_Pro_on_a_Dell_E520_Desktop.pdf
and it confirms about the win xp not having the correct drivers.....not sure I can do all this...
- Messages
- 9,438
- Name
- Andy
- Edit My Images
- Yes
My BBC Micro from 1982 cost £100 to upgrade from 16kBytes to 32kBytes. Yes, that's KILOBytes.My first machine (1994?) had 4 MB memory. I added another 4 MB at a cost of £120! You tell the young folk of today that and they just don't believe you!
The first works machine I was involved in was a DEC microVAX in the late 80's. We bought (I think) an 8Mbyte board. It cost many thousands of pounds.....
- Messages
- 9,438
- Name
- Andy
- Edit My Images
- Yes
Do you have a Dell then. If so, all the drivers will be there on the website somewhere. Follow PhotoMontys link.
- Messages
- 30,364
- Name
- Neil
- Edit My Images
- No
just go to dell.co.uk/support, click drivers then enter the service tag (sticker on rear/side of case normally), select operating system and it'll display those relevent.
edit - i should learn to read.
Last edited:
I am giving this a bash..... it is a bit daunting for me but so far so good...I have got connected to the web again so thats a bonus......just need loads more to do...wish me luck (this is still the wife's laptop)
Thanks again all
- Messages
- 30,364
- Name
- Neil
- Edit My Images
- No
I am giving this a bash..... it is a bit daunting for me but so far so good...I have got connected to the web again so thats a bonus......just need loads more to do...wish me luck (this is still the wife's laptop)
Thanks again all
i would start with the chipset download, then video and sound, then network.
that should be it really but best to check in device manager (right click MY COMPUTER, select MANAGE, device manager is on the left) for any items with yellow ? against them and download accordingly.
- Messages
- 3,661
- Name
- Richard King
- Edit My Images
- No
There is often a second "drivers disk" go hunt for it