Can't find operating system

[hynesy]

I just recently reformatted my hrad disk. For some reason after I reinstalled windows and installed SP2 my computer wouldnt boot. I had to switch my primary hard drive with my secondary hard drive and install windows on there and all was good, i was copying some large files so i went to watch tele while i was waiting then when i came out i had a different message as above but occuring at the same time, jsut when the operating system takes over. This time the error was Operating System Error or something similar. The reason I posted in here is i recently change my computer case and my CPU temps are reading in BIOS as 65-68 C, my processor is a pentium 4 3.00ghz Prescott. Could this have something to do with my processor or jsut some freak coincidence.
cheers
hynesy

 

[N3051M]

That usualy means (those errors) that the hdd is kaput/failing, the boot.ini or MFT/MBR is screwed, or windows didn't install properly.. but that cpu temps perplexes me.. even if prescotts are known to run hot, but i assume you took those readings from BIOS hardware monitor? which would be the pc at idle..
So try to eliminate the temps first: Clean out the case, HSF etc from dust (probably clean though, since you've just switched cases), put some new thermal grease between the CPU and HSF again, and make sure the fans are running solid.. Use a desktop fan if needed..

Then check you have ample power going through the psu... check for shorting to the case etc.. like you would do for a brand new custom build pc.

If that still gets you stuck, go back to barebones system and see if it makes a difference. You may want to consider doing a chkdsk /f and sfc /scannow (through recovery console, if windows is still down) as well as a hdd diagnostic test to see if everything is intact.. Get a Linux Live CD and see if you can get the hdds to read..

 

[hynesy]

thanks for replying N3051M
I cant get accurate reading for my CPU, when i start the everest it says 40c but in speedfan it says 53-59 c and BIOS says 65-67 c. It cant be the hard drives, one is only 1 month old, the other is two days old.ive tried switching them so that both were tried as primary and seconary but the same thing happened both times. "**** Read Error", what even more troubling is I can't boot from CD now, but i could before. When I whiched HDD, windows did a disk check on the one previously Primary drive but now secondary and recovered all the lost and corrupt data.
With pwoer I got a 400W psu. my system is
Pentium 4 3.00ghz
nvidia NX 6600GT
512mb DDR RAM
2 x 160gb western digital HDD
Creative sound augiy 24 bit
DVD-R

 

[hynesy]

Could this be my motherboard???

 

[N3051M]

Could be.. have you checked the mobo for any popped capacitors, burns etc? also is it mounted properly (no shorting, used proper spacers etc). Have you gone to try changing over the IDE cables to the hdds with one that you know works? How about the CMOS battery? tried resetting the BIOS or if you already did, replaced the battery with a new one?

Software CPU temps reads are not always as accurate, because of many factors, including a faulty sensor on the motherboard.. try using a temperature probe to see if its registering the correct temperature or not..

I still advise you to try and strip your pc down to its bare, outside the case on a non-conductive surface for this troubleshooting purposes, so we can eliminate all extra hardware for the moment, then rebuilding it one component at a time untill you find the problematic one. So its the CPU/Mobo, Audio/visual (onboard if possible, or card(s)), 1 hdd, 1 optical drive, 1 stick of ram.

If you can get your hands on another pc thats running stable, download the HDD diagnostic utillity from Western Digital and give them a proper scan through, so we can eliminate a bad hdd as a cause on our list..

 

[hynesy]

I have sent my PC into a local PC specialist, he is having a look at it. I'll post again when I get feedback from him.
Thanks for the reply N3051M
cheers
hynesy

 

[N3051M]

Ok thats cool.. see how you go
N3051M

 

[hynesy]

got it fixed, the computer guy just reformatted the drives...he didnt know what cuased the problems but it is gone now

P.S. N3051M did u watch the state of origin???
cheers
hynesy