Please help me, cant boot my desktop

[fangz]

Hello, I have this problem with my 1 year old destop.
When i turned it on, it starts up as normal but at the point where it starts to boot my harddisk, the process hangs there and im left with a blank black screen with only an underscore at the top left hand corner blinking.

If i choose to boot my dvd-rom with an XP or Vista disc (f8 button) before my harddisk, i am able to reformat and install the OS. However when the com reboots after installation, im stuck at the same page again. If my OS disc is still inside my disc tray, it will prompt to press a key to load the disc as default. Yet if i ignore that (did not press a key) and allow it to boot my harddisk next, the page hangs again. There does not seem to have any error prompts. I have also reset CMOS and set BIOS to default.

I have repeatedly tried to reformat my harddisk several times wondering perhaps i did not have a clean install and have also tried the repair feature but all seemed to no avail. I have also brought my harddisk to my friend's house to run as slave drive for virus scanning using AVG with 0 infections.

This problem began when i wanted to reformat my com and install vista (previously XP), cleaning up my harddisk as well as trying out the new OS. Though usually i reformat my com every few months just to clear up the storage and i always have a backup slave drive storing my music, photos and data.

The strange thing i feel is that my OS-installed-harddisk seemed to be able to boot on my friend's PC and my friend's harddisk which he is using is also able to boot using my PC. This left my puzzled whether is it my harddisk or motherboard that is giving me so much trouble. Or perhaps it is a well hidden virus that i cannot detect or clean away?

I have checked my RAM and video card placing in the motherboard, taken it out and reinstalled just to be sure.



Cleaned up most of the dust i found in my cpu.

I have not replaced any of the parts since my first purchase last year, no new parts.

My com fans are working well and the temperature is also not posing a problem.

My harddisk is also new cause i initially thought it was a harddisk problem so i went to buy a new one.

All the harddisks mentioned are SATA.


I do not know alot about computers or how they work, what i know is just based on experience using a com. Please can anyone guide me on how can i get my computer running again?

Asus P5L-VM-1394 motherboard
Geforce 256mb ddr3 7600GS
2gb RAM
Intel (R) Pentium (R) D 3.00ghz

 

[rf6647]

WAG (wild *** guess) - take the optical drive out of the boot order. Perhaps the drive does not release control. The next level involves physically disconnecting it.

 

[fangz]

lol whats that? Dun understand

 

[fangz]

ohhh I finally got what u mean, but sadly it doesn't work plugged it out physically

 

[rf6647]

I said it was a guess!

Dvd-rom executes the boot with media inserted. You indicate that you put the OS on the HDD.

What is keeping the HDD from Booting?

Get the DVD-rom out of the way. Or examine the HDD for problems with the MBR.

"The Page Hangs"......... meaning????.....DVD-rom still in-the-pciture? Memory fuba? HDD missing OS/MBR?

Consult Guides & Solved Issues.

[edit]
There is a recent post citing no video for equally perplexing circumstances. Only you can relate what appears to be working. You have video while using the installation CD. No mobo beeps. This tends to focus on the HDD or the video drivers.
[/edit]

 

[fangz]

page hang meaning the nothing proceeds after that. The screen jus stays there, nothing is loading. But there is a underscore _ at the top left hand corner flashing as if prompting u to type something but I can't type anything in.

The video card? Strangely I can launch my friend's hdd on my com and play videos.
Anyways whats MBR?

 

[fangz]

oh ya I've noticed there were very small unpartitioned space on my harddisk when I am reformatting it. Whats that and does it cause problems?
also I have realized that I can't boot my xp home disc anymore. After i press a key to continue, it says inspecting my com hardware then goes to a black screen. But my vista is still bootable.

 

[rf6647]

It may be helpful to recap what is known.

Your HDD is not bootable on your system.
Your HDD is bootable on friend's system.
Friend's HDD is bootable on your system.

Bios does not follow the "order of boot device selection".
(bios should timeout waiting for the HDD)

A new HDD did not change symptom.

Therefore, negative findings for problems with SATA drivers; RAID; HDD hardware.

MBR - master boot record; differences between Vista & XP; also negative findings.
This assumes solo HDD's in each computer.

This assumes that the bios splash screen has been displayed and once the cursor moves to the top, left position, no further progress is observed.

Now revise any incorrect observations and wrong conclusions.

 

[fangz]

The above to my knowledge appears to be correct

 

[rf6647]

It's time for someone else to jump in & spot the critical differences to pursue the problem.

Crossing HDD's between machines should invoke WPA (Window's product activation) for XP machines. I have no clue if this applies to Vista. Knowing the OS being used (Vista, XP, OEM-supplied) will be helpful for others to consider.

Something as illogical as this screams - power supply or a connector!

 

[fangz]

Me and my friend are using vista. Since I can't even boot my xp disc for unknown reason, after inspection of com hardware it will hang strangely with a black screen when I try to boot my xp disc.