Disk failure error on PC, what does this mean?

[Bikkembergs]

Hi guys.

Firstly, about a month ago my pc power supply started making a burning smell so I replaced it with the supply of my old pc which went kaput. It worked but if I overloaded it with tasks it would turn off (used to turn off on youtube for example). Also, for the last 2 years my PC had generally sounded like it was struggling, like an old car going up a steep hill.

Last week my PC turned off and now it just wont turn back on again. So I guess when the original PS burnt out it did some damage down the line, which has now finally given up?

So now, I took one of my Dad's 3 PCs and tried to boot up (Its of similar age to my pc - 2006). On boot up though, it goes to Acer screen DEL - Enter Setup, F2 Boot menu. And then the screen:

"Verifying DMI pool data....

Boot from CD:

Disk boot failure, insert system disk and press enter"

My Dad died last year so I have nobody to consult about the condition of the PC. Though it sounds smooth and isnt that old.

I have my Windows XP CD and tried to reload from this, but I cant seem to get to past this message. I set the BIOS order to CD first but the same, and I'm not sure what other options I may change.

Somebody else suggested this message is a hard disk failure. Could be worth swapping with my old pc? (hopefully that wasnt the prob with my old pc).

Any help would be great, I'm really out of my depth! =(

 

[Bikkembergs]

Just opened her up and there is no hard drive or gfx card inside.

I presume this is the problem?

It might sound ridiculous to you, but I genuinely dont know.

Please confirm or dismiss?

=)

 

[Jay610]

If there is no hard drive on the PC you will not be able to get past BIOS. So yes this would be the problem.


Also when changing power supplies make sure the watts and voltage match.\

 

[Route44]

First, very sorry to hear about your father's passing.

Second, this sounds like your harddrive is no longer functional especially in light of your systems.

Do you know anyone who has PC tech knowledge. There is a diagnostic step I want you to take but it takes some tech knowledge to do it.

Also, a power supply is the backbone of any system. And a faulty one can and will cause damage to other hardware.

 

[Bikkembergs]

I have my old HD in there now, but neither of 2 other Nvidia gfx card will fit in the slot of the motherboard. Sigh. How will it perform without a GFX card and shall I boot up?

I'm not bad Route (Tech wise), I just probably wouldnt be able to answer questions like you guys can hehe.

Thanks for the help so far though. Fire away?

 

[Route44]

If you can I would test your power supply with a didgital multimeter.

Second, slave your harddrive to another system and access it through said system. Run harddrive diagnostics utility that you can get from the HD's manufacture's website.

 

[Bikkembergs]

I'm getting a continuous beeping noise now when I boot up, and no signal to the monitor. Google says a loud beep is over heating but it cant be as it didnt do this the other day. I have an identical PC too and wired them up EXACTLY the same, this one works fine but the other one doesnt.

Both have integrated GFX card. I've tried the HDD on the other PC and it loads perfectly fine as the slave drive and master drive by itself or with the HDD of the other PC at the same time so surely it is fine?

I have all the IDE cables wired up as they should be but still beeps at me.

Does anyone know what could be going wrong? Thanks.