I' been reading another thread where someone has nearly the same problem. My cpu is a 850 athalon with 640 ram 20 gb hd and 5 gb hd and Windows XP with XP2 upgrade that has been put together using used parts. All was well until about 2 weeks ago. My computer started switching to a blue screen. After several re formats with the 6-disk start up disk (seemed to make a difference if it was formatted with the cd or the disk; go figure) the computer was revived. Everything was reinstalled and running well. Last night during a restart the computer started hanging prior to windows installing. A gray screen is all that would appear (again, go figure). I started to reinstall and the Windows xp disk tried to repair the problem. It then opened windows. Great!!! Not. I restarted and got the message" ultra 100 bios is not installed because there were no devices attached). I hooked up another hard drive but there was no change. I would add that sometime during this journey (before the gray screen) a message was added paraphrasing because the message disappears quickly, "due to using a 40-conductor ultra 33 is being installed use a 80-condutor for ultra 66" (I am not sure what is the issue but the last message mentions ultra 100 (go figure). Is my computer hosed?
Help please: ultra 100 bios is not installed because there were no drivers attached
- Thread starter lda007
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Charles Hammond
Posts: 57 +0
Several things can cause this.
Chipset Drivers not installed for Ultra ATA (HD).
Low power from power supply or just bad power supply.
Bad Memory.
Power supply can really effect the Hard Drive if it is getting fluctuating power or a low power condition.
Chipset Drivers not installed for Ultra ATA (HD).
Low power from power supply or just bad power supply.
Bad Memory.
Power supply can really effect the Hard Drive if it is getting fluctuating power or a low power condition.
follow up
Is there a way to test the power supply?
My computer randomly crashes with blue screen stop messages or does not restart after loading the bios. Right before it tries to start windows, a dark gray screen appears and it seems to just stop. I have a really load fan and I don't notice it being effected (by the loss of power I mean).
I ran scandisk and a lot of bad sectors were found. I wonder if the hard drive is going bad. I ordered a hard drive for my personal computer and a will install the older harddrive in the problem cpu. i will post the results Monday.
Is there a way to test the power supply?
My computer randomly crashes with blue screen stop messages or does not restart after loading the bios. Right before it tries to start windows, a dark gray screen appears and it seems to just stop. I have a really load fan and I don't notice it being effected (by the loss of power I mean).
I ran scandisk and a lot of bad sectors were found. I wonder if the hard drive is going bad. I ordered a hard drive for my personal computer and a will install the older harddrive in the problem cpu. i will post the results Monday.
Charles Hammond
Posts: 57 +0
One thing to look at is what band and model the power supply is and how old it is and what the power ratings are in the categories. Power supplies supply power at different volts for different parts of the computer. At Each Volt Rating +/- there is generally either a Wattage or an Amperage rating or both. There are requirements for each one of these voltages; sometimes both positive and negative. So if just one of these like 5V or 12V fluctuates or goes bad then the entire power supply is bad. This is why sometimes the fans will come on but the computer will not start.
They make power supply testers but I dont have one. I have not a clue how to test one with a voltmeter. I guess if you knew which of the 20 wires to make contact with, you could test a power supply. One problem is a power supply will not work if it does not sense a load. Normally a power supply just shuts off if there is not enough load on the power supply or there is no CPU fan sensed through the 3 pin CPU Fan Header.
If the power supply is old you may just want to buy a new one. Or if you have another one, you could just replace it. Many computer manufacturers put a power supply in a computer that will barely do the job. For this reason just adding an extra hard drive or upgrading the video card can cause the power supply to fail. Even if it was a good power supply it still might go bad over time. Everything has the potential to wear out.
Some of the power supplies put in cases for sale are not the best brands. DEER is a particular brand that has been known to fail and then destroy computer parts when it burns out. Toms Hardware has run some tests on different power supplies and sometimes the power supply actually pops or bursts into flames shortly before the maximum wattage rating is reached.
I like to use Antec Power supply but there are other brands that should work fine. The Antec power supplies I have tried tend to run quiet and cool and never wear out. There are other well-known brands like Sparkle and Enermax. I think some sites like www.pcmech.com have some forum stickies that list power supply brands to avoid.
They make power supply testers but I dont have one. I have not a clue how to test one with a voltmeter. I guess if you knew which of the 20 wires to make contact with, you could test a power supply. One problem is a power supply will not work if it does not sense a load. Normally a power supply just shuts off if there is not enough load on the power supply or there is no CPU fan sensed through the 3 pin CPU Fan Header.
If the power supply is old you may just want to buy a new one. Or if you have another one, you could just replace it. Many computer manufacturers put a power supply in a computer that will barely do the job. For this reason just adding an extra hard drive or upgrading the video card can cause the power supply to fail. Even if it was a good power supply it still might go bad over time. Everything has the potential to wear out.
Some of the power supplies put in cases for sale are not the best brands. DEER is a particular brand that has been known to fail and then destroy computer parts when it burns out. Toms Hardware has run some tests on different power supplies and sometimes the power supply actually pops or bursts into flames shortly before the maximum wattage rating is reached.
I like to use Antec Power supply but there are other brands that should work fine. The Antec power supplies I have tried tend to run quiet and cool and never wear out. There are other well-known brands like Sparkle and Enermax. I think some sites like www.pcmech.com have some forum stickies that list power supply brands to avoid.
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