No boot up, no recovery console, but HDD is functional

[xyzed]

On my old desktop with XP pre-installed (Read: I don't have the disks, and anyway the CD-ROM is busted), I had been getting "Operating system not found" and "NTLDR is missing" error messages on boot up, which I researched online and figured out how to fix using six boot disks and the recovery console.

Now, instead of those error messages, I'm just getting a black screen with a flashing cursor, and when I try to access the recovery console it says "The path or file specified is not valid". The machine also makes a loud wailing sound sometimes.

I ran a DOS diagnostic tool on the hard drive and it passed both the Short Test (Drive Self Test) and the Long Test. The accompanying Readme file says the following:

Some typical reasons for No Problem Found are:

* File System Corruption
* Driver Corruption
* Broken Master Boot Record
* Virus and Trojan Attack
* Spyware, Adware and Keystroke loggers
* Hardware Conflicts

How do I pinpoint and fix the problem?

COMPUTER SPECS:
eMachines T1090
900 Mhz Intel Celeron processor
128MB RAM
20GB Seagate hard drive
Windows XP Home Edition (OEM)
Service Pack 2 (downloaded)

 

[raybay]

Read the posts on eMachines... you likely have a failed unit that will never work again.
Your hard disk drive is bad, no matter what you think, but you may have other major issues as well.

 

[xyzed]

What do you mean? The test says it's still good. I'm going by that, not "what I think". Broken MBR is one of the possible causes, and the only command I can get to work happens to be FIXMBR, but it comes with a strong warning. Microsoft support says to just ignore the warning, but recommends making sure that the computer is not infected with a virus before proceeding. How do I do that from DOS?

 

[AlbertLionheart]

You need to be sure that the HDD is OK - take it out and connect it to another PC as a slave drive, then run the downloadable diagnostics tools from the drive manufacturer's website. If it passes the test, then run a low level format on it before refitting it and installng the OS. You will have to get a working CD drive, tho'.
Hope this helps.

 

[CCT]

http://72.14.205.104/search?q=cache...loppy+disk+antivirus&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=8&gl=ca

 

[xyzed]

Thanks, CCT. Those instructions are too complicated for me, so I googled "F-Prot antivirus boot disk" and found a pre-made one. I'll download that and give it a go.

AlbertLionheart, I don't know how to do and/or don't understand most of what you suggested. As far as running the diagnostics tool, I did that already (this one), and the HDD passed. Was that not good enough?

 

[raybay]

Shop for the suggestions that make you most happy, but you do have the symptons of a failed eMachine because of the motherboard. If all those components work in another computer, which I suspect they will, you are merely spinning your wheels.
You are correct. When the Seagate Seatools says your drive is ok, it is ok.
You have NOT reported a valid motherboard test. You will find none. But you can install all known good components to replace the ones you have, and you will likely have the same problem.