hey guys...this one has me pulling my hair out...my pc just started this weird behavour a few months ago...to summ up the hard drive went..unlucky for me it had all the recovery stuff on it..so i had a copy of xp for my laptop so installed that on a fresh drive and off i went..problem is its a old computer and getting drivers was a nightmare because packard bell stopped supporting it kinda...so after a couple of months of it working the computer has now got stuck in a loop which i cant break..it loads up comes up with windows was not shut down properly do you want to start in safe mode etc...i hit return and it goes to load windows xp..it get half way through and i get a very brief blue screen of death and its starts again.no matter what option i pick..now there is nothing on the seperate system drive so i thought just install xp again..nope its not letting me do that.it doesnt boot from the cd no matter how i change the bios.which leads me to belive its the actual bios that might be wrong here..could it be the internal battery could be flat or something be causing the problem..the clock seems to be at the exact same time every time i switch it on and check the bios

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www.myspace.com/onemanandalaptop

Memory, Power Supply, drivers, CPU overheating, Motherboard. Replacement drive faulty

Whatever you do, when you build a PC, and get it working as you did - image it. But if it won't even boot into Safe Mode or from CD then I think I'd bin it and replace it if it's very old

You should be able to get drivers, can you not download them onto your laptop, although there again, if you can't even boot then you won't get the drivers on anyway.

I would get a Linux Live CD and see if it will boot into that. If it does then it is likely to be either memory or drivers.

Additionally you could get hold of the Ultimate Boot CD, or equivalent, there's one such CD that has a really minimal windows that seems to run in RAM. That got my PC booting when nothing else would

I bought a Core 2 Quad, 500 gig SATA Drive 3 gigoram, Firewire, Gigabyte motherboard for £200, a lot these days to some but it blew my old P4 clunker out the water

Quote paul tha other:

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it loads up comes up with windows was not shut down properly do you want to start in safe mode etc...

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WILL it start in safe mode?

Hey.i bought the computer about 7 years ago new.its worked for years. And no it wont startup at all.i have no way of telling of whats wrong.likesay i bought ut off the shelf and it has stood me in good stead.but this is almost the same problem that i had the first time it went.im one if them wierdos that enjoy fixing broke pcs

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www.myspace.com/onemanandalaptop

You could try replacing or swapping the CMOS battery for starters.
They are only a couple of quid at mor******.
When you`ve done this also clear the CMOS by shorting out the cmos clear jumper on the motherboard.(remeber to re configure the bios settings after)
This has brought many a non starting machine back to life for me..

ok its not the cmos battery..replaced that..its still doing the same thing..any other ideas????

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www.myspace.com/onemanandalaptop

Boot from the XP installation CD and try a repair installation.

If that fails, mount the drive in another computer. If you can see the data files you want to keep, copy them. Run CHKDSK /R. Maybe MalwareBytes and ESET online scanner too. PUt it back and try the Repair Install again. If that fails, do a clean format and clean-install XP. If still no success, get a new computer - you've spent long enough on this lemon!

Quote:

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i bought the computer about 7 years ago new.its worked for years.

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PCs (other than servers) are designed to work for three years (which is as long as you can get a warranty for). Servers - 5 years.

I'd consider retiring the machine to door-stop/boat-anchor duty and buying a new machine if I was you; it'll probably be quicker/cheaper/less painful.

Any recent machine will outperform it to a tremendous degree.

i use this machine as a sketch pad for ideas...it my home music computer...i will be sad to see it go

i think i have got some where with it today....xp is installing as we speak so heres hoping

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www.myspace.com/onemanandalaptop

Does the clock at least hold time now that you've changed the battery?

The time defaulting each time would show that either the battery is dead or the cmos/bios is having issues. Once the bios resets you loose all the settings in there (defaults each time) and if you have had AHCI/Raid or other features enabled and they are now switched off it would explain the blue screens.

You need to get the bios back to the same state it was before the settings were lost, to get it working again...

Failing that repair install time.

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ScanProAudio & 3XS Audio Systems
ScanProAudio Blog

Tap F8 when you turn it on to get to the extended boot menu.

Select "disable automatic restart on system failure"

This should give a chance to see the error code on the blue screen.

got it all working now for the most part....the driver disc that i got with it dosnt work anymore..so i have to go to a ftp site at packard bell and its a bit of a hit and miss there is a list of drivers for the computer but now it looks like i have to open up the computer and take a list of every bit of hardwere and install the relevent drivers...but the clock now stays the same now i have changed the battery so thanks for the info...now i have to see if i can get the display drivers to work

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www.myspace.com/onemanandalaptop

just a thought ...can i trick my computer into thinking it has the same old hard drive so i can install the drivers disc i got with the computer....when i try to install them it says only works in a packard bell pc

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www.myspace.com/onemanandalaptop

Depends on what's on the disk. On a basic slipstream disk that holds the entire image it should just work regardless give or take some drivers being installed.

It sounds like you may have some kind of P.E. type disk where it'll boot the machine and then reinstall the O.S. from a hidden partition on the harddrive... well it's the only reason I can think that it's able to work out it isn't a P.B. machine because it shouldn't be able to tell you that on just a harddrive change.

Your probably best off doing a clean install off a basic windows disk and then running this : http://www.piriform.com/speccy

That'll list the hardware in the machine and then you can google up the relevent websites for the parts so you can download the latest drivers all round.

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ScanProAudio & 3XS Audio Systems
ScanProAudio Blog

perfect..what a star ...
cheers dude

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www.myspace.com/onemanandalaptop

This has opened up a posible solution to my issue with Firewire connections not being visible.
I have, on boot up, Cmos Checksum Error defaults loaded.
I also have , for the last 2 years 2003 as the default date. aulty CMos.
If i change the battery, How do i clear and then reset the Cmos. like? reset it to what setting?

Sorry i am a real thicko with computers...

Ronnie

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My Songs are at http://songramp.com/RonnieG

Yes Ronnie, it does sound like it could be the battery.

The problem you have currently is that each time it loads up because the CMOS is flash memory and requires a power source to hold the system information (i.e. the battery), a lack of power causes the bios to reset to the factory defaults that were programed in at the AMIbios factory (or whereever) rather than the defaults programed in at the Asus/Gigabyte/Intel (whereever) factory.

So yeah, you can change the battery and re-enter the settings but the only people who could tell you what those settings would be, would be whoever built it for you and that is assuming they still have a list of settings to hand... otherwise I'm afraid it's keep trying different combinations until they work.

The good news (if the is some in all this) is that the firewire can sometimes be disabled in the bios and whilst this is normally left as switched on as default, in this instance it does sound like it could be defaulting to disabled and you might have some luck poking around in the bios.

Back on the good news if it's been working fine for you on defaults with the only problem being the firewire, then I'd swap in a new battery and enter the bios and just turn on the firewire and set up the date and time and then save it. If it comes back working then just use it as is, until you can rope someone who knows their way around a bios into setting it up for you properly at a later date, whilst still being able to get by with it for the time being.

*Edit* I've just read the other post and seen the comments on the buss power still working. If as mentioned in that thread the power is simply on a pass through then this might still apply as the bios just turns off the controller chip rather than the power feed, but I've never tried to power something off firewire with the port disabled. Make sure you drop us an update when you've tried it as I'm quite interested to see the result now I've read that.


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ScanProAudio & 3XS Audio Systems
ScanProAudio Blog

Hi Pete. Thanks for geting involved.
(and my apologies to the Op for the thread hijack!)

This sounds encouraging ( the battery). However, having been into the settings already to have a look around i can't see anything specific to turning the "Firewire" on.
the only reference is to turning on PCi if plug and play or manual, this is in the BOOT menu. ( i replied yes)
So not sure if i can influence the "chip" being turned back on.

As an aside. i did try anther firewire PCi card not used before. and still the same symptons. I broke out in a sweat thinking i may have blown them on the interfaces....(2 sound cards and a liquid mix) All three of them?? !!!... but surely not?

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My Songs are at http://songramp.com/RonnieG

If you have managed to get XP installed and basically working, you may be better off digging around for drivers away from the original makers site. Your PC is probably fairly generic hardware wise and I imagine the drivers held on the makers website will be well out of date.

When I reset my desktop I usually do the basic install, grab the chipset drivers then the ethernet etc.

If you re struggling you can always post the model number, there are a few free diagnostic tools about too such as everest, would give you a list of hardware.

I don't like throwing stuff away either!

Karl

Quote Wombat:

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If you have managed to get XP installed and basically working, you may be better off digging around for drivers away from the original makers site. Your PC is probably fairly generic hardware wise and I imagine the drivers held on the makers website will be well out of date.

When I reset my desktop I usually do the basic install, grab the chipset drivers then the ethernet etc.

If you re struggling you can always post the model number, there are a few free diagnostic tools about too such as everest, would give you a list of hardware.

I don't like throwing stuff away either!

Karl

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Are you my son?

this is a good laugh is it....i cant get my graphics card drivers...when i install that programme "speccy"under graphics its says"on"..no other names or anything.....what other programmes like that do you suggest???

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www.myspace.com/onemanandalaptop

http://www.belarc.com/free_download.html

Give that a try.

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ScanProAudio & 3XS Audio Systems
ScanProAudio Blog

Have you recently downloaded or installed Z3ta+2 or any of its collections?