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Thread ID: 14689	2002-01-16 00:34:00	Computer not starting - hard drive problem?	Guest (0)	Press F1

Post ID	Timestamp	Content	User
31391	2002-01-16 00:34:00	My dad's computer, if left off for a while, when he starts it up it goes through POST okay and displays the box with the system info in it etc. and then gets to the point where it *should* load the OS. but it doesn't - it just locks up. Turn it off then on again and away it goes normally. Its not a battery problem, cause usually that causes problems at POST, not after everything else has been done, and besides the m/board etc. are less then a year old, and the HDD is 2000 new (15gb). Once we do get it going, more often than not we get a registry error notice (before Windows has actually loaded) saying there was an error in the registry and that it has been restored, and to reboot. so we do and away it goes, for a while. Celeron 700, 64mb RAM, 15gb HDD, Win98SE (OS has been installed twice now, and we've also tried ME in it, with full formats, low-level formats, fdisks etc. and always the same result). any suggestions?	Guest (0)
31392	2002-01-16 01:33:00	Hardware. We used to get something referred to as 'stiction'. A disk would be very slow to start up. Power off then up again would get it going. It was alleged to be due to a lubricating coating on the disk surface sticking the heads (stepping motor head positioners, and heads landing on the surface). These days that won't be the cause, but it still seems like the drive taking too long to get up to speed. In the rubber chicken mode, how about: turning on BIOS 'auto' mode to identify the HD, turning off BIOS 'Fast POST'. Just to give the thing a bit more time to get up to speed before reading the system in.	Guest (0)
31393	2002-01-16 02:57:00	As Graham said its just possible a head is sticking. The heads are not flat by design, there is a very small taper to generate an aerodynamic wedge so that the head will float at micron gap, but if a head is too flat it can 'wring' to the disk and stick. Not so common now, probably better quality control. Also following Graham, some Award cmos set ups have a 'Delay for IDE initialisation' in seconds. So thats also a possibility to try if you have Award. Low level formatting is not a good idea. It will have been done at the factory. Doing it through the bios set up can cause further problems with a hard drive.	Guest (0)
31394	2002-01-16 04:01:00	Thanks for the quick replies. I've tried turning the quick POST off etc. but that hasn't done anything but make boot up take longer (obviously). I didn't use the low-level format in the BIOS, I used the one supplied by Quantum or Seagate or whoever it was (same as the brand of the drive - I just can't remember off-hand) with their Disk manager software. If the drive was just requiring a bit longer before use, wouldn't it eventually load? Or would it still require a restart? Personally I think it may be something like a surface error right at the start of the disk - causing the boot problems as well as the registry problems that happen later.	Guest (0)
31395	2002-01-16 04:08:00	Assuming it's not the HDD probs the other guys mention, my guess (and it *is* a guess) would be that the power supply isn't up to it. If there's a bunch of hardware attached via USB and lots of grunty graphics, audio, drives for Africa etc., disconnecting a couple and trying the startup thing again might eliminate that as a possibility. Does indeed sound like a hardware thing. Good luck. :-)	Guest (0)
31396	2002-01-16 04:24:00	There's no hardware attached. I'll give the full specs here: Celeron 700 64mb RAM 15gb HDD 12x DVD integrated sound 56k modem ISA network card TNT2 video and that's it. there's no other hardware being used, and nothing installed on the PC (after 3 reformats and reinstalls etc.) I've had the power supply running fine for a year, just switched drives over - hence the belief that its the HDD.	Guest (0)
31397	2002-01-16 05:03:00	Get it going and never turn it off!	Guest (0)
31398	2002-01-16 05:19:00	Hello Mike, Is it sticking at the 'verifying DMI' stage, this is normally the last boot screen prior to Windows loading. If this is the case, I have a suggestion, try resetting your CMos either by pulling the jumper off the reset on the Motherboard or removing the battery for a few hours. I have had similar occurences such as what your experiencing and usually resetting the CMos fixes it ( providing the PC was working OK prior to the installation of the Hard drive) If this does not fix your problem, let me know whats the last verification you see from the Bios prior to the PC stalling and I will scratch my head some more for you. Alan	Guest (0)
31399	2002-01-16 05:20:00	Hello Mike, Is it sticking at the 'verifying DMI' stage, this is normally the last boot screen prior to Windows loading. If this is the case, I have a suggestion, try resetting your CMos either by pulling the jumper off the reset on the Motherboard or removing the battery for a few hours. I have had similar occurences such as what your experiencing and usually resetting the CMos fixes it ( providing the PC was working OK prior to the installation of the Hard drive) If this does not fix your problem, let me know whats the last verification you see from the Bios prior to the PC stalling and I will scratch my head some more for you. Alan	Guest (0)
31400	2002-01-16 08:12:00	Alan! that may just be it... I'll give my dad a call and get him to try it, or I'll try it tomorrow when I'm there to watch the cricket... It is freezing at the Verifying DMI (or something) or a little after that. For a while I had boot from CD turned on, and that message (Booting from CD...Failed) appears after the verifying DMI message - but yeah, its the message right before Windows should be booting. When Boot from CD is off then the verifying DMI is the last message. Otherwise I'll try Terry's suggestion of giving a slight bump to get things going... unfortunately the drive isn't under warranty anymore :(	Guest (0)
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