Forum Home
Press F1
 
Thread ID: 64963 2006-01-03 03:18:00 Computer would not Boot up today symiggy (7597) Press F1
Post ID Timestamp Content User
417845 2006-01-03 03:18:00 Today when I started my computer the usual information appeared as white type on a black screen appearing at the top of the screen:

BIOS and Main Processor information followed by the Memory test which indicated OK.
This was all normal and usual.

Then there was an entry stating: Detecting IDE drives

Which was followed by an entry: Primary Master **********
Primary Slave NONE
Secondary Master********
Secondary Slave NONE

Following this NOTHING happened.

At the bottom of the screen was a note to press DEL to enter setup or Esc to skip memory test Neither of which worked.

I tried resetting the computer several times with no change in the opening screen as described above.
Eventually I decided to try a repair of Windows and did in fact manage to get into the BIOS and changed the boot order to Boot from CD first.
I was starting the procedure when I was asked for the Password of the "Administrator"
Now I do in fact have an Admin account which is password protected but this was definitely not the one that the computer wanted.
To the best of me knowledge I do not know what the password of the "Administrator" is.
After trying several times to input the password which I use to log onto the Admin account that has MY name, all of which passwords were rejected,
suddenly there appeared a message to press any key to start Windows.
After pressing a key..Windows started and the computer booted normally.

My questions are:

1] does this sound like a Hardware or a Software problem.
2] How do I determine what the "Administrator" password is or alternatively assign one to it. In Control Panel> User accounts> there is NO so-called Administrator account only an Account with my name (which does have administrator privileges.)
3]Other than attempting a Windows repair, what else could/should I have done.

Thank you for your help. :help: :badpc: 		symiggy (7597)
417846 2006-01-03 03:35:00 It appears that your motherboard isn't detecting your IDE drives, is it safe to assume your primary master is your boot HDD and your secondary master is your optical drive? Although its a lil werid that you can boot from CD even though the motherboard cant detect an optical drive. Are you confident enough to open up the case and double check that all the cable are still plugged in nice and firm? The cable to my primary HDD comes loose every now and again and the motherboard gets a lil upset and wont detect any of my IDE drives, this may be your problem aswell. Otherwise one of your drives may have cooked itself and be stopping the motherboard from detecting the other drive. Pete O'Neil (6584)
417847 2006-01-03 03:38:00 Are those ***'s indicating some characters eg WD800LB-00DNAO or did actual asterisks display?

If it was the BIOS not detecting your hard drive or IDE device, that is a BIOS issue or hardware issue. Windows hasn't even started to load at that stage.

How old is your computer? It may be worth changing the CMOS battery which only costs a couple of dollars. Another option would be to download the hard drive manufacturers diagnostic utility and check the health of the hard drive. 		Jen (38)
417848 2006-01-03 03:52:00 Jen:

The ***** indicated numbers and letters which I did not think was relevant (or helpful)
You are correct. Windows refused to load until I started the Windows repair after altering the Boot order.

The computer is approx 3 years old but the clock still keeps good time.

I will download the hard drive manufacturers diagnostic utility and check the health of the hard drive.

Do you have any advice on how to determine the "Administrator" password for future reference in case I do need to repair Windows?

Pete O'Neil:
I'm not too comfortable delving into the beast but I will try what you suggest if all else fails. 		symiggy (7597)
417849 2006-01-03 20:24:00 As far as the administrator's password, I'm guessing your getting into the Recovery Console. The password it's asking for is the Windows administrator's password. If you're in the administrator's group, you can reset any other administrator's password.

"Description of the Windows XP Recovery Console"
support.microsoft.com

Your hard drive may be showing the first signs of motor failure. It may be the hard drive is slow to spin up, which caused the initial failure. This would *not* be caught by a chkdsk. I would recommend backing up your important files on a regular basis. 		kingdragonfly (309)
1