EricSinha
asked on
Intermittent Boot problem at Bios
I have a XP Pro machine that fails to boot most of the time.
It started with a "Can't find NTLDR" problem. I repaired the OS.
No more NTLDR missing issue.
Now the system only boots after a few days of being hard shut down, but then that is only most of the time.
It mostly hangs at the BIOS, it may get past it, then restart the boot cycle again and again, always after the BIOS
When I checked the BIOS settings, It SOMETIMES DOESN'T FIND THE HARD DRIVE. I have to go into BIOS and AUTODETECT, then F10, but it still doesn't find the Hard drive...sometimes it does though.
Could this be a virus....I don't think it is, because I am not accessing any software at this stage. It may be a bad sector on the disk, but then I have done a CHKDSK.
When it does boot, it works fine, but it only seems to boot about 1 percent of the time. PAIN! not sure what to do...ANY Suggestions from anyone?...they'd be much appreciated!
Thanks
It started with a "Can't find NTLDR" problem. I repaired the OS.
No more NTLDR missing issue.
Now the system only boots after a few days of being hard shut down, but then that is only most of the time.
It mostly hangs at the BIOS, it may get past it, then restart the boot cycle again and again, always after the BIOS
When I checked the BIOS settings, It SOMETIMES DOESN'T FIND THE HARD DRIVE. I have to go into BIOS and AUTODETECT, then F10, but it still doesn't find the Hard drive...sometimes it does though.
Could this be a virus....I don't think it is, because I am not accessing any software at this stage. It may be a bad sector on the disk, but then I have done a CHKDSK.
When it does boot, it works fine, but it only seems to boot about 1 percent of the time. PAIN! not sure what to do...ANY Suggestions from anyone?...they'd be much appreciated!
Thanks
ASKER CERTIFIED SOLUTION
membership
This solution is only available to members.
To access this solution, you must be a member of Experts Exchange.
-first backup any data you need !
-check and replace the ide cables, also the power connector
check for loose cables or connectors, and inspect them, or replace them
-test the disc drive with the manufacturers utility : here alist :
http://www.hgst.com/hdd/support/download.htm#DFT
http://www.maxtor.com/en/support/products/index.htm
http://support.wdc.com/download/index.asp
http://www.fcpa.fujitsu.com/support/hard-drives/software_utilities.html
http://www.fcpa.fujitsu.com/download/hard-drives/#diagnostic
http://www.hgst.com/hdd/support/download.htm#DFT
http://www.seagate.com/support/seatools/index.html
http://www.samsungelectronics.com/hdd/support/utilities/utilities_index.html
http://www.csd.toshiba.com/cgi-bin/tais/su/su_sc_home.jsp
-check and replace the ide cables, also the power connector
check for loose cables or connectors, and inspect them, or replace them
-test the disc drive with the manufacturers utility : here alist :
http://www.hgst.com/hdd/support/download.htm#DFT
http://www.maxtor.com/en/support/products/index.htm
http://support.wdc.com/download/index.asp
http://www.fcpa.fujitsu.com/support/hard-drives/software_utilities.html
http://www.fcpa.fujitsu.com/download/hard-drives/#diagnostic
http://www.hgst.com/hdd/support/download.htm#DFT
http://www.seagate.com/support/seatools/index.html
http://www.samsungelectronics.com/hdd/support/utilities/utilities_index.html
http://www.csd.toshiba.com/cgi-bin/tais/su/su_sc_home.jsp
What I would do.
0. Backup important data
1. Reseat cables to HD
2. Move to another controller on Motherboard
3 Change cable / both data and power.
4 Change power supply or replace HD depends on your spare parts stock