Computer Help

[hippietim]

Re: Computer Help

if it is hanging at the "press any key to boot from CD..." stage, then it can only be a few things: a hardware failure, hardware configuration problem, or bad CD.

John, did you verify that your XP Pro CD will boot on another machine?

It sounds like the hard drive is basically sound if you were able to format it. So at least the primary IDE channel and your hard disk are good.

So if the hard disk is good and the CD is good, the next thing to look at would be the CD drive itself.

I tend to look at the things that have moving parts and/or things that people handle first. There are cetainly other potential problems here - bad memory, bad board, etc.

Did you go to IBM's web site and see if they have any diagnostics? A lot of these guys do have some pretty good boot diagnostic tools.

Just did a quick MSN search for "IBM Netvista diagnostics" and the top hit looks pretty useful:
http://www-3.ibm.com/pc/support/site...cid=MIGR-39306

[jgcable]

Re: Computer Help

[ QUOTE ]
if it is hanging at the "press any key to boot from CD..." stage, then it can only be a few things: a hardware failure, hardware configuration problem, or bad CD.

John, did you verify that your XP Pro CD will boot on another machine? YES, IT BOOTS FINE ON ANOTHER MACHINE

It sounds like the hard drive is basically sound if you were able to format it. So at least the primary IDE channel and your hard disk are good.

So if the hard disk is good and the CD is good, the next thing to look at would be the CD drive itself. THE CD DRIVE SPOOLS UP AND LIGHTS UP. IT ALSO IS RECOGNIZED IN THE BIOS. I WILL TRY INSTALLING ANOTHER WORKING CD DRIVE IN IT TO SEE IF THAT IS THE PROBLEM.

I tend to look at the things that have moving parts and/or things that people handle first. There are cetainly other potential problems here - bad memory, bad board, etc.
I HAVE AN EXTRA 128MB STICK OF RAM BUT UNFORTUNATELY IT IS PC2100 AND I NEED PC133. I HAVE A 700MHZ PENTIUM 2 WORKING PC THAT I WILL HAVE TO ROB SOME PARTS FROM SO I CAN DIAGNOSE IF IT IS A MEMORY PROBLEM OR MAYBE A CD DRIVE PROBLEM. I WAS EVEN THINKING THAT I COULD JUST THROW THAT HARD DRIVE IN THE NEW MACHINE AND SEE WHAT HAPPENS. WHAT DO YOU THINK?

Did you go to IBM's web site and see if they have any diagnostics? A lot of these guys do have some pretty good boot diagnostic tools.
I DID AND I DOWNLOADED AND RIPPED THE IBM PC DOCTOR TOOLS BUT THEY ONLY WORK IF YOU HAVE AN INSTALLED OPERATING SYSTEM. MY COMPUTER JUST SAYS "NON-SYSTEM DISK" WHEN I BOOT IT UP WITH THE DISK INSTALLED.

Just did a quick MSN search for "IBM Netvista diagnostics" and the top hit looks pretty useful:
http://www-3.ibm.com/pc/support/site...cid=MIGR-39306

[/ QUOTE ]

[Guest]

Re: Computer Help

Try booting up with a Win98 disk, see if that will install, if not, it's most likely the board. You have enough ram to install the OS and run it, just not going to perform well down the road, but it will get you to where you need to be now.

Next....

Pat

[audiophile]

Re: Computer Help

the initial post sounds like format 1st then fdisk
you must fdisk first, and then format
just checking...

boot with bootdisk
fdisk
remove all partitions
add a partition
make partion primary
format

Now, if you have been in BIOS, and edited the boot order for CD-ROM 1st and it still will not boot, can try this. (Set it back to default 1st)

boot with bootdisk
at the a prompt type

smartdrv

pray you have it or can find it on your bootdisk, DOS or win98cd, it makes installing so much faster. It's not required.
then with xp pro cd in drive, type each...

cd d:
cd i386
winnt


remote possibility a BIOS update is needed (last resort)
IBM has extensive documentation/software it appears on your pc
http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/site.wss/home.do

[hippietim]

Re: Computer Help

The Fdisk steps are not likely to make any difference. A Windows CD does not have any dependency on the state of the hard drive. It can be a brand new drive with no partitions at all. Windows setup has partitioning and formatting built in.

Also, you are missing one key step: you need CD-ROM drivers for DOS to be able to access the drive.

[Guest]

Re: Computer Help

[img]/images/graemlins/scratchhead.gif[/img]

Pat

[audiophile]

Re: Computer Help

I understood most of the problem to be booting from an XP cd
Whether its 1st or 3rd, shouldn't matter. I did not understand if the CD wouldn't read even in dos.
Was just waiting to hear 'I get no access in DOS'
The bootdisk either has CD drivers or it doesn't, most do.

LOL, I could've just been simpler and said browse the xp cd from dos and run winnt in i386 directory.
That has 'manually' installed XP for me from DOS from a CD that refused to boot.

[jgcable]

Re: Computer Help

can XP PRO be installed over Windows Millenium??

[Guest]

Re: Computer Help

XPPro can be installed over anything I believe...

Pat

[Cleveland Metal]

Re: Computer Help

I'd really want millenium GONE, format and then a clean install of XP.

Just a note, I've had CDROM drives appear to function ok, and even play audio CDs, yet seemed intermittent doing data transfer and would trash a windows install quite nicely.

[OnlineStageGear]

Re: Computer Help

[ QUOTE ]
A Windows CD does not have any dependency on the state of the hard drive. It can be a brand new drive with no partitions at all. Windows setup has partitioning and formatting built in.

Also, you are missing one key step: you need CD-ROM drivers for DOS to be able to access the drive.

[/ QUOTE ]


That's not 100% accurate. Your Bios will still look at the hard drive before it even goes to any perticular boot order, so a bad partition or corrupt boot record could hold the machine up.

It sounds like his CD just wont boot, and it could also be a bad CD Drive, If the CD won't boot in your machine, try making a copy of it on another PC if you can. Sometimes your CD drive just won't read a perticular CD but will read everything else just fine. There could also be a component failure that could hold the machine up as well.

Matt

[jgcable]

Re: Computer Help

I replaced the CD drive and I installed a known working hard drive with Win ME installed on it. The computer works but of course my ethernet adapter, display and audio don't work because I have to update their drivers so I am operating currently with no sound, 16 bit video and no access to the internet. I can't download the drivers online because I can't connect to the internet. I will try downloading the drivers from work and rip them and bring them home. I don't want to take the chance of formatting this drive because at least it has a functional operating system on it.

[jgcable]

Re: Computer Help

UPDATE!!! I downloaded the 6 Win XP Pro start up disks and I tried reinstalling XP Pro. I chose the Fat 32 option and the program installed flawlessly BUT........... after it finished installing the computer rebooted itself and I got a message saying non system disk, please remove and press any key. I realized my #6 floppy was still in the drive so I removed it and rebooted. The Win XP PRo black screen came on and it looked all goot UNTIL.......... instead of going to the familiar blue welcome screen, the screen just went black. No curser, no nothing. The hard drive was running for a while but the screen was black. Then I had an idea... maybe it was the display driver and that I actually have a successful XP install. I rebooted using the F8 option and entered Safe Mode. Sure enough.. XP Pro was in there and the Safe mode worked perfectly although I couldn't get more than the basic vga 16 color mode and the 10/100 card didn't work either cause I couldn't get online. It got too late so I shut her off and went up to bed to tend to my wife. I have a CD with all the drivers and updates for my Netvista 2257-32 that I ripped a few days ago. They worked with Win ME so I am going to try them on XP Pro and see what happens. If they don't work I will go to the IBM site and download the correct drivers for XP Pro. Does it sound like I am on the right track??

[jgcable]

Re: Computer Help

BTW... I went into device manager when I was in Safe Mode and I have no hardware conflicts. A guy at work told me that loading the drivers that I got from the IBM website won't do it and that XP Pro should have detected and installed everything I needed. Man this is getting frustrating.

[Guest]

Re: Computer Help

Try Windows update if you have networking available in safe mode, you should, but go ahead and try that.

Pat