PC won't boot -- pls help!

[Guest Phisherman]

I have an old Sony PC with a Promise hard drive controller, Maxtor

hard drive and another (old) hard drive. The promise drivers show

on-screen, but halfway through the Win 2000 Pro boot up process the

machine stops (blue screen of death) with

 

Inaccessible boot device. Use Chkdsk /f ...

 

I attempted to boot from a floppy or (Win 2000) CD, but that results

in a blank screen with a blinking cursor in the upper left corner. I

looked in the BIOS to make the boot order: removable devices, then

CD, then hard drive. The floppy I have contains the following hidden

files:

 

boot.ini

ntdetect.com

ntltr

 

I can access the BIOS. It shows the correct time and hardware

settings so I don't think the MoBo battery cell is bad. The primary

floppy is set to "Enable." One one floppy is in the PC.

 

I tried removing the Promise card, and attaching the hard drive

(jumper set to Master) directly to the MoBo Pri IDE connector.

 

I have another (working) Windows 2000 Pro PC to help with

troubleshooting.

 

How can I get this PC to boot from a floppy? What other things should

I test/suspect? Please help!

[Guest Pegasus \(MVP\)]

Re: PC won't boot -- pls help!

 

 

"Phisherman" <noone@nobody.com> wrote in message

news:fuasb3l9t522ju87e9toh0qu841dk0fhpj@4ax.com...

>I have an old Sony PC with a Promise hard drive controller, Maxtor

> hard drive and another (old) hard drive. The promise drivers show

> on-screen, but halfway through the Win 2000 Pro boot up process the

> machine stops (blue screen of death) with

>

> Inaccessible boot device. Use Chkdsk /f ...

>

> I attempted to boot from a floppy or (Win 2000) CD, but that results

> in a blank screen with a blinking cursor in the upper left corner. I

> looked in the BIOS to make the boot order: removable devices, then

> CD, then hard drive. The floppy I have contains the following hidden

> files:

>

> boot.ini

> ntdetect.com

> ntltr

>

> I can access the BIOS. It shows the correct time and hardware

> settings so I don't think the MoBo battery cell is bad. The primary

> floppy is set to "Enable." One one floppy is in the PC.

>

> I tried removing the Promise card, and attaching the hard drive

> (jumper set to Master) directly to the MoBo Pri IDE connector.

>

> I have another (working) Windows 2000 Pro PC to help with

> troubleshooting.

>

> How can I get this PC to boot from a floppy? What other things should

> I test/suspect? Please help!

 

There is no point in attempting to boot from a floppy disk.

Doing so will bypass the very first steps in the boot process

but your problem occurs much, much later. Try booting into

Safe Mode. It would also be helpful to report the recent

history of the machine.

[Guest Dave Patrick]

Re: PC won't boot -- pls help!

 

This article may help.

 

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/q155053/

 

--

 

Regards,

 

Dave Patrick ....Please no email replies - reply in newsgroup.

Microsoft Certified Professional

Microsoft MVP [Windows]

http://www.microsoft.com/protect

 

"Phisherman" wrote:

>I have an old Sony PC with a Promise hard drive controller, Maxtor

> hard drive and another (old) hard drive. The promise drivers show

> on-screen, but halfway through the Win 2000 Pro boot up process the

> machine stops (blue screen of death) with

>

> Inaccessible boot device. Use Chkdsk /f ...

>

> I attempted to boot from a floppy or (Win 2000) CD, but that results

> in a blank screen with a blinking cursor in the upper left corner. I

> looked in the BIOS to make the boot order: removable devices, then

> CD, then hard drive. The floppy I have contains the following hidden

> files:

>

> boot.ini

> ntdetect.com

> ntltr

>

> I can access the BIOS. It shows the correct time and hardware

> settings so I don't think the MoBo battery cell is bad. The primary

> floppy is set to "Enable." One one floppy is in the PC.

>

> I tried removing the Promise card, and attaching the hard drive

> (jumper set to Master) directly to the MoBo Pri IDE connector.

>

> I have another (working) Windows 2000 Pro PC to help with

> troubleshooting.

>

> How can I get this PC to boot from a floppy? What other things should

> I test/suspect? Please help!

[Guest Phisherman]

Re: PC won't boot -- pls help!

 

On Sat, 11 Aug 2007 23:49:41 +0200, "Pegasus \(MVP\)" <I.can@fly.com>

wrote:

>

>"Phisherman" <noone@nobody.com> wrote in message

>news:fuasb3l9t522ju87e9toh0qu841dk0fhpj@4ax.com...

>>I have an old Sony PC with a Promise hard drive controller, Maxtor

>> hard drive and another (old) hard drive. The promise drivers show

>> on-screen, but halfway through the Win 2000 Pro boot up process the

>> machine stops (blue screen of death) with

>>

>> Inaccessible boot device. Use Chkdsk /f ...

>>

>> I attempted to boot from a floppy or (Win 2000) CD, but that results

>> in a blank screen with a blinking cursor in the upper left corner. I

>> looked in the BIOS to make the boot order: removable devices, then

>> CD, then hard drive. The floppy I have contains the following hidden

>> files:

>>

>> boot.ini

>> ntdetect.com

>> ntltr

>>

>> I can access the BIOS. It shows the correct time and hardware

>> settings so I don't think the MoBo battery cell is bad. The primary

>> floppy is set to "Enable." One one floppy is in the PC.

>>

>> I tried removing the Promise card, and attaching the hard drive

>> (jumper set to Master) directly to the MoBo Pri IDE connector.

>>

>> I have another (working) Windows 2000 Pro PC to help with

>> troubleshooting.

>>

>> How can I get this PC to boot from a floppy? What other things should

>> I test/suspect? Please help!

>

>There is no point in attempting to boot from a floppy disk.

>Doing so will bypass the very first steps in the boot process

>but your problem occurs much, much later. Try booting into

>Safe Mode. It would also be helpful to report the recent

>history of the machine.

>

 

It won't boot to safe mode. It won't boot "from last known good

configuration." It won't boot from the CD nor the floppy. If a

critical file is missing or corrupt which I can't repair nor try

Chkdsk /f if I can't get a (DOS) prompt.

:-(

[Guest The Kat]

Re: PC won't boot -- pls help!

 

On Sat, 11 Aug 2007 23:17:31 GMT, Phisherman <noone@nobody.com> wrote:

 

>It won't boot to safe mode. It won't boot "from last known good

>configuration." It won't boot from the CD nor the floppy. If a

>critical file is missing or corrupt which I can't repair nor try

>Chkdsk /f if I can't get a (DOS) prompt.

>:-(

 

If it won't boot from ANY device,

it's a pretty good bet your motherboard (and/or CPU) is hosed.

 

 

 

 

--

 

Lumber Cartel (tinlc) #2063. Spam this account at your own risk.

 

This sig censored by the Office of Home, Land & Planet Insecurity...

 

Remove XYZ to email me

[Guest Phisherman]

Re: PC won't boot -- pls help!

 

On Sat, 11 Aug 2007 17:11:38 -0700, The Kat <news1@katxyzkave.net>

wrote:

>On Sat, 11 Aug 2007 23:17:31 GMT, Phisherman <noone@nobody.com> wrote:

>

>

>>It won't boot to safe mode. It won't boot "from last known good

>>configuration." It won't boot from the CD nor the floppy. If a

>>critical file is missing or corrupt which I can't repair nor try

>>Chkdsk /f if I can't get a (DOS) prompt.

>>:-(

>

>If it won't boot from ANY device,

>it's a pretty good bet your motherboard (and/or CPU) is hosed.

 

Windows 2000 is loading about halfway, then stops. If the MoBo or CPU

were bad it would not get to that point (isn't that correct?)

[Guest Pegasus \(MVP\)]

Re: PC won't boot -- pls help!

 

 

"Phisherman" <noone@nobody.com> wrote in message

news:1iqtb3dcr27utv7n3mv5narfcqdbq8hg1c@4ax.com...

> On Sat, 11 Aug 2007 17:11:38 -0700, The Kat <news1@katxyzkave.net>

> wrote:

>

>>On Sat, 11 Aug 2007 23:17:31 GMT, Phisherman <noone@nobody.com> wrote:

>>

>>

>>>It won't boot to safe mode. It won't boot "from last known good

>>>configuration." It won't boot from the CD nor the floppy. If a

>>>critical file is missing or corrupt which I can't repair nor try

>>>Chkdsk /f if I can't get a (DOS) prompt.

>>>:-(

>>

>>If it won't boot from ANY device,

>>it's a pretty good bet your motherboard (and/or CPU) is hosed.

>

> Windows 2000 is loading about halfway, then stops. If the MoBo or CPU

> were bad it would not get to that point (isn't that correct?)

 

Yes, this is entirely correct. It is very unlikely that you

have a hardware problem.

[Guest Frank Booth Snr]

Re: PC won't boot -- pls help!

 

Phisherman wrote:

> On Sat, 11 Aug 2007 23:49:41 +0200, "Pegasus \(MVP\)" <I.can@fly.com>

> wrote:

>

>

>>"Phisherman" <noone@nobody.com> wrote in message

>>news:fuasb3l9t522ju87e9toh0qu841dk0fhpj@4ax.com...

>>

>>>I have an old Sony PC with a Promise hard drive controller, Maxtor

>>>hard drive and another (old) hard drive. The promise drivers show

>>>on-screen, but halfway through the Win 2000 Pro boot up process the

>>>machine stops (blue screen of death) with

>>>

>>>Inaccessible boot device. Use Chkdsk /f ...

>>>

>>>I attempted to boot from a floppy or (Win 2000) CD, but that results

>>>in a blank screen with a blinking cursor in the upper left corner. I

>>>looked in the BIOS to make the boot order: removable devices, then

>>>CD, then hard drive. The floppy I have contains the following hidden

>>>files:

>>>

>>>boot.ini

>>>ntdetect.com

>>>ntltr

>>>

>>>I can access the BIOS. It shows the correct time and hardware

>>>settings so I don't think the MoBo battery cell is bad. The primary

>>>floppy is set to "Enable." One one floppy is in the PC.

>>>

>>>I tried removing the Promise card, and attaching the hard drive

>>>(jumper set to Master) directly to the MoBo Pri IDE connector.

>>>

>>>I have another (working) Windows 2000 Pro PC to help with

>>>troubleshooting.

>>>

>>>How can I get this PC to boot from a floppy? What other things should

>>>I test/suspect? Please help!

>>

>>There is no point in attempting to boot from a floppy disk.

>>Doing so will bypass the very first steps in the boot process

>>but your problem occurs much, much later. Try booting into

>>Safe Mode. It would also be helpful to report the recent

>>history of the machine.

>>

>

>

> It won't boot to safe mode. It won't boot "from last known good

> configuration." It won't boot from the CD nor the floppy. If a

> critical file is missing or corrupt which I can't repair nor try

> Chkdsk /f if I can't get a (DOS) prompt.

> :-(

 

You need to go into bios and set the CD drive as the FIRST boot device

option. Then save bios settings and try booting from your Win2k CD

again. Make sure you see the 'boot from CDRom' option message then hit

<return>. It is only displayed for about a second. If you miss it, it

will fail to boot again.

[Guest Phisherman]

Re: PC won't boot -- pls help!

 

On Sun, 12 Aug 2007 23:47:22 +0100, Frank Booth Snr

<fbsnr@yahoo.co.uk> wrote:

>Phisherman wrote:

>

>> On Sat, 11 Aug 2007 23:49:41 +0200, "Pegasus \(MVP\)" <I.can@fly.com>

>> wrote:

>>

>>

>>>"Phisherman" <noone@nobody.com> wrote in message

>>>news:fuasb3l9t522ju87e9toh0qu841dk0fhpj@4ax.com...

>>>

>>>>I have an old Sony PC with a Promise hard drive controller, Maxtor

>>>>hard drive and another (old) hard drive. The promise drivers show

>>>>on-screen, but halfway through the Win 2000 Pro boot up process the

>>>>machine stops (blue screen of death) with

>>>>

>>>>Inaccessible boot device. Use Chkdsk /f ...

>>>>

>>>>I attempted to boot from a floppy or (Win 2000) CD, but that results

>>>>in a blank screen with a blinking cursor in the upper left corner. I

>>>>looked in the BIOS to make the boot order: removable devices, then

>>>>CD, then hard drive. The floppy I have contains the following hidden

>>>>files:

>>>>

>>>>boot.ini

>>>>ntdetect.com

>>>>ntltr

>>>>

>>>>I can access the BIOS. It shows the correct time and hardware

>>>>settings so I don't think the MoBo battery cell is bad. The primary

>>>>floppy is set to "Enable." One one floppy is in the PC.

>>>>

>>>>I tried removing the Promise card, and attaching the hard drive

>>>>(jumper set to Master) directly to the MoBo Pri IDE connector.

>>>>

>>>>I have another (working) Windows 2000 Pro PC to help with

>>>>troubleshooting.

>>>>

>>>>How can I get this PC to boot from a floppy? What other things should

>>>>I test/suspect? Please help!

>>>

>>>There is no point in attempting to boot from a floppy disk.

>>>Doing so will bypass the very first steps in the boot process

>>>but your problem occurs much, much later. Try booting into

>>>Safe Mode. It would also be helpful to report the recent

>>>history of the machine.

>>>

>>

>>

>> It won't boot to safe mode. It won't boot "from last known good

>> configuration." It won't boot from the CD nor the floppy. If a

>> critical file is missing or corrupt which I can't repair nor try

>> Chkdsk /f if I can't get a (DOS) prompt.

>> :-(

>

>You need to go into bios and set the CD drive as the FIRST boot device

>option. Then save bios settings and try booting from your Win2k CD

>again. Make sure you see the 'boot from CDRom' option message then hit

><return>. It is only displayed for about a second. If you miss it, it

>will fail to boot again.

 

Thanks to all. I was finally able to boot from the Win 2000 CD after

removing a Promise (IDE controller) card. The original boot partition

is damaged but I was able to reload Win2k onto another physical drive.

The "bad" drive's data is accessible after making it a slave drive but

the booting from it (even in Safe Mode) is damaged.

[Guest Jaime Rodríguez]

Re: PC won't boot -- pls help!

 

Hello.

 

I had that same issue a while ago and here's what i did and finally got away

with it.....

 

Connect that HD as slave into another W2K machine, as it boots chkdsk

utility will come out, let it run and perform chkdsk/f, with that, you

should be done and connect your HD again in its original pc and should work

great again.

 

If that fails, then get an app called "TUNEUP UTILITIES 2007" you can

download it in http://www.download.com and will let you try it for 30 days (all the

features) and go for Clean up and Repair then "TuneUp Disk Doctor" and

perform a throughout analysis.

 

You should be done with any of this utilities, if both fails, then, save

your important data from that HD and kiss him goodbye....

 

Hope this would help,

 

Jaime Rodríguez.

 

"Phisherman" <noone@nobody.com> escribió en el mensaje

news:rahvb3l7nsaokg2o2otd36adea7bd7a2r8@4ax.com...

> On Sun, 12 Aug 2007 23:47:22 +0100, Frank Booth Snr

> <fbsnr@yahoo.co.uk> wrote:

>

> >Phisherman wrote:

> >

> >> On Sat, 11 Aug 2007 23:49:41 +0200, "Pegasus \(MVP\)" <I.can@fly.com>

> >> wrote:

> >>

> >>

> >>>"Phisherman" <noone@nobody.com> wrote in message

> >>>news:fuasb3l9t522ju87e9toh0qu841dk0fhpj@4ax.com...

> >>>

> >>>>I have an old Sony PC with a Promise hard drive controller, Maxtor

> >>>>hard drive and another (old) hard drive. The promise drivers show

> >>>>on-screen, but halfway through the Win 2000 Pro boot up process the

> >>>>machine stops (blue screen of death) with

> >>>>

> >>>>Inaccessible boot device. Use Chkdsk /f ...

> >>>>

> >>>>I attempted to boot from a floppy or (Win 2000) CD, but that results

> >>>>in a blank screen with a blinking cursor in the upper left corner. I

> >>>>looked in the BIOS to make the boot order: removable devices, then

> >>>>CD, then hard drive. The floppy I have contains the following hidden

> >>>>files:

> >>>>

> >>>>boot.ini

> >>>>ntdetect.com

> >>>>ntltr

> >>>>

> >>>>I can access the BIOS. It shows the correct time and hardware

> >>>>settings so I don't think the MoBo battery cell is bad. The primary

> >>>>floppy is set to "Enable." One one floppy is in the PC.

> >>>>

> >>>>I tried removing the Promise card, and attaching the hard drive

> >>>>(jumper set to Master) directly to the MoBo Pri IDE connector.

> >>>>

> >>>>I have another (working) Windows 2000 Pro PC to help with

> >>>>troubleshooting.

> >>>>

> >>>>How can I get this PC to boot from a floppy? What other things should

> >>>>I test/suspect? Please help!

> >>>

> >>>There is no point in attempting to boot from a floppy disk.

> >>>Doing so will bypass the very first steps in the boot process

> >>>but your problem occurs much, much later. Try booting into

> >>>Safe Mode. It would also be helpful to report the recent

> >>>history of the machine.

> >>>

> >>

> >>

> >> It won't boot to safe mode. It won't boot "from last known good

> >> configuration." It won't boot from the CD nor the floppy. If a

> >> critical file is missing or corrupt which I can't repair nor try

> >> Chkdsk /f if I can't get a (DOS) prompt.

> >> :-(

> >

> >You need to go into bios and set the CD drive as the FIRST boot device

> >option. Then save bios settings and try booting from your Win2k CD

> >again. Make sure you see the 'boot from CDRom' option message then hit

> ><return>. It is only displayed for about a second. If you miss it, it

> >will fail to boot again.

>

> Thanks to all. I was finally able to boot from the Win 2000 CD after

> removing a Promise (IDE controller) card. The original boot partition

> is damaged but I was able to reload Win2k onto another physical drive.

> The "bad" drive's data is accessible after making it a slave drive but

> the booting from it (even in Safe Mode) is damaged.

>