HDD acting weird

[forizzle111]

i was tryin to install a second hard drive, but it wudnt work becus it said no boot record found so then i just went back to my original drive it it wont go past the welcome screen in windows right before u pick ur desktop username? any one no what i can do to fix this? need to have this fixed ASAP thanx

[Cricket]

Is the old hard drive recognized properly in the BIOS?

Is the computer over-clocked? If it is, turn it back to stock speeds and see if Windows will load properly.

Cricket

[forizzle111]

it is recognized and it is not overclocked

[Cricket]

Hmmm...okay...so it's the Seagate SATA HDD that is not fully loading Windows right? What was the other drive? And did you remove the Seagate when you were trying to install the other HDD? If the other HDD was brand new that's the reason you got the No Boot Record found message. Are you trying to add a second hard drive or are you replacing your existing hard drive?

Cricket

[forizzle111]

sry its not the computer in my sig. but both drives had files on them and were used in other computers. all i did was hook up a second drive while leaving in my original and now not even the original drive alone will go past the welcome screen.

[Cricket]

How about some specs of the computer you're working on...and what brand and model hard drives you're working with. SATA or IDE?

Cricket

[forizzle111]

500 MHz cpu, intel mobo, 128mb RAM,10 gig maxtor IDE hard drive, it was all working perfectly until i tried installing the second HDD

[rspassey]

Is it properly jumpered as slave?

[Cricket]

Things to try...

First change the IDE cable. They can go bad.

What kind of IDE cable are you using? 40 wire or 80 wire? 40 wire uses the master/slave jumper settings and the 80 wire uses the CS jumper setting.

Some hard drives don't work well when matched with another hard drive from another brand on the same IDE channel.

Since this is an older computer, are you going into BIOS and redetecting the IDE channels? It's called AUTO DETECT but you really have to do it manually. Go to the BIOS screen where you can see the IDE drives listed and set them to NONE. Then go to the AUTO DETECT screen and detect the drives.

Cricket

[forizzle111]

k thanx

[forizzle111]

ok now it is isnt working at all. when i try to go into the bios all i get is a windows screen with options like:enable VGA mode, enable boot loggin, safe mode, ect. what shud i do??

[Cricket]

Try replacing the motherboard battery first.

What operating system is running on that old computer anyway?

Cricket

[forizzle111]

win XP.where do i get a motherboard battery??? is that wat is causing it to pause at the welcome screen?

[Cricket]

What kind of motherboard battery do you have now? Is it a silver coin battery? Most common is the CR2032 and you can get these at places that sell watches.

If your current motherboard battery is dead, everytime you shut off the computer the CMOS is losing whatever data it has about your system. When you power back up it has to re-recognize all the components in your computer and that's probably why it's booting to the BIOS screens...so you can make any configuration settings necessary for your particular system.

Cricket

[forizzle111]

so can i just pull on from another mobo and use it and see if that works?

[Panama Red]

Originally Posted by forizzle111 so can i just pull on from another mobo and use it and see if that works?

As long as the one you use is a good one, it will work fine. Just remember tho that the board you remove it from will most likely reset the CMOS to factory defaults before you can reinstall the battery again.

[forizzle111]

ok thanx ill try that

[forizzle111]

wasnt the battery. i have figured out the problem but dont know how to fix it.
it is becus i recently reformatted that hdd with XP and now it says i have to activate windows b4 i can log on. wat is this and how to i do it/ get past it? i really need to be rid of thos problem. thanx for the help

[Panama Red]

Sounds like you waited too long to activate and the timer ran out. Best option now is to reinstall XP from scratch and activate it properly. If you have data already on the hdd, try putting it in another machine as the slave and copy your files to save them.

[forizzle111]

thas just it i tried to do that and when i put the disk in it wudnt load up. the drive ran and everything but it wudnt let me reformat from where it was. also what is activating windows and what does it do. thanx a bunch

[Panama Red]

XP is the first MS product to include a security feature that requires activation in order to use the product. Here's MS's explanation:

http://support.microsoft.com/default...07890&sd=techh

[forizzle111]

so basically the OS can only be used on the original computer and not multiple ones?

[Panama Red]

Originally Posted by forizzle111 so basically the OS can only be used on the original computer and not multiple ones?

That is correct. Only one installation per XP CD. And CD's furnished with pc's like Dell cannot legally be installed on any other pc even if the first is "retired".

[forizzle111]

is there any way to do it tho by that i mean not having to activate it?

[Panama Red]

Nope, the 30 day timer will run out and you will have the same problems you're having now. Often attempts to use a Dell or similar disk will cause problems because they are "keyed" to the Dell bios. When the install doesn't see the correct hardware, it won't install.

In all fairness, now that it is apparent that you are using a copy of XP, I can no longer allow this thread to remain open. Forum Rules prohibit discussion of how to use priated/hacked or otherwise illegal software. You need to buy a copy of XP in order to solve this. Good Luck.

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