xp trouble!!!

[hodgedogg]

please help,
I recently returned from a deployment to Italy with my computer. when I first started the computer after unpacking, it was running very slow. the next time I tried to use it it refused to boot. I messed with it for a while and it would boot intermittently. then it started rejecting drivers left and right. so I gave up and took it to a computer shop. they told me it was a software problem so I brought it home and formatted the hard drive and did a fresh install of xp... the first three times I tried to install xp, it gave me errors and the installation failed. It didn't want to take the OS. the errors were,"driver corrupted", "missing file", and "program attempted to write read only memory" at the bottom of all of these error warnings was the line "beginning physical dump of memory. I finally got it to take the OS on the fourth try and it booted up. but as soon as the desktop loaded, the computer restarted itself!!! I watched this happen a few times and decided to format once again. The formatting went flawlessly and it took the new operating system. unfortunately, it locks up at the windows XP home boot page every time. I almost threw it through the window! please help! sorry for the lengthy letter but the more info for you the better. thank you

[Cricket]

Post the system specs.

Open the computer and make sure all the cables and cards are installed or inserted in their respective slots or sockets properly.

Try replacing the IDE cable to the hard drive.

Go to the hard drive manufacturer's web site and get the diagnostic utility and test your hard drive with it.

Cricket

[ktkendall]

Chances are that because your PC troubles began after a move that something has gotten bumped loose inside the PC, or the harddrive has taken a shock that has caused it to begin to fail. You can usually get a harddrive diagnostic program from the manufacturers site, and other than that I would probably go inside the PC and just check the vid card, memory and drive cables to be sure they are seated properly.

[hodgedogg]

I reseated everything inside the computer to begin with but it didn't solve the problem. I don't have the required internet access to get the utility as I do not have a working computer. in this situation, would you go with replacing the hard drive? thank you for your time.

[ktkendall]

Well, the harddrive is the most vulnerable to shock because it has a mechanical moving part, the read write arm which is so very percisioned it is hard to believe that it can take the bumps and bangs it does especially on a laptop. in fact it is pretty much the only moving mechanical part inside your PC. Having said that, I do suppose if I were you and could not test to absolutely verify for sure the health of the drive and I had the money to buy a new one, I probably would go for it..

[Shepherd1000]

Since you apparently can't download a diagnostic for your hard drive, I would recommend that you buy a hard drive from a place like Best Buy or Circuit City, and see if it solves the problem. If not, then these stores' return policies make it quite easy to return the drive. Then you can continue looking elsewhere in your computer for the cause of the problem.

[hodgedogg]

thank you for all of your help, I am going tolook into the drive next, for the time being I'm having the computer shop look over it one more time to make sure it is a hardware problem and make sure that it is not something simple that I may have overlooked.