computer wont start

[Zatrix]

my old computer wont start. whenever i start it it says it error loading something plz enter boot disk. i dont have a boot disk. i even tried putting the cd in first and starting it and it never even allows me to format. and when i finally did get it to do that it said couldn;t detect hardrive. i even cleared the cmos by taking the battery out. that didn't work either.

now im REALLY scared about installing my new mobo and processor in my new comp. what happens if that happens again....?

how should i install my mobo again?

step by step

[speed bump]

What I think it sounds like is your Cd drive is not configured to be your main boot device. So when you boot up it doesn't see your CD. try going into the bios and setting the primary boot device to the Cd rom drive you are using.

Also try using auto detect hard disks while in the bios to make sure your HD was properly detected by your Mobo.

[bradleyland]

my old computer wont start. whenever i start it it says it error loading something plz enter boot disk. i dont have a boot disk. i even tried putting the cd in first and starting it and it never even allows me to format. and when i finally did get it to do that it said couldn;t detect hardrive. i even cleared the cmos by taking the battery out. that didn't work either.

now im REALLY scared about installing my new mobo and processor in my new comp. what happens if that happens again....?

how should i install my mobo again?

step by step
Ok, a couple of things. Quoting error messages ambiguously makes it difficult for anyone to diagnose your problem, so if you really want to solve the issue, you should take the time to write down the error message in full and type it in here. That sounded kind of harsh, but I don't mean it to be :) I want to help.

In this case, the error message you're quoting is a one-of-a-kind, so it's ok. Your computer is telling you that it can't find the primary boot device.

When your computer starts, it looks for files that load an OS. The location it searches for these files is determined by a BIOS (http://www.ati.com/support/infobase/biostutorial.html) setting (looks something like this (http://www.viaarena.com/htmlimages/bios1.jpg)). Normally, your computer boots from the hard drive that contains the operating system. If that drive fails, then the system can't read it and there's no more boot disk, so you get the error message.

The highest likelyhood is that your hard drive just failed. It happens. Especially with hard drives becoming cheaper and cheaper. Fortunately, most hardware failures are isolated to the device that fails. In other words, a failed hard drive is not going to kill your motherboard, unless something really catastrophic happens... but your chances of that happening are very, very, very slim. The only device failure that commonly takes out other componenets is the power supply.

The question is, why did the hard drive fail. How old was it? If it was older than three years, then it was probably just a disk falure (bearing seized, disc surface structure failure, etc). The other thing that can produce failures is a malfunctioning power supply. If your power supply is supplying too much voltage, then it can kill components... however, a hard drive isn't the most sensitive device in the computer, and there are other parts that normally fail first.

I'd say you're safe to go ahead and install your new components. Just order a new hard drive and install Windows. In order to do this, you'll need to go into your BIOS on start up and change the boot sequence so that it looks for the CD-ROM first. Change the setting, save, and exit. Then you should be good to go. When you're completely finished installing Windows, change the boot settings so that C: or IDE-0 is the first boot device. This will speed up the boot process a little bit :)

Hope this helps you out. :thup:

[Leviathan41]

I would fool around a little and try to figure out exactly what the problem is before I went out and bought a new hard drive. Make sure your boot order is set correctly like speed bump said. Do you have another system you can put the HD in to make sure it is indeed the hard drive. It does sound like a bad HD but I would be 100% sure before I purchased a new one. Good Luck!

[Zatrix]

i hate bios. i wish they was a better way to do it

[bradleyland]

i hate bios. i wish they was a better way to do it
Sorry bud, BIOS is it. The only easier option is to take it to a repair shop.

[Drec]

I would fool around a little and try to figure out exactly what the problem is before I went out and bought a new hard drive. Make sure your boot order is set correctly like speed bump said. Do you have another system you can put the HD in to make sure it is indeed the hard drive. It does sound like a bad HD but I would be 100% sure before I purchased a new one. Good Luck!

Agreed, adn Zatrix..if you dont know what your doing..dont do it. take the parts you purchased to a shop and let them install it and see if your hard drive works or not...it would be better then you trying to install it and end up frying somthing.

[CPL.Luke]

did the computer get jard at all recently because youll get that message if it came unplugged in any way. be it the ide cable or the power cord.

I had this happen to me ounce it was the first time I had an error like that before and it took me two days to figure out what happened...