# boot failure



## doc623 (Jun 7, 2004)

Was on my home computer a week ago on a Sun afternoon.
I am using XP Home.
The power went out -came back on for a few seconds and went out again. Found out later it was due to a problem up the line.
I have a surge supressor.
Now the computer will reboot to a point. I am not able to boot to safe mode. The computer will not take the F8 on booting up nor any other command.
I can only go so far and I get two options:

1. F1 to continue - which goes to the next screen with a list of info and a blinking cursor at the bottom left of the screen which does not respond to any input.

2. Del - which will let me enter setup which is no help as the info is meaningless to me.
What should I be looking for in the different sections?

Does anyone have any step by step help/instructions?


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## OrganicCat (Sep 23, 2008)

It's very possible it's "just" your hard drive. Not being there, you generally have two options unless you have a helpful guru around the area. You can find a place to get it fixed (do NOT use BestBuy) or you can get a new hard drive, which they'll probably give you anyway.

If the data on it was critical, you can see about hard drive recovery services, and they cost a lot just to warn you.

The GOOD news is, the most expensive parts of your computer have been spared if you can get to the "setup" screen with that delete key. It means your processor and motherboard and most likely your video card are ok. Wish you some luck!


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## ginnie5 (Jul 15, 2003)

try going into setup and resetting all defaults. Dd's computer had this happens and I tried that and everything was back to normal. I think when it lost power it just reset something.


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## Nevada (Sep 9, 2004)

doc623 said:


> Does anyone have any step by step help/instructions?


1) Start your computer and take the Del option to enter Setup. On the main page verify that the "primary master" IDE device is there and shows data. It should give you cylinders, heads, and an estimate of the total gigabytes on the drive. If it's not there then your hard drive is bad. If you see the drive data then go to step 2.

2) Find your XP install CD and boot to it so you can do a repair. These are pretty good instructions for that.

http://www.geekstogo.com/forum/How-to-repair-Windows-XP-t138.html


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## backwoodsman7 (Mar 22, 2007)

Nevada said:


> 1) Start your computer and take the Del option to enter Setup. On the main page verify that the "primary master" IDE device is there and shows data. It should give you cylinders, heads, and an estimate of the total gigabytes on the drive. If it's not there then your hard drive is bad.


I would adjust that slightly to say, if that info isn't there, _and the drive type setting for the primary drive is set to "Auto"_, then the drive is bad. If somehow the drive type got set to "None", then the computer won't see the drive. So make sure it's set to "Auto" before deciding the drive is bad. Just to cover all the bases, you'll also want to open the computer and make sure the cable hasn't come loose from either the drive or the motherboard; not much chance of this, but a chance nonetheless.


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## MELOC (Sep 26, 2005)

is it necessary to do "step 2" if the person finds that the bios lost it's settings? i would think the hard drive should function as it did before if it is a problem with the bios settings being lost.

also, check or replace the battery on the motherboard if you do find that the bios settings were lost.


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## Nevada (Sep 9, 2004)

MELOC said:


> is it necessary to do "step 2" if the person finds that the bios lost it's settings? i would think the hard drive should function as it did before if it is a problem with the bios settings being lost.


That's true. In fact, you can't do step 2 until you have a primary master hard drive available in the system. However, most CMOS setups will do an autodetect at each boot, so even if the BIOS battery lost power the system should find the IDE devices.


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## MELOC (Sep 26, 2005)

i guess it depends on what happened to the bios settings. if, like one poster said, they reverted to "none", than the system wouldn't find it. 

good luck!


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## doc623 (Jun 7, 2004)

Thanks for the suggestions. Been away for a while.
I have a few things to try.
Question. Whee is the battery and how I make sure or what does the mother board look like. I think I know but just checking.


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## MELOC (Sep 26, 2005)

the motherboard is the big, printed circuit board inside the case that everything else plugs into. the battery looks just like a watch battery. it is flat and about the size of a nickel or a quarter. the computer needs electricity to maintain the settings. usually the computer has electricity when it is plugged in, but in the event of a power outage, it relies on the battery. if the battery is dead, the BIOS reverts to the default setting programmed in the BIOS chip on the motherboard. sometimes that does not jive with the way a person's pc is set to run because of the way the hardware...the hard drive, cd drives etc. are set up.


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## doc623 (Jun 7, 2004)

Thanks. I'll look.


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## doc623 (Jun 7, 2004)

Update and continued help sought.
I replaced the battery on the mother board and it did test low but not dead.
I did disconnect the power at the source and then disconnected the ribbon cable.
So far nothing has changed/helped.
I did not one message while the computer boots part way and that is BOIS no - something - as no device is there or found.
Have no idea what that means.
Will not boot from CD.
Also says that "Primary Slave and Secondary 
aster falied.
I'm going in circles.
I can access via Del the setup; however from there I'm lost.
Any suggestions?


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## MELOC (Sep 26, 2005)

maybe i should have been more specific and saved you a few bucks. it was worth investing in a battery if the system was able to be saved. it holds your settings once they are made. so if that was not clear, i apologize. at least you have a good battery for whatever system you do use. it can't hurt to replace the battery in an old pc.

are you able to see something like "primary IDE master", "primary IDE slave" when you get into the BIOS?


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## MELOC (Sep 26, 2005)

oh yeah...that hard drive needs to be plugged in to the power supply and the IDE cable to be detected.


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## doc623 (Jun 7, 2004)

I'll have to look this PM when I am able.
Thanks.
I'll try to be more specific on what the comp does boot to and what it says.


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## MELOC (Sep 26, 2005)

hey doc, how's it going?


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## doc623 (Jun 7, 2004)

Not much success yet.
Did not have time to get to the home comp yesterday.
Wil try to get sepcific info this weekend but will not be back here until next Mon.

I'll try to keep you informed as to any progress or lack of/
Thanks for the help so far.
Is there any where on the net that I can read general info that might help - not with the problem but to further general info/understanding as to what I am seeing?


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## MELOC (Sep 26, 2005)

one thing that can help is to try to find the manufacturer's website for the motherboard you have. try to figure out what you have and view or download the owner's manual. having a copy of that saved can be a big help when you need to work in the BIOS. if you can figure out what you have, i will try to find a link to the download for you.

one awesome website i have used for help is www.techsupportforum.com

it is a messege board much like this one where you become a member and can post questions in the proper board. they have boards for everything...software, op systems, etc. i think you can also just browse the site and learn from reading if you don't wish to join.


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