boot failure

[ezkim0x]

I had room and decided to bring one of my other computers into my room to setup.. it's still a good computer.. 3.06ghz, 512x2 ram..

I did a clean install of winxp pro.. and started installing windows updates.. when I was done and it restarted I got a boot failure.. I tried doing the recovery option from the os cd.. and I didn't think it did anything.. but I was able to load windows again after that.. but after the next reboot it did the boot failure again.

I tried doing another clean install.. and it worked for a day.. but then got restarted and I got the boot failure screen again.

I'm not sure what's causing it.. could it be a bad hdd? or is it something else that might not be connected all the way on the computer? or what..

the screen says this:

Boot Failure from Previous Device...

Boot Failure
Insert BOOT diskette in A:
Press any key when ready...

 

[Severian]

Does the hard drive pass the S.M.A.R.T. testing in the BIOS?

If it does, I would try re-seating the IDE cable at both ends, and replacing the IDE cable if that doesn't work. I'm assuming only one device is on the IDE channel?

 

[ezkim0x]

I enabled S.M.A.R.T. hdd in bios.. but it didn't seem to change anything... but I'm not sure if that's what you meant?

I tried re-seating the cables.. and it shows that it's the primary hdd in bios and everything.

but still I get the boot failure.. do you think it's something to do with the hdd .. or something else? I have another hdd I could try, I just want to make sure before I switch them out.

 

[Severian]

If you watch the POST screen, or the screen that follows it, you will see if the drives pass the S.M.A.R.T. test. Sometimes it goes by so quickly it can be easy to miss it.

Is the hard drive the only drive on the cable?

Bottom line, something is making the drive appear unbootable to the OS; it could be corruption, but the fact that you did a clean install argues for a driver or something that is making life difficult for you. When you reinstalled, did you format the drive as well? Windows installs without any difficulties?

 

[ezkim0x]

well.. I'm a moron.

I ended up having the hdd jumper on slave.. so I changed that to cable select.. and it's booting up fine now.

but now I have a new problem.. the computer works fine and everything until I tried backing up one of my dvds.. I have an external usb dvd burner.. and I know it's not bad, cause I used it 1 day prior to hooking it up with this pc.

I ran it through a decrypter first, and everything was fine.. then I opened the files in dvd shrink.. and about half way through I get the blue screen of death.. I'm positive it's from the dvd burner, cause I tried 3 more times.. and after that my computer has been running fine as long as I don't use it.

I'm not positive.. but I think the blue screen had different errors on them when it would happen.. if you don't have any suggestions.. then I'll try again and write down exactly what the error was...

thanks for any help.

 

[Severian]

I'd try a different USB cable and port.

good luck

 

[ezkim0x]

well.. it's not the USB.

when it goes to the blue screen it's reading/writing to the hdd.. to get ready to burn files.. I turned my dvd writer off while it was doing this to see if it still happened and it did.

so it has to be a bad driver? or something.. but I'm not sure what.. I tried uninstalling dvd shrink and reinstalling.. but it still happens.

I've never had a problem with dvd shrink before, and I have it installed on this computer, and my laptop.. and it works fine. so it has to be something with the computer.

 

[fmj7six2]

I had this same problem, eveything was new MSI mb FX-55 chip, and 250gig Seagate SATA drive. I pulled the Seagate, and put in a 200 gig Maxtor SATA and the problem went away. Time to rma the drive, I'm really really really getting sick and tired of all these defective components I've been getting. I can't build a system this year without at least 1 obf part!

 

[ezkim0x]

I really don't feel like installing windows and all that crap again ;[.

but I guess I'll eventually try a new hdd.

 

[Severian]

it might be helpful to know what error is listed in your BSOD. If you only see this error while using the external DVD-RW, I have a hard time seeing how this could be a hard drive error.

 

[ezkim0x]

it's not the dvd-rw.. It's when it's reading files .vob files from the hdd.. and making an .iso image to the hdd that it happens.. I turned the dvd-rw off.

edit;
where can I find the actual error at so I can post it? I'm not sure where to look.

 

[Severian]

if the bluescreen flashes quickly and then the machine reboots, so fast that you can't see it, you can go to Start-->Right-click on My Computer-->Properties-->Advanced-->Startup and Recovery Settings button-->uncheck the "Automatically restart" box under System failure. The bluescreen will then stay on the screen so you can identify the cause.

Having said that, if you're convinced the problem is with the hard drive, and this is the same drive that led to the creation of this thread, I think it's time you downloaded the manufacturer's testing and diagnostic utility, and checked the drive out. Typically the manufacturer's software will perform either a quick test or an in-depth test, and you should run both and see if the drive passes.

good luck

 

[ezkim0x]

http://i14.tinypic.com/4ccxtlx.jpg

well I took a screenshot of the bsod.. but I don't understand the error really.

 

[Severian]

the actual error message should be just above where you cut off the pic....something like BAD_POOL_CALLER or IRQ_NOT_EQUAL_LESS_THAN or some such gibberish.

I still think you need to download and run the manufacturer's diagnostic utility for your hard drive.

 

[ezkim0x]

I'll run it again to see the error..

I have WD80BB

I downloaded: Data Lifeguard Diagnostic for Windows

http://support.wdc.com/download/index.asp?cxml=n&pid=4&swid=3

Test Option: QUICK TEST
Model Number: WDC WD800BB-00CAA1
Unit Serial Number: WD-WMA8E5156855
Firmware Number: 17.07W17
Capacity: 80.03 GB
SMART Status: PASS
Test Result: PASS
Test Time: 21:31:56, October 30, 2006

Test Option: EXTENDED TEST
Model Number: WDC WD800BB-00CAA1
Unit Serial Number: WD-WMA8E5156855
Firmware Number: 17.07W17
Capacity: 80.03 GB
SMART Status: PASS
Test Result: PASS
Test Time: 22:33:54, October 30, 2006

EDIT;

ok here is the error again: http://i12.tinypic.com/29f8653.jpg

it doesn't really say anything up there.. but this time it says..: *** win32k.sys - Address BF828A31 base at BF800000, DateStamp 43446a58

 

[ezkim0x]

bump

 

[ezkim0x]

bump

 

[Severian]

well Jon, I think you've eliminated the hard drive as the likely culprit. Now you'll have to move on to testing other components, which can be a tedious and time-consuming experience : (

If it was my machine, I would start swapping out each component one at a time until I was unable to reproduce the problem. Unfortunately the win32k.sys error isn't sufficient to narrow down the focus, it could even be a driver issue that causes that.

good luck