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Computer won't boot into ANY OS (Win 7, Linux, Live CD)

P

planetmn

Member
I have a desktop computer that I use sporadically. I hadn't used it in 2-3 weeks and went to boot it up the other day. The system is set to dual boot into either Windows 7 or Ubuntu. When I selected Windows, it booted to the "Starting Windows" screen where the logo comes from the four colored dots, only it never showed the four dots and the logo, it just hung at a black screen stating "Starting Windows". When I rebooted and selected Ubuntu, I got a purple screen followed by a black screen with only a cursor line, and the computer hung. MiniKnoppix hangs on while displaying "Checking for USB....". Ultimate Boot CD will run, but some of its' applications (e.g. Parted Magic) will not.

I have tried to reinstall both operating systems, with no luck. Windows DVD will hang at the same place during install as will the Ubuntu CD.

Specs:
AMD Athlon x4 CPU
Biostar A780L3C Motherboard
4GB RAM
500GB Seagate HD
MSI N210 Graphics Card
Asus Blu-Ray Burner

I tried to isolate each component, but have not had any luck coming up with a working solution.

RAM: Using Ultimate Boot CD I ran MemTest and everything seems to be fine.

Harddrive: I installed the hard drive in an external enclosure and looked at it with another system (HTPC). I could read the file structure and any unrestricted directories (NTFS permissions precluded me from reading certain directories). I also ran the SeaTools utility on the drive without any issues. I swapped in the HD from my HTPC system and when it got to the same Starting Windows screen, the computer blue screened and restarted. I also switched the HD from SATA port 1 to SATA port 2.

Graphics card: I removed the card and re-enabled the onboard VGA adapter. No change in behavior.

Blu-Ray Burner: DVDs are being run from this drive (connected on SATA port 4), so I think the SATA ports are ok.

I've never encountered anything like this where I couldn't even reformat and reinstall an OS. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
dave
 
Ketchup,
Thanks for the suggestion. Turns out that it the computer doesn't like my keyboard and mouse plugged into the USB hub I have. Odd thing is that the keyboard and mouse were plugged into the same hub when I was using it on my laptop to post the original post. So there was some conflict between the USB port and the hub itself (other components do work on the hub without issue).
 
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