Friend's Machine is FUBARED!!!

[Nutdotnet]

He's been having some ongoing issues for the past few months...but now it won't boot into Windows.

Upon power-up the computer has been posting, and restarting, posting, and restarting, posting, and restarting.

When it does get past the diag screen it will typically pop-up with a "NTLDR is Missing." and freeze.

When it gets past THAT (rarely) he'll either get a BSOD or, the last time he tried to go into safe mode it popped up the normal "multi-disk partion" lines and then froze before getting into Windows.

Power Supply?
Motherboard?
Hard Drive?

Any suggestions would be great!

Specs:

Athlon 64 x2 3200+
MSI K8N Neo2
1gig (2x512) GEIL PC3200 RAM
Seagate SATA 80gig Hard Drive
ATI x700 Radeon AGP (due to lock-up issues specific with this computer...he has a 6800GT that he'd like to use.)
RaidMAX 420W Power Supply

That's about it....case and CPU are cool (33C @ Idle)

 

[Bozono]

Originally posted by: Nutdotnet


Power Supply?
Motherboard?
Hard Drive?

Any suggestions would be great!

Probably one of the three. I'd test the memory in another sys. to rule that out. Perhaps bulging capacitors on the mobo? With all those symptoms, I'd say it's likely the mobo.

 

[gotsmack]

check the mobo for blown caps

 

[Nutdotnet]

Originally posted by: gotsmack
check the mobo for blown caps

Mobo for blown caps...got it!

Bozono: He has 2gigs of Ram (4x512)...however, he only uses 2 sticks right now...I've tried each stick by itself...ran memtester through another system...etc...the ram is good.

I'll have him check caps right now.

 

[MagnusTheBrewer]

I think you may be jumping the gun looking at hardware this early. "NTLDR is Missing." is telling us that Windows is seriously fubarred. Try searching MS database first.

 

[Fullmetal Chocobo]

reformat. reinstall. With the information given, it seems more software than hardware.

 

[Nutdotnet]

Originally posted by: Fullmetal Chocobo
reformat. reinstall. With the information given, it seems more software than hardware.

See....there's this fine line...

If I post TOO much info the post will be too big and no one will respond.

Obviously, if there isn't ENOUGH info then it's hard to make a good suggestion.

I did a reformat/reinstall a month or two ago when the "NTLDR" problem FIRST occured (we were having reboot and other problems before that). It seem to fix the problem somewhat...but not really, every other week or so something new would start acting up.

I almost always will look at software before hardware...I don't think this is a software issue anymore.

 

[DBSX]

Yes there is a fine line between too long and long enough, but you need to include all that important stuff

Like, did you test the hard drive? If a reinstall didn't totally fix the NTLDR problem that'd be the next (actually probably the first) thing I checked, a bad hard drive or perhaps the cable. Then RAM, and then, finally I'd graduate to the motherboard.

Also, I'd run memtest in the actual computer having the problem (if you haven't already, this is not clear), and with all sticks. Maybe the memory is fine, but the combo is bad or a slot on the motherboard may be bad as well. Testing hardware in other systems is great and important, especially for a final determination of failure, but it's probably more important to test it where it's used.

\Dan

 

[Missing Ghost]

Download the "ultimate boot cd" and use it to run prime95 outside of windows.

 

[Fullmetal Chocobo]

This isn't OT. You can do long posts, so long as it is still pertinent information...

Okay, so you reformatted, and you are relatively positive that this is a hardware issue. In that case, post the specs of the hardware. Maybe we can spot a known incompatibility (such as a Seasonic PSU & a DFI mobo). Post your specs (preferrably both in the OP, and in the reply), and we'll figure this stuff out.

 

[OSX]

NTLDR not found, eh?

Tell him to remove any floppy disks, CD-ROMS, USB sticks, digital cameras, or anything else. Does he have IDE, SATA, or SCSI? If he has scsi, and the controller works, could you please send it to me? Thanks.

 

[Nutdotnet]

Originally posted by: Fullmetal Chocobo
This isn't OT. You can do long posts, so long as it is still pertinent information...

Okay, so you reformatted, and you are relatively positive that this is a hardware issue. In that case, post the specs of the hardware. Maybe we can spot a known incompatibility (such as a Seasonic PSU & a DFI mobo). Post your specs (preferrably both in the OP, and in the reply), and we'll figure this stuff out.

Good point.

Specs:

Athlon 64 x2 3200+
MSI K8N Neo2
1gig (2x512) GEIL PC3200 RAM
Seagate SATA 80gig Hard Drive
ATI x700 Radeon AGP (due to lock-up issues specific with this computer...he has a 6800GT that he'd like to use.)
RaidMAX 420W Power Supply

That's about it....case and CPU are cool (33C @ Idle)

Thanks!

 

[t3h l337 n3wb]

Raidmax 420? Eww... That doesn't sound like its related to the problem he's experiencing though. Sounds like the hard drive or something is messed up.

 

[Nutdotnet]

Originally posted by: t3h l337 n3wb
Raidmax 420? Eww... That doesn't sound like its related to the problem he's experiencing though. Sounds like the hard drive or something is messed up.

I thought it may be the hard drive as well...so I swapped it out and it's still doing this.

 

[Crescent13]

This seriously sounds like a PSU problem to me. I know everyone is saying it isn't, but think about it, computer boots up, PSU doesn't give enough power, computer is forced to shut down and start over. I would get a Fortron 400W for $40 or a Fortron 450W for $50.