Computer Wont Boot Up

J

johnny

New Member
Hi there its me again im having problems with my other computer (its not any bettter then the one i have now) its an IBM Aptiva Designed for Win 95/NT now i poped in a second hard drive but now when i turn it on i dont get a picture on the monitor any suggestion on how i can repair this problem and also whenb i try to reformate it with win xp svp 1 or 2 it give me a message saying cant find NDTLR does anyone know what this means. please if you have any suggestions on fixing my problem please post

Basic Specs of the Aptiva

AMD K6 266 MHz (i kno same as my other computer)W
Quad Speed CD-Rom Drive
96 MB RAM (1 x 32, 1 x 64)
Primary Master Drive 5 gig HDD
Primary Slave Drive = CD-ROm
Secondary Drive 900 MB HDD
3.5 Floppy
 
Hopefully the board is still good. But the bios itself may have need for a good update if you could still get the last one for that model. When was the last time it was run prior to this? Was the battery on the board ever replaced since it was new? These are a few things to look at.

Upon replacing the original drive you lost the recovery partition and other information that was originally placed on the drive if the system came with a preinstalled version of Windows. Recently when a battery quit the lack of detection by the XP installer while still detected and shown on the post screen indicated the choice of battery or bios chipset failure. It was the battery on a much newer system. The NTLDR file is the NT core's loader file. review this:
"REFERENCE NUMBER: CH000465
NTLDR is Missing.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Issue:

NTLDR is Missing.

Related errors:

Below are the full error messages that may be seen when the computer is booting.

NTLDR is Missing
Press any key to restart

Boot: Couldn't find NTLDR
Please insert another disk

Additional Information:

See our NTLDR dictionary definition for a complete definition on this term.

Cause:

Computer is booting from a non-bootable source.
Computer hard disk drive is not properly setup in BIOS.
Corrupt NTLDR and/or NTDETECT.COM file.
Misconfiguration with the boot.ini file.
Attempting to upgrade from a Windows 95, 98, or ME computer that is using FAT32.
New hard disk drive being added.
Corrupt boot sector / master boot record.
Seriously corrupted version of Windows 2000 or Windows XP.
Loose or Faulty IDE/EIDE hard disk drive cable.
Solutiions"
For possible solutions according to the article go to http://www.computerhope.com/issues/ch000465.htm
 
well this is how i got it. My dad is a general contractor and he turned this commercial store into a computer store but the guy closed the store like a year later and he asked my dad to move and through some stuff out and he offered me the computer so it worked till the end of august 2005 (i got it at the begging)

PC eye said:
Hopefully the board is still good. But the bios itself may have need for a good update if you could still get the last one for that model. When was the last time it was run prior to this? Was the battery on the board ever replaced since it was new? These are a few things to look at.

Upon replacing the original drive you lost the recovery partition and other information that was originally placed on the drive if the system came with a preinstalled version of Windows. Recently when a battery quit the lack of detection by the XP installer while still detected and shown on the post screen indicated the choice of battery or bios chipset failure. It was the battery on a much newer system. The NTLDR file is the NT core's loader file. review this:
"REFERENCE NUMBER: CH000465
NTLDR is Missing.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Issue:

NTLDR is Missing.

Related errors:

Below are the full error messages that may be seen when the computer is booting.

NTLDR is Missing
Press any key to restart

Boot: Couldn't find NTLDR
Please insert another disk

Additional Information:

See our NTLDR dictionary definition for a complete definition on this term.

Cause:

Computer is booting from a non-bootable source.
Computer hard disk drive is not properly setup in BIOS.
Corrupt NTLDR and/or NTDETECT.COM file.
Misconfiguration with the boot.ini file.
Attempting to upgrade from a Windows 95, 98, or ME computer that is using FAT32.
New hard disk drive being added.
Corrupt boot sector / master boot record.
Seriously corrupted version of Windows 2000 or Windows XP.
Loose or Faulty IDE/EIDE hard disk drive cable.
Solutiions"
For possible solutions according to the article go to http://www.computerhope.com/issues/ch000465.htm
Click to expand...
 
Since you received a used system to start with there a fresh battery for a low cost would insure that problem is ruled out. I just had one quit after 1 1/2yrs. of total system use. That suddenly started to cause a large number of issues just trying to get the system to load. Yet I knew the system was clean and hardwares were in working order. Battery? was the question after a day of examination revealed the strong running drive suddenly wasn't seen by the Windows installer. For $2.99 at a local pharmacy a pair of CR2032 lithium batteries found a new home!

The NTLDR error is a common error when going to install XP on a drive that either is set in the wrong udma mode or has a damaged partition table being seen. Without the precise Aptiva model number downloading the correct bios update from http://www-306.ibm.com/pc/support/site.wss/document.do?lndocid=MIGR-4CKQL2 will have to be done carefully. Once you can get Windows to recognise and go onto the drive you will be able to download diagnostic utilities and check over the system there carefully to see if any hardwares are failing.
But this is also the problem with getting used systems without knowing the history on it. Did you get a manual or anything else to identify the model number. If the original battery lasted that long it would be the first thing to replace just to see if your installation disk can then properly detect and reformat the 2nd drive you just installed. Most drives are backward compatable to older systems where the XP installer should be seeing the newer drive you put in. Along with the battery you can also try a different ide cable to see if that is a problem. A standard ribbon cable is low in cost if you don't have a spare lying around.

The other last item is a thorough internal cleaning with a can of compressed air and even an artist type brush to clean the case out completely. Dust can get into pci and memory slots easily on an older system like that. You can also try a boot floppy with memtest on it to test to see if the memory is still good? That could be why it was getting "tossed"?!
 
now when i download the bios update on my computer for the aptiva i put it on a floppy when what do i do
 
First you have to know the actual model number that you haven't posted here quite yet. If you flash the bios with the incorrect download uuuttt ooohh... will be heard here rather loudly I imagine. HP should readily have an update tool that either can be run by first preparing a 3 1/2" floppy just for this especially on an older system(the usual there) or may even have a Windows flash utility available that could work on that model if? you can find out just what model that is.

When looking over the link above when knowing the actual model number you would choose the download that is listed for it. No other update will work correctly unless the exact same make and model board was installed in a simply different model/style case with minor differences seen in option like having 512mb ram instead of 256mb or a dvd drive in that model over not having one. Those changes would be disregarded. Your concern is simply getting the correct one. Following instruction for saving the current one to a removable disk like a floppy will also help if you have a bad flash from a either the wrong version or just a bad or imcomplete download. With the older method of flashing you had to enter the exact name of the old "bin" file name followed by the full and exact name seen on the downloaded update when using the flash tool you also would have to download. The actual update is on the floppy with a copy on the drive as well. That was the old method which was too easy to goof up. Be careful to follow HP's instructions for that model for both backing up the current version as well as updating to the new with their utility. Too bad you couldn't ask the original owner if it was updated during 2005. That could spare any problem there. It would already have the latest and last version available for an older system like that.
 
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