Harddrive, restart problem..

[god008]

I got a PC built by a friend back in November or so. It worked fine.

I remember in December the computer would just shut off. Then I tried to turn it on, it would not work. I had to unplug the PSU cable then turn off the PSU unit. I would have to wait then turn it back on.

However, today (and this week recently), I would be listening to music and be surfing the internet and one thing freezes then the whole PC is frozen. So I turn it off (manually). I did the trick (in the last paragraph), but this time it took a few tries before it would boot up. I don't want to waste time everyday going through this process.

I think the problem lies in my harddrive, it says at startup (when it doesn't boot up)... A Disk Read Error Occurred, Press Ctrl+Alt+Del to restart.

Also, what does the 230/115 switch mean on the PSU unit? (I leave it at 115)

http://www.newegg.com/product/product.aspx?Item=N82E16822148065

I tried reformatting one time, but the XP setup could not find an installed harddrive. By the way, the one I have right now is plug and play.

Sorry for the long list of questions, I did not want to make multiple threads. Thanks in advance.

 

[TFT]

Also, what does the 230/115 switch mean on the PSU unit? (I leave it at 115)

In the UK the mains voltage is 240v, that's what we would switch too. If your'e in the US it would be 115v. Basically set it to whatever your mains voltage is.

 

[3 of 7]

<snippage>

I tried reformatting one time, but the XP setup could not find an installed harddrive. By the way, the one I have right now is plug and play.

You likely have a sata drive (serial ATA), The XP install disc can't see it without special drivers for it..
If it's an intel based system, you may be able to set the drive to emulate an IDE drive in the bios then you won't need the sata drivers to install..

 

[god008]

You likely have a sata drive (serial ATA), The XP install disc can't see it without special drivers for it..
If it's an intel based system, you may be able to set the drive to emulate an IDE drive in the bios then you won't need the sata drivers to install..

Can you advise me on that?

Alright, thanks for the voltage notes.

- Could it be though that my HD is corrupt?

 

[3 of 7]

Can you advise me on that?

You need to download the sata drivers from your motherboard manufacturer ( get the ones specifically for your board and copy them to a floppy disc) When your doing your XP install it'll ask you right away to press F6 if you need to install extra drivers, press F6 and sit back and wait, it'll tell you what to do and when to do it.

I can't really be any more specific than that because I have no idea what kind of computer you have..

 

[oscaryu1]

A Disk Read Error Occurred, Press Ctrl+Alt+Del to restart.

If he never install drivers, I seriously doubt he could even boot or install a OS from it.

Download and run your manufacturer's designated hardware diagnostics. (EX: SeaTools, ect)

 

[3 of 7]

If he never install drivers, I seriously doubt he could even boot or install a OS from it.

Download and run your manufacturer's designated hardware diagnostics. (EX: SeaTools, ect)

He said he tried to reformat and XP couldn't see his drive (sata).