Please Help! Computer boot problem!

X

xtech0506

New Member
One of my computers had a critical error. So it went to a blue screen and report the error something about "windows encountered a problem and shut down your computer to prevent further damage..." something like that. And so I reboot.

Upon rebooting it went to my desktop and froze so I had to reboot again. Since my PC has no reset button I unplug the wire from wall socket and replug. But this time it loaded with a black screen with a message: "Reboot and select proper Boot device or Insert Boot Media in selected Boot device and press a key" and it won't boot!

I tried unplugging-replugging the wires, turning off the power button to restart, and alt-ctrl-delete but none worked and it always return to the black screen with the message.

So when I went to BIOS setup(F1) and selected the "BOOT" tab, it displays that NO HDD, network, or floppy is installed. Only CD is installed. And I do have a hard drive. Its like the computer doesn't know that a hard drive is there. I'm so worried. I don't want to lose all the information on my hard drive. What should I do? Please I hope someone can help me soon. Thanks
 
Pentium 4 HT
2.8ghz
Windows XP home
1gb ram
HP Pavillion a1140n

I'm not sure how we find PSU ratings(sorry I have slightly above basic knowledge of computers).
 
There should be a sticker on the side of the PSU. Post the amperage (a) of the box under +12v.

PSU= Box at the back of the computer where there are a lot of cords coming out of and the cord from teh wall plugs in.

Now that I look at it, however, I doubt it's a PSU problem unless you've upgraded from the original HP machine you have.
 
Yes there is a sticker at the back of the computer. Well this is what's on it:

AC INPUT 100-127v-4A
50/60 HZ 200-240v-2A

But there is also 1 inside the computer behind the small air holes:

DC12v 0.15 A

No sure which one is the PSU.
 
First thing you gotta try is to go into BIOS and check the HD settings to try to detect the hard drive. Look for an Auto configuration setting. Double or triple check the IDE cables on the hard drive and motherboard; make sure they're solidly in place. Make sure your CMOS battery isn't dead!
Can you boot from the CD-ROM? If so, put your Windows disk in there and select Repair from the Welcome to Setup menu. Then press C to start recovery console.
1. Type HELP for a list of commands and assistance
2. Run DISKPART to examine partitions
3. If partitions are listed, make sure the bootable/primary one is defined as active.
4. If there's no partitions, you're up a creek, my friend, unless you have something like Norton Utilities or Lost and Found to recover your data. Otherwise it's time for FDISK to start from scratch.
5. if your partitions appear, run FIXBOOT to replace your system files.
6. EXIT and restart without any disks in any drives.
7. If you have the same problem then you've got a serious hardware problem, either the motherboard or hard drive is dead. Restart the Recovery Console and run CHKDSK.
(From Mueller's "Upgrading and Repairing PC's, 13th edition")
 
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