Stoopid rainman Needs Puter Help

[ARCHIVED THREAD] - Stoopid rainman Needs Puter Help

Posted: 6/12/2002 11:51:34 AM EDT

Sometimes I can't get on line. Heres what happens.

I push power button on Presario 7360 - turn on monitor - my "enter password" screen comes on - I enter password - the word "compaq" in big red letters appears - then after a few seconds the screen goes blank and a sentence appears at the top of the screen that says "no operating system found on any devices. Press any key to try again" - no matter what i do nothing works.

Then the next day I proceed to do the same thing and for no logical reason it works flawlessly allowing me to get on line.

Am I in the Twilight Zone or maybe I'm on Candid Camera. Anybody out there can explain this to me? Thank you all.

Posted: 6/12/2002 12:09:41 PM EDT

[#1]

take out your user manual and check the following.

Go into bios and ensure the correct hard drive type/size is selected under IDE drives.

If it is a new pc check for correct termination of the ide bus. ie. hard drive master cdrom slave, or hard drive set for cable select.

WHen you get it up run scan disk and run the thorough test. you may have a hard drive dying. Also run a virus scan with UPDATED software.

If this does not work and your hard drive passes all tests you may have an IDE controller going out on the system board. If available you can try moving the hard drive to the secondary IDE channel. This may or may not solve the problem depending on what is failing on the board email me if i can help with anything. i'll send you my number.

mike

Posted: 6/12/2002 12:13:45 PM EDT

[#2]

Rainman,

I hate to tell you this but it's about a 95% chance your hard drive is dying. I've had two computers with the exact same symptoms and both of them lost their hard drives completely within a couple dozen power up/power off cycles.
I'd recommend you backup your data the next time you turn it on and wait for the other shoe to drop. Or just stick a new HDD in there before it goes totally tits up.

BeerSlayer is right, it could be a failing controller, bad board, aliens or the Klintons. But most likely your HDD is about to go south on you.

Good luck

Crash.
(A+, CCNA, MCSE +I)

Posted: 6/12/2002 12:17:09 PM EDT

[#3]

the main reason i mentioned the board is i have worked on several presarios in the last few months with a similar problem. They all had bad boards. Test that drive before you replace it. If it's still under warranty call for service. If not it might be a good time for a non compaq pc upgrade.

mike

Posted: 6/12/2002 12:27:23 PM EDT

[#4]

New hard drive, mmmm that sounds expensive.

I called Compaq yesterday to talk to a tech and ask about this problem. Get this. This guy told me that there is a CHARGE for advice. I told him " screw you and HP, I'm never buying a godamn compaq again"

This thing is a little over two years old. Guess i'll have to figure something out. Maybe just leave it on line and hope I don't get bumped. [:D]

Thanks for all the advice.

Posted: 6/12/2002 12:29:59 PM EDT

[#5]

if you need some diagnostics i'd be happy to email them to you. you can test HD and system board.
You can get a new hard drive for around 100.00 or so. very easy to install. Then again that hundred bucks might be better spent on a new PC. You can build them for around 350.00 or so.

mike

Posted: 6/12/2002 12:36:14 PM EDT

[#6]

Before you do anything drastic, do this. Open your case and check to make sure your drive cables are firmly seated on both the drive and the motherboard. I have seen many so called computer hardware failures that were only loose cables.

Posted: 6/12/2002 12:40:00 PM EDT

[#7]

My friend has a friend that is very knowledgable about this stuff. I'm gonna try and get her over here and show her this thread. I'm printing this up as we go along cause i never know when i'm gettin bumped, courtesy of aol. I think she has a puter you can talk to. Didn't know thaey had those.

Anyway I'll keep you posted about this [if i can] Guess its time for me to learn about computers.

[ARCHIVED THREAD] - Stoopid rainman Needs Puter Help

General » General Discussion

Win a FREE Membership!

Sign up for the ARFCOM weekly newsletter and be entered to win a free ARFCOM membership. One new winner* is announced every week!

You will receive an email every Friday morning featuring the latest chatter from the hottest topics, breaking news surrounding legislation, as well as exclusive deals only available to ARFCOM email subscribers.

Warning

Confirm Action

About AR15.COM

Stay Connected

Newsletter

Contact Us