Can't Restart - whats wrong? harddrive?

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tforms1

I have a computer that was pretty advance back in 2001, which means its
a low end model now.
A few weeks ago the harddrive died, so I just picked up a new 320 gig
drive.

Tonight I installed xp on it, but
During the installation at 2 points where it is supposed to restart, it
did not.
When I did windows update (3 times, critical updates, SP2, etc) - it
did not restart.
I tried manually restarting, it does not restart.

It hangs and does not do anything.
So I have to do a hard shut down.
When I boot it back up, its fine (as if the installs worked and it
restarted)

If I choose "Shutdown" it shuts down, but when I choose Restart, it
does not work.

What could be the problem?

1. Bad/weak power supply? I have a good power supply from 2001, but
maybe its not enough to handle the 320 gig harddrive? But then again,
previously I had a 40, 120 and 160 gig harddrives running at the
sametime without problem.

2. Bad harddrive? Its a 320 gig western digital, with a 1 year
warrenty.

3. Windows problem? But the first time it hung on the restart, it was
during the windows installation, so windows wasnt in totally yet.

4. Something else?

Thanks
 
I have a computer that was pretty advance back in 2001, which means its
a low end model now.
A few weeks ago the harddrive died, so I just picked up a new 320 gig
drive.

Tonight I installed xp on it, but
During the installation at 2 points where it is supposed to restart, it
did not.
When I did windows update (3 times, critical updates, SP2, etc) - it
did not restart.
I tried manually restarting, it does not restart.

It hangs and does not do anything.
So I have to do a hard shut down.
When I boot it back up, its fine (as if the installs worked and it
restarted)

If I choose "Shutdown" it shuts down, but when I choose Restart, it
does not work.

What could be the problem?

1. Bad/weak power supply? I have a good power supply from 2001, but
maybe its not enough to handle the 320 gig harddrive? But then again,
previously I had a 40, 120 and 160 gig harddrives running at the
sametime without problem.

2. Bad harddrive? Its a 320 gig western digital, with a 1 year
warrenty.

3. Windows problem? But the first time it hung on the restart, it was
during the windows installation, so windows wasnt in totally yet.

4. Something else?

Thanks
Click to expand...

2001............does your BIOS support a drive larger than 160g

sounds like your previous C drive was within the BIOS capability.
 
Lez Pawl <[email protected]>, the dirty-ragbag and bold faddle who
likes shameless buttock balling with groundhogs, and whose partner is a
sidewalk-socialite with an expansive love cave, wrote in
2001............does your BIOS support a drive larger than 160g

sounds like your previous C drive was within the BIOS capability.
Click to expand...

Prick



--
For my own part, I have never had a thought which I could not set down
in words with even more distinctness than that with which I conceived
it. There is, however, a class of fancies of exquisite delicacy which
are not thoughts, and to which as yet I have found it absolutely
impossible to adapt to language. These fancies arise in the soul, alas
how rarely. Only at epochs of most intense tranquillity, when the
bodily and mental health are in perfection. And at those weird points
of time, where the confines of the waking world blend with the world of
dreams. And so I captured this fancy, where all that we see, or seem,
is but a dream within a dream.
 
(e-mail address removed), the hideous-transient and high-heeled African queen
who likes maniacal e-coli pie eating with sea cows, and whose partner is
a gong-girl with a displeasing blurt, wrote in
I have a computer that was pretty advance back in 2001, which means
its a low end model now.
A few weeks ago the harddrive died, so I just picked up a new 320 gig
drive.

Tonight I installed xp on it, but
During the installation at 2 points where it is supposed to restart,
it did not.
When I did windows update (3 times, critical updates, SP2, etc) - it
did not restart.
I tried manually restarting, it does not restart.

It hangs and does not do anything.
So I have to do a hard shut down.
When I boot it back up, its fine (as if the installs worked and it
restarted)

If I choose "Shutdown" it shuts down, but when I choose Restart, it
does not work.

What could be the problem?

1. Bad/weak power supply? I have a good power supply from 2001, but
maybe its not enough to handle the 320 gig harddrive? But then again,
previously I had a 40, 120 and 160 gig harddrives running at the
sametime without problem.

2. Bad harddrive? Its a 320 gig western digital, with a 1 year
warrenty.

3. Windows problem? But the first time it hung on the restart, it was
during the windows installation, so windows wasnt in totally yet.

4. Something else?

Thanks
Click to expand...

It's a common issue, started a few months back.
If you want to paddy you can format and start again, load the updates
one-by-one and make a note of when the issue occurs.



--
For my own part, I have never had a thought which I could not set down
in words with even more distinctness than that with which I conceived
it. There is, however, a class of fancies of exquisite delicacy which
are not thoughts, and to which as yet I have found it absolutely
impossible to adapt to language. These fancies arise in the soul, alas
how rarely. Only at epochs of most intense tranquillity, when the
bodily and mental health are in perfection. And at those weird points
of time, where the confines of the waking world blend with the world of
dreams. And so I captured this fancy, where all that we see, or seem,
is but a dream within a dream.
 
It's a common issue, started a few months back.
If you want to paddy you can format and start again, load the updates
one-by-one and make a note of when the issue occurs.
Click to expand...

It started with the installation of XP, not a update.

It was a fresh format, so I put in the CD and it started the install
automatically, and when it got to the restart part it did not restart,
and since then it has not been able to restart.

Shutting down is fine though.
 
2001............does your BIOS support a drive larger than 160g
sounds like your previous C drive was within the BIOS capability.
Click to expand...

Well my original drive was 40 gig.

My slave drives were: 120 gig.

BUT, I partitioned the 320 into a 35 gig and whatever is left.

Why would my bios not being able to handle (and it might not be able
to) large capacity drives cause it not to reboot, but allow it to close
down?
 
Try a repair : boot to the install cd, press enter at the welcome screen,
accept the eula, choose the repair option when it finds your existing
installation. Keep us posted.

John Hagle Ed.M., MCSE, MCSA
 
Well my original drive was 40 gig.

My slave drives were: 120 gig.

BUT, I partitioned the 320 into a 35 gig and whatever is left.

Why would my bios not being able to handle (and it might not be able
to) large capacity drives cause it not to reboot, but allow it to
close down?
Click to expand...

Ignore him. If you could partition the whole drive, your BIOS supports
48-bit LBA.
 
It started with the installation of XP, not a update.

It was a fresh format, so I put in the CD and it started the install
automatically, and when it got to the restart part it did not restart,
and since then it has not been able to restart.

Shutting down is fine though.
Click to expand...

Go back into BIOS and reset everything to the Default values.
 
Ignore him. If you could partition the whole drive, your BIOS supports
48-bit LBA.
Click to expand...

I dont know if the BIOS can support it.

My chip is a AMD 1700+ (1.46 gig)
Motherboard - Asus A7V266-E

Do you know if it supports large drives?

yes, I did partition the 320 gig into a C (35 gig) and a D (whatever is
left) but I did not format the D, so its not showing the amount of
space on it.

Who knows, once I format it, it might not be the full size.
 
Go back into BIOS and reset everything to the Default values.

Im not sure I understand. Which settings?

I did not change any settings in BIOS, other than the Boot order. (I
made it boot from CD first)

I have the asus A7V266-E motherboard, but upgraded the BIOS.
Actually I dont even know how to update the BIOS.
 
Im not sure I understand. Which settings?

I did not change any settings in BIOS, other than the Boot order. (I
made it boot from CD first)
Click to expand...

Asus boards usually have an option of either F5, or F7 to reset BIOS to the
Default values. After that, the only change you might need to make is the
Boot order. Windows 9x couldn't have cared less is the BIOS settings were
all over the map; XP does.
I have the asus A7V266-E motherboard, but upgraded the BIOS.
Actually I dont even know how to update the BIOS.
Click to expand...

Asus has a Flash Utility that can do it while you run windows. Nothing could
be easier.
 
I dont know if the BIOS can support it.

My chip is a AMD 1700+ (1.46 gig)
Motherboard - Asus A7V266-E

Do you know if it supports large drives?

yes, I did partition the 320 gig into a C (35 gig) and a D (whatever
is left) but I did not format the D, so its not showing the amount of
space on it.
Click to expand...

If it could be seen to partition it, your BIOS supports large disks.
Who knows, once I format it, it might not be the full size.
Click to expand...

Well, it _will_ be less than 320G. Windows sees a kilobyte as 1,024 bytes,
disk manufacturers see it as 1,000 bytes.
 
If it could be seen to partition it, your BIOS supports large disks.
Well, it _will_ be less than 320G. Windows sees a kilobyte as 1,024 bytes,
disk manufacturers see it as 1,000 bytes.
Click to expand...

Ok, I just did a quick format from DISKMGMT.MSC

C drive - 34.4 gigs
D drive - 263.68 gigs
Total - 300 gigs, wow, I lost 20 gigs.

So any idea what I can do about the not restarting problem?
 
Asus boards usually have an option of either F5, or F7 to reset BIOS to the
Default values. After that, the only change you might need to make is the
Boot order. Windows 9x couldn't have cared less is the BIOS settings were
all over the map; XP does.
Click to expand...

Im not sure if I made this clear.
When my original harddrive died (the 40 gig one) it was running XP
also.
Asus has a Flash Utility that can do it while you run windows. Nothing could
be easier.
Click to expand...

Should I do this anyway?
 
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