Intermittant Booting

  • Thread starter Thread starter Paul
  • Start date Start date
P

Paul

Hello--

I have a Windows 98 PC that has started having trouble booting in the last
couple of weeks. Probably about half of the time I turn the PC on, it
returns a boot failure error and says "Invalid system disk. Replace the
disk, and then press any key". Sometimes it boots up after pressing any key
and sometimes it doesn't boot up even when I turn the PC off and try again.
The frustrating part is that it is intermittant.

My first hypothesis was that there was a corrupt OS file so I formatted and
fdisked the hard drive and reinstalled Win 98. It seemed to work for a
couple of days but now it is giving the error again.

Any ideas what might be causing the problem? Could it be a hard drive
failure or hard drive controller failure? If so, is there a way to test
those items to see what needs replacing?

Thanks!
Paul
 
Hello--

I have a Windows 98 PC that has started having trouble booting in the last
couple of weeks. Probably about half of the time I turn the PC on, it
returns a boot failure error and says "Invalid system disk. Replace the
disk, and then press any key". Sometimes it boots up after pressing any key
and sometimes it doesn't boot up even when I turn the PC off and try again.
The frustrating part is that it is intermittant.

My first hypothesis was that there was a corrupt OS file so I formatted and
fdisked the hard drive and reinstalled Win 98. It seemed to work for a
couple of days but now it is giving the error again.

Any ideas what might be causing the problem? Could it be a hard drive
failure or hard drive controller failure? If so, is there a way to test
those items to see what needs replacing?

Thanks!
Paul
Click to expand...

Go here,
http://www.maxtor.com/en/support/downloads/powermax.htm
Although made for Maxtor drives it will diagnose other makes.Check the
drive at low level.
it's a freebie :P



--
Free Windows/PC help,
http://www.geocities.com/sheppola/trouble.html
email shepATpartyheld.de
Free songs download,
http://www.soundclick.com/bands/8/nomessiahsmusic.htm
 
Give the disk more time to become ready by making the BIOS run longer. Disable "quick boot", enable memory test, POST, etc.
 
Paul said:
I have a Windows 98 PC that has started having trouble booting in
the last couple of weeks. Probably about half of the time I turn
the PC on, it returns a boot failure error and says "Invalid
system disk. Replace the disk, and then press any key". Sometimes
it boots up after pressing any key and sometimes it doesn't boot
up even when I turn the PC off and try again. The frustrating
part is that it is intermittant.

My first hypothesis was that there was a corrupt OS file so I
formatted and fdisked the hard drive and reinstalled Win 98. It
seemed to work for a couple of days but now it is giving the
error again.

Any ideas what might be causing the problem? Could it be a hard
drive failure or hard drive controller failure? If so, is there
a way to test those items to see what needs replacing?
Click to expand...

Get a replacement HD and a copy of xxcopy (from xxcopy.com,
free). Mount the replacement drive, partition it etc. and clone
your present drive onto it. Works very well with W98. Your
existing drive is probably close to death, so just hope you can do
the above on time.
 
CBFalconer said:
Get a replacement HD and a copy of xxcopy (from xxcopy.com,
free). Mount the replacement drive, partition it etc. and clone
your present drive onto it. Works very well with W98. Your
existing drive is probably close to death, so just hope you can do
the above on time.
Click to expand...
Agree with the above: your disk is probably close to it's end of life. But
don't clone it, as this could also clone temporary errors. Because you just
did a new install, I suppose there will not be large amounts of fresh data
on it and you'd better again proceed with a clean install.
 
Yours is a classic symptom of failing hardware; probably the
drive. But basic repair principles were violated. You tried
to fix something without first collecting facts. For example,
Shep© demonstrates exactly what should have been done next -
which is collect facts.

No reason to use the Xcopy solution. You trashed all data -
doing something that most definitely would not fix the
problem. And still you don't know what is reasons for
failure. Did you try booting from a floppy diskette? Is power
supply failing? Then you need a 3.5 digit multimeter. Only
the ill informed would then buy more power supplies and start
swapping. Is it a failing IDE port on motherboard? Do you
have a failing memory location? If you fix things by first
replacing things, then try to guess the problem, well then,
buy a whole new computer to use as spare parts. Learning why
a problem exists first saves time and money.
 
Thanks for the advice. I performed an analysis and the hard drive came out
fine. I'll wait until it acts up and then run the tool. It is only 4
months old so it shouldn't be going bad yet!

Paul
 
Don't stop. Plenty of simple options to identify problem
before it gets worse - when it becomes a serious problem.
Find problem now and fix it at your leisure. For example, 30
seconds to verify PSU voltages on motherboard connector. A
procedure that not only locates reasons for failure, but
empowers the computer user. Knowledge that makes a smarter
computer user. Chart for those volt readings in a previous
discussion: http://www.tinyurl.com\2musa

Run a memory diagnostic. Defective (intermittent) memory
will often pass diagnostics until operating in normal but high
temperatures. Memory diagnostics provided, free, by your
computer manufacturer; or using 3rd party programs such as
DocMem or Memtst86. Heat memory with hairdryer on high - a
normal semiconductor temperature. Properly operating
semiconductors work just fine at these temperatures.

Hairdryer can heat chips that interface to (are typically
adjacent to) the IDE port connector. If these chips are OK,
then that disk drive diagnostic will also find no problems at
'hairdryer' temperatures.

These tests are performed rather quickly and should locate
the intermittent if intermittent was due to any of those
hardware problems. Takes little time to avoid major problems
later.

Typical reason for strange (intermittent) problems in a
system are marginal voltages which is why the multimeter
reading is the first data collected. Find the problem early.
Get new parts, if necessary, without rushing.
 
Hi,

It very well could be, I had similar problems and it turned out to be
the power supply. I think it was the fan in the power supply, it
happened about a year ago. If it starts up again, try changing the power
supply and see if it keeps happening. If you can't, don't want to change
the power supply, CompUSA or some other computer store has devices that
check power supplies. The one my father saw was around 20 US dollars.

Hope this helps,
Dan
 
Please tell me what that CompUSA tester does to test a power
supply? A question one can answer before recommending a
tester. Because it is called a tester and is sold in CompUSA
- that means it is effective?

Does it get hot enough to load power supply? That would be
300 or 400 watts of electricity. Does it radiate 300 or 400
watts - get that hot - to test the power supply? If not, then
how can it accurately test a supply? At best, that power
supply tester can only test power supply with no load. Simple
Go-Nogo voltage test. And many failing power supplies (with
excessive ripple voltage) will easily pass that test. This is
the concept. If that CompUSA power supply tester is worth the
extravagent $20, then the recommendation should also say why -
also says what the tester does. No background knowledge is
why so many also bought a famous East River Bridge.

Spend $20 for a CompUSA tester AND create more potential
problems by removing and replacing supply into computer. Or
spend less time, not do all that removing and replacing, buy a
$20 multimeter that has many other purposes, and detect a
power supply failure that the CompUSA tester could not. How
many minutes to remove and replace a supply for a Go-Nogo
tester verses a real world (power supply under load)
multimeter test that is accomplished in seconds.
 
Hi,

Except for one thing, not everyone has YOUR level of expertise in
electronics. Not everyone is as perfect as you seem to believe that you
are. Not everyone can take a multimeter and diagnose every circuit or
even if they are getting power. I probably could test for power using a
multimeter but most people don't even know how to open their case. The
person I told this about seems to know how to open their case and swap
out components so I told them that CompUSA has what is called a power
supply tester. If they want to try it, they can go look at it and ask
questions. I have never used the tester or even seen it. It is called a
tester at CompUSA at least that is what my father said.
I recommended changing the power supply if the screw ups continue.
Changing a power supply takes only a minute or two and many people own
more than one computer so swapping it out isn't usually a big problem.
What you are recommending, most people have no idea what you are even
talking about. Try to remember that people are not electrical engineers
are even technicians. Give advice that most people can follow.

Dan
 
Hi,

Except for one thing, not everyone has YOUR level of expertise in
electronics. Not everyone is as perfect as you seem to believe that you
are. Not everyone can take a multimeter and diagnose every circuit or
even if they are getting power. I probably could test for power using a
multimeter but most people don't even know how to open their case. The
person I told this about seems to know how to open their case and swap
out components so I told them that CompUSA has what is called a power
supply tester. If they want to try it, they can go look at it and ask
questions. I have never used the tester or even seen it. It is called a
tester at CompUSA at least that is what my father said.
I recommended changing the power supply if the screw ups continue.
Changing a power supply takes only a minute or two and many people own
more than one computer so swapping it out isn't usually a big problem.
What you are recommending, most people have no idea what you are even
talking about. Try to remember that people are not electrical engineers
are even technicians. Give advice that most people can follow.

Dan
Click to expand...


You have a good point, except that this power supply tester isn't
providing the kind of pass/fail diagnosis that could be useful. Power
supplies of any quality have at least one or more rails monitored for
voltage, the fact that it's running at all may be as accurate a sign as
any output from the tester.

A perfect example is a supply I tested last week... with minimal load on
5V & 3V, it powered on and all voltages were within tolerance. Adding a
hard drive introduced additional load on the 12V rail, and while the power
supply fan was turning previously, and after connecting the hard drive,
the hard drive couldn't even spin up. Someone using that tester on that
power supply, then plugging in a hard drive, would likely conclude there
was something wrong with the hard drive.
 
Thank you for the great feedback. I have determined that the PC is less
likely to boot when cold than when it is warm. I used the Maxtor Powermax
the last time it wouldn't boot and the hard drive checked out fine.

As Dan said, I am not an electrical engineer so my diagnostics will rely on
information provided by tools and the help of others. I may just get a new
power supply and see if that fixes the problem.

Paul
 
Thank you for the great feedback. I have determined that the PC is less
likely to boot when cold than when it is warm. I used the Maxtor Powermax
the last time it wouldn't boot and the hard drive checked out fine.

As Dan said, I am not an electrical engineer so my diagnostics will rely on
information provided by tools and the help of others. I may just get a new
power supply and see if that fixes the problem.

Paul
Click to expand...


Cold boot problems are typically due to failing capacitors in power supply
or motherboard (less commonly the video card), or intermittent solder
joints. In your case it might even be the drive though, yet with no
failure codes from the HDD diagnostic program it does seem the power
supply is the most likely fault.
 
Back
Top