My Computer Can't Boot from Hard Drives. Joy.

guest2859 · June 19, 2011, 09:34:37 PM

Quote from: My computer won't boot up properly (Possible Video Card Error)?

Type: HP D220 Microtower / 2.8gHz Intel i4 / 504mb RAM
OS: Unstable XP on C:/ and D:/
Video Card: [ http://www.walmart.com/ip/Diamond-Multimedia-Stealth-ATI-Radeon-9250-256MB-PCI-Video-Card/4765188 ]

Okay, so I ran Windows 7 on my computer just fine. I ordered a PCI video card, it shipped, and I started to install it.

I disconnected everything, put it in the right slot, and re-booted into 7. Well, the installation called for a simple VGA driver upgrade into the Diamond video card.

Well, I messed that up and part of the Windows 7 partition table was damaged, so it wouldn't get past the boot screen. (I don't have it backed up because I had Linux on D:/)

So, I decide to put XP on D:/ because the computer can't boot directly from the Win7 DVD. XP went on fine, but when I tried to boot to D:/, it would tell me it couldn't boot from it, and went to a black screen.

So, I decided to put XP on C:/ (I don't have much, I can get everything back), and it went on the same, but still goes to a black screen.

So, I'm about to do it the old fashioned way and just launch the computer out of my window. But I spent $60 on the video card so I'm not walking away from this.

Does anyone have a resolution? This is really bothering me.

So, I'm not about to go off easily. I figured I could get help because there are a lot of people on here that know more about computers than I do.

It'd be greatly appreciated.

bommel · June 20, 2011, 04:41:39 AM

Hmm, at first this sounds to me like your boot loader / master boot record is somehow broken. But this sis rather strange because Windows Setup usually writes a valid boot record, at least I can't remember having a broken boot record after a fresh installation of Windows.
AFAIK Windows needs to boot from the first partition on your HDD. Sso if you're going to install it to D: it won't install it's boot loader there - I'm not 100% sure but my feeling tells me this is also true if D: is a separate HDD.

Did you delete the partition prior installation of Windows? Probably the easiest way would be to wipe the whole HDD and recreate your partition setup during Windows Setup but this depends on the data you would like to keep. It is also possible to use the recovery console of Windows Setup and try to fix the mbr / write a new boot loader. But this only works if the partition is "available" to Windows (and I had cases where it didn't fix the issue at all). For example, I don't know if a Win 7 NTFS is fully read- and writeable by Windows XP because they change file system specs/features from time to time.

Clarke · June 20, 2011, 06:27:23 AM

Have you tried a Linux LiveCD? That would let you see if there's a problem with the partition table. (And if you've got a external drive, it'd let you scrape everything off in case you need to nuke the disk from orbit.)

guest2859 · June 20, 2011, 12:38:05 PM

Okay- I found the problem.

The video card installation messup did ruin the partition table.

I took out the card and XP installed just fine, I guess because it tried to install the video card with its own resources rather than the actual steps needed. So, I'm installing Win7 as we speak.

bommel · June 20, 2011, 12:39:30 PM

Glad to hear it's working now!

guest2859 · June 20, 2011, 01:03:02 PM

And the Windows 7 disc almost didn't work, it told me it was corrupt. But the informational side of the disc is perfect, so I don't see why it does that. Anyways, it's going into the full installation now.

bommel · June 20, 2011, 01:07:51 PM

Sometimes I think computers are just a more or less worthless piece of crap, especially when such things happen.

guest2859 · June 20, 2011, 03:19:33 PM

Okay, 7 is up, I finally got the graphics card installed and set as default display, and now I have a new problem: Startup/Shutdown. It takes about 5 minutes for each, because past the boot screen, it sits at a black screen for 3 minutes with the cursor, and at shutdown shows the wallpaper for only 3 minutes.

bommel · June 20, 2011, 03:22:13 PM

Another wonderful strange problem

Did you have a look at the event log if anything happens during this time? Though I doubt there will be any useful information it's worth a try...

guest2859 · June 20, 2011, 03:23:47 PM

Well, I can tell you the processor light on the front of the tower doesn't blink or flash when it's sitting like this, so I think it's a hangup of some sort. But it's done it 3 times since installation.

bommel · June 20, 2011, 03:27:39 PM

Since I have a dedicated RAID controller in one of my servers on each boot it hangs during the loading screen for a couple of minutes (maybe 3). During this time the computer does nothing and doesn't respond to key presses. But it isn't dead. After those few minutes it boots up happily and runs fine. But I never had such thing with a graphics card o0

All I could think of is maybe a driver related issue but this is just speculation

guest2859 · June 20, 2011, 03:42:56 PM

Yeah, when I get off work I'll disconnect my Slave drive and see if that fixes it, because it also has corrupt XP setup on it.

bommel · June 20, 2011, 03:43:43 PM

Good luck!

Human No More · June 20, 2011, 04:59:30 PM

That is unlikely to affect a shutdown.

Do you have drivers installed for the card? If no, install the latest drivers (not from any supplied disk as those are usually really out of date, get them from the website). If yes, uninstall them and install the latest ones.

Taking a look at the event log might be useful if anything is apparent there, otherwise I'd suggest trying it in safe mode to see if you have the same problem.

Swoka Ikran · June 20, 2011, 06:45:21 PM

My friend had a system with an ATI card that did this. In his case, it was caused by the video drivers. Do what HNM said and download new ones.

guest2859 · June 20, 2011, 11:18:57 PM

Okay, I'm going to install my Wi-Fi adapter onto the computer and then get the Wi-Fi router tomorrow to get this done. I hope it just doesn't flip out and kill my hard drive again.

guest2859 · June 22, 2011, 05:52:01 PM

[Bump]

I now have 2 computers in my house with internet, and this one is now up to speed with the video card working (the video card driver was up to date, the AUDIO driver was causing the hangup), so everything's fixed. But I need another monitor to see the boot screen, but a downside is when the computer came back up from restart, it told me my video driver was missing a codec and also told me Windows experienced a bluescreen during shutdown. I'll be looking this up, but I'm happy now.

bommel · June 23, 2011, 06:33:31 AM

Quote from: Naruga Kuruga on June 22, 2011, 05:52:01 PM
[Bump]

I now have 2 computers in my house with internet, and this one is now up to speed with the video card working (the video card driver was up to date, the AUDIO driver was causing the hangup), so everything's fixed. But I need another monitor to see the boot screen, but a downside is when the computer came back up from restart, it told me my video driver was missing a codec and also told me Windows experienced a bluescreen during shutdown. I'll be looking this up, but I'm happy now.

I had this once with an older ATI card where the display was connected via DVI. Nothing on the screen until windows has started. But I never fixed it (didn't used the card long, just because my old one was broken)