My computer was Windows Millenium with a 20 Gigabyte Master Hard drive and a 80 Gigabyte slave HD. The master HD was doing some strange noises and it was old so I decided to install windows XP on the slave HD.
I put the slave as a master and i took the old one out, then i booted from CD, recreated partitions and all that stuff (no setup problems), but when the XP setup restarts the computer, he says "error loading operative system". Well, i reinstalled so many times that im sick of doing it. I searched for the problem and i guess its the motherboard problem because there are some places on internet where is saying that the BIOS cant support the bigger HD geometry. This requires a BIOS update, but for that i need to know my motherboard manufacturer, and ive inspected the motherboard and the only thing i saw was "CA61 rev.B1". I cant use the computer because the old HD doesnt work anymore (NTLDR is missing and i have no boot diskette for ME) and the other one cant load XP. Now, can anyone explain me what is the problem? Is the BIOS update? Its the motherboard's age?(9 years) If is the BIOS update then "CA61 rev.B1" is the manufacturer??
PS: Please i need a solution, i just want my computer back with a XP without needing to take it to PC medic (they take to much money)
Thank you
It is saying "disk read error" because some of the start up files were located on sectors that are now marked as "bad" (because they are). If you reinstall your OS (after doing a complete format of the HD from the recovery console) then the files *should* be placed on functional sectors of the hard drive. Just be aware that generally, once you start getting physical sector failure, it can tend to have a domino type of effect. So format with the command "FORMAT C: /NTFS", cross your fingers, reinstall XP, and see what happens...You may wind up having to get a new HD :(
As long as you don't plan on storing critical data...It might work for a while, who knows? It could be that once you have chkdsk or some other utility "repair" it, it could go on working for a while. All the "repair" does is mark the clusters as bad, and tells the operating system not to allocate them for use. That is what happened when you did the chkdsk /r, and why you get the new error message. Once you reformat and reinstall an OS, that MIGHT be good enough.If you really want to use it for additional storage, I would recommend at least partitioning it into at least two different logical drives, maybe even four. Then, if one partition fails, the others may be OK. (As long as it's not in the disks partition table...) It's a gamble, but as long as you keep your data backed up, then there is really nothing to lose.
You CAN rate my help...I posted solution #1, and though it wasn't the end of our efforts, I still appreciate great ratings. Usually, partitioning and formatting and installing won't damage your hard drive. Power loss during write cycles can cause head crashes, which can damage the drive, other than that I'm not entirely sure where the problems come from. I was wondering like you if partitioning the drive would erase the "bad sector" marks, but I think that only a low-level format will do that. (Not the same as formatting, low-level formatting is something most people never need to think about. The manufacturer does it before the drive is shipped, and it usually doesn't need to be done again.) If you already made a UBCD4win, it includes several hard drive diagnostic and repair utilities. This boot CD is an indispensable part of my tool kit, so even when you get this fixed, you should consider making one for yourself. Keep me updated, and if you can, at least give me a "helpful" rating.
You have to run the .exe for UBCD. This is because it has to get the specific windows files off of a working xp installation or from an xp install disc...I had forgotten what is involved in this process. You have to provide these files because of windows copyright stuff, UBCD can't distribute windows files...The information for creating your disc can be found here.
I hope this helps a little, and I will be here for more questions and answers!
There are no real viruses in the program, but some of the programs are considered potientially unwanted because you can use them to change windows admin passwords, etc...I have been using this bootCD for about two years, and I have never had any problems, and my system certifies that it is virus free. (After I made the CD, I deleted the ISO file and uninstalled the UBCD4win.exe and the files and folders that it created.
Sorry for the delay...You asked three questions: Booting from the CD without a bootable HD works fine. I'm pretty sure that any windows install disc will work fine, even without the SPs. (Let me know how that works...I'm curious. Like I said, it's been a while since I did it, and I just keep the ISO image on my HD and make more copies when I need one.) The third question is if you changing bios settings could be causing a problem. I'm not sure which problem you are asking about, but you can always change the settings back to setup defaults or optimized defaults if you think they are not right. Keep in touch...
Woo Hoo!!!!!!!!!!! Man, I appreciate you hanging in there with me and understanding that troubleshooting is a process...I knew that we could do it! I really, really love it when I can help someone! Any more questions in the future, don't be shy! (Hi five!) :)
Have you tried using the device manager, and choosing "update driver", then letting Windows search online for an updated sound driver? I found a driver for your card on "driverguide.com". This site requires free registration to use, and you have to pay attention to the whole registration process, because they try to get you on lots of spam lists. If you are careful, and select "no" for each of the "offers", then this site seems ok, and they do have LOTS of drivers listed along with a good search function. I saw several different drivers for the ALS4000 and the XWAVE 4000, try there...
Sorry this response comes so late, I've been tied up for the last week (not literally). I'm am glad to be able to help...any more questions, comments, or concerns, feel free to ask!
W00t! We Rock!!!
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Here is what you should do, go to a computer store and buy a 40G HD. Try installing on that. It could be the size, but most likly not. Im going to guess and say take a look at the bottom of your reinstall disk. If it has any scratches, there is your problem. NTLDR is your boot sector on you HD.
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Ok i will try to get that BartPE or UBCD4win. Thank you for help and time.
thx for your solution, im just going to clarify that the windows millenium is the one who have the NTLDR problem and i have no boot disk for it. Im not thinking to use it again.
So the problem may be the HD size right? But if i want a bigger HD than 40 Gb i have to do the BIOS flash?
Thank you for showing a solution.
I already made that and the cmos identifies the HD. Maybe the problem is on the boot CD.
You are saying that my BIOS is working fine because it identifies the HD size, so no update nedded.
Thx for being helpful
yes i can acess the XP recovery console by the boot CD, but how can exist errors if i installed so many times? Maybe its a boot CD error... Can you explain how to put console checking for errors? Thx you are helping a lot.
I did chkdsk /r on recovery console and computer said that he fixed the existing errors, but then, (in the LBA mode) he says "disk read error press ctrl + alt + del to restart". (On normal mode) he says the same "error loading operative system". I also used fixmbr and fixboot
but it makes no differençe.
damn, if the HD is messed up does it can be used for slave?
ok i will reinstall (can i recreate the partitions? does the "repair" lose his marks because of it?) then i post the results, maybe i shall buy a new hard drive 40 or 20 Gigabytes, its cheap and its worthy i guess. This HD sectors were destroyed by the massive OS reformat and installation? I think this HD was healthy...
This problem is not impossible (nothing its impossible) so we're almost there i guess, i hope this last step works...
I wish i can rate you with FixYa!!! Thx for being helpful
i will create that UBCD4win. I was waiting till the problem is solved to give you FixYa!. If i give you helpful rate can i change that to FixYa when i fix it?
Do I simply burn the UBCD4win.exe to a CD or DVD?
thx
i cant install, the anti-virus is deleting everything...
I dont know if he is right about the virus, but if i want to install its better on safe mode cuz i cant this way.
There's any special instructions to handle UBCD4win while in action? (booting on the computer without a bootable HD)
the toturial says to copy my SP1/SP2 XP CD to a XPCD folder, does it have to be SP1 or SP2??
I altered many BIOS configurations. Is that one possible cause?
ok, i have news. I booted from Ubcd4win and i entered in a simulated windows xp, whatever, i tried to repair XP with those programs in the desktop (handy recovery or something similar) but no results. The problems seem to be:
The xp boot CD is corrupted.
I also veryfied that my hard drive is healthy with "HD tune" program.I dont know to work properly with those programs on the ubcd4win desktop.
So, im asking my friend to give me a new boot cd for windows xp.
Can you explain what i need to do on "the ultimate boot cd" desktop?
PROBLEM SOLVED!!!!!!! PROBLEM SOLVED!!!!!! YEAH! THANKS ULCIMD1 YOU ARE THE BEST!! THANKS WHOOO WOOOO!
The problem was solved when i formated the HD by the recovery console and crossed my fingers!!! FIXYA!!!!!! Oh man, many thanks to you! YAAY!!
for now its all working cool! thankx
Cool... Now i have another problem... :-(
I guess that the problems like me. The problem is:
Windows XP doesnt like my sound card driver that came with windows millenium. So, when the computer says "Found new hardware"(the sound card) and he asks me to look for a driver, he finds the Xwave 4000 driver (on the sound driver CD that i previously inserted) and install it. But he still saying that he has no sound device!! (I have all set, sound collumns connected to the PC). I guess that XP doesnt support Windows millenium sound driver (too old), so what can i do? buy a new sound card or can i find new drivers?
thx man. you know about everything! awesome! im so lucky to meet you, thx again, lets solve this problem. :D (shall i open a new problem in fixya.com?)
damn i just solved the sound driver problem! thanks again your amazing!! Now i have all that i wanted. I downloaded the drive by the site that you gave me, in fact it was the only one who had the manufacturer imformation that i needed. Thanks a lot! seriously man thanks again.
hi i got same problem in window XP for sound card and my mother board is intel orginal. i formatt my windows OS. try to boot window by using cd. after setup we window installition divice it getting problem. in help line commanded that remove or disable hardware. i dont know.
We will go through this one step at a time...While in the XP recovery
console command line, type 'chkdsk /r' (without the quotes). The
system will do a complete scan of the hard drive and check for file
system errors as well as bad sectors on the hard drive. (Unreadable
parts because of physical damage). When you have completed this step,
post the results.
I have seen this problem result from a damaged drive before. You didn't say whether or not you were able to get into the recovery console from the XP disc...If you can, there are still many things we can try. (Use 'chkdsk /r' from the recovery console command line which will scan the drive and report and try to repair any errors found on it.)
OK, you could also try this: boot up with the XP cd and press 'R' to go to the recovery console. (This is a DOS like environment that allows you to do some repairs.) Use the command 'fixboot', then 'fixmbr'. Fixboot writes a new boot sector to the system partition, and fixmbr writes the new boot information to the master boot record. It's worth a try. Also, when the computer boots, go into the bios setup screen and check to see if the drive is listed under standard cmos settings and if the size reported is correct. If the bios reports the size of the drive correctly, then there should be no problems related to the bios.
To find out the manufacturer of your motherboard you could boot from a live CD (like BartPE or UBCD4win) and run a system information utility from there. The live CD will get you into a Windows environment and you can run programs from usb devices, or I know that UBCD4win has many tools "built-in" such as winaudit and sysinfo4win. Either of these two programs should be able to tell you who made the motherboard, as well as tell you the bios version and many other things.
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