Bsod

[batgammon]

MBRfix is only accessible from the recovery console via the windows disk on boot up only- if you access is whilst in windows you cant get to the recovery console

[batgammon]

and i cant boot from the disk nor can i change from drive A to drive D from the floppy boot (through DOS)

[CCT]

A BartPE disk might work IF you could get the CD working -> http://www.informationweek.com/news/...leID=167100904

Other than that ????


edit: one of the weird 'last ditch' things I sometimes recommend is to shutdown, pull the plug, press and hold the Power On button for 10 seconds, and then let the comp sit for 15 minutes.

Then rehook the cord and try to boot.

[batgammon]

Thanks CCT and i have looked at the page but it requires booting from a disk and i dont have that option

[batgammon]

or should i say CDRom drive- i only have the floppy available

[NooNoo]

Noo okay turned off fast boot and tried- no success. I powered off and removed cmos battery for about a minute checked all cables (for the millionth time) then powered back up- again no success. I had to reset the date/time and it did say (i think) system voltage low but i have replaced the battery with a new one and it only said that when i booted following replacing the battery- it subsequently didn't. As you say it is detecting both hard drives and both CDRom drives in the bios but not in the "boot sequence"

Replace the power supply... It's not getting enough power if it said that. That would screw up all sorts of things. If you have a friend with a suitable power supply to exchange it as a test it would be useful.

[batgammon]

Okay some interesting news. I replaced the hard drive with an old one i found running windows 95- i discinnected the CD rom drive and booted up. once past POST it says cant see hard drive or CDRom drive press F1 to continue or F2 to enter setup on pressing F1 it booted up. The bios saw the hard drive so I reconnected the CD rom and the bios saw the CDRom drive (im talking about in the boot sequence). So i booted to CDRom and installed XP which installed (though i cant get it to cennect to my adsl but thats another issue). When i boot now i get the following - random characters on the start up screen followed by the message cant see hard drive or CDROM drive press F1 to continue F2 to enter setup. On pressing F1 it boots into XP properly (the bios now sees the HDD and CDROM- thoughts?

[NooNoo]

You said you replaced the ide cable, but your were not sure if it was a 40 or 80 wire... If you are using an old drive, it is likely you are using an old 40 wire cable. When you changed the cable, was it a new one from a shop or did you borrow it from elsewhere?

Have you got a newer hard drive to test with?