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Syl · 03-22-2009, 04:35 AM

Ron Ramirez Wrote:Syl

Just for fun, I did transfer the new power supply to the old case into which I had installed the old ABIT motherboard.

Ran the same tests. Got video with the old PCI video card. Removed it, installed the ATI Radeon PCI Express video card. Still had video. To make a long story short...after finding one of my memory sticks was bad, THE d**n THING IS BOOTING...

Only now, it has a new problem: Apparently the primary hard drive got corrupted in the transfer from my new computer to my old one, and back to the new one as I get an "NTLDR is missing" error message when attempting to boot. No, i did not drop it or subject it to any stresses. Guess a reformat/reinstall is in order...d**n it...but knowing the newer computer (with all of its guts installed in an old case) is working again will make a Windows reinstall worthwhile, I guess.

So now I am stuck with a new ASUS mobo, which I am unsure about (whether or not it is defective), and the newer case. A second tower, maybe? Hmmm...

You could simply transfer the boot system to the drive but I would suggest reinstalling (repairing)
from the install CD. When it first ask if you wish to repair say no and select install. The second time
it ask to "repair the existing partition" then answer yes. It will reinstall Windows but keep whatever
was installed, softwares, data etc. To be on a safe side, be sure to have a backup of important data.

I don't know how you transfered the data from one HD to the next, but I like using (under Windows)
Norton Ghost and partimage under Linux. If you need Ghost, I can send you a link to a hidden
folder on my website. You must be careful with some versions of ghost and SATA drives. Must be
started with the -noide option, otherwise you won't be able to boot again from your drive as it will
incorrectly flag the wrong drive's boot partition. (Easy to fix with a partition manager software
to reset the boot but it is somewhat scary when this happens the first time...)

Syl

***Ron Ramirez*** · 03-22-2009, 03:44 PM

Tried doing a repair of XP but after Setup loads for a minute or so I get the dreaded blue screen of death. Tried twice, same result. I'm going to go back in today and try a utility that will allow me to boot in DOS but still see NTFS drives, and see if I can just add NTLDR manually. If that doesn't work, I guess it will be reformat & reinstall time. At least the D**n thing is working!

I will also have to buy new memory sticks. Out of four 1 GB sticks, one is definitely bad, and the other three are flaky; i.e. sometimes the computer still hangs on restart and only makes a series of long beeps, but now most of the time it boots normally but still gives that "CPU has changed or is unworkable" message occasionally. That it does not give this message every time leads me to believe the CPU is probably OK but the memory is going bad.

Doug K. · 03-22-2009, 05:18 PM

Ron-You probably have some corrupted files because of the bad memory. I experienced this on my daughter's machine recently. Ran scandisk, got it to boot up but found numerous corrupted and missing files. Nuke and pave (format and reinstall) was the ultimate solution..
Doug

***Ron Ramirez*** · 03-22-2009, 06:55 PM

Doug

Yes, I do have numerous corrupted files. The thing ran okay in the basement, but when I brought it upstairs the errors began. It booted twice - each time giving the "CPU is unworkable or has changed" error message - and then went into CHKDSK and found (and allegedly repaired) numerous errors. On next boot...the dreaded BSOD.

I've set the D**n thing aside for now. Later on, I'll use Seagate's disk checking utility to see if the drive is still any good, or not. Then maybe I'll order new memory...and maybe I'll just order new stuff and proceed to build an entirely new system around the new, unreturnable ASUS mobo I now have.

Not a happy camper right now...but, at least, this old Pentium III-933 workhorse is still going...

FStephenMasek · 03-22-2009, 10:50 PM

I've was a computer consultant in the first part of my career, and built several PCs, but concluded long ago that the things are a complete pain in the rump. I just saw a fancy machine advertised for $700, and I'll bet that $1,000 will get a really nice HP or other name brand with a warranty.

Syl · 03-23-2009, 12:20 AM

FStephenMasek Wrote:I've was a computer consultant in the first part of my career, and built several PCs, but concluded long ago that the things are a complete pain in the rump. I just saw a fancy machine advertised for $700, and I'll bet that $1,000 will get a really nice HP or other name brand with a warranty.

I agree, but with many HP/Compaq/IBM machines you just can't upgrade. Adding a second hard drive or CD is nigh impossible unless one buys the full sized desktop. I prefer SMF PCs so I'm stuck with one CD and one HD.

Syl

***Ron Ramirez*** · 03-23-2009, 02:15 AM

Downloaded the Seagate disk drive utility and ran the full test on the primary IDE drive in the newer computer.

Results: It passed both the short and long tests, no bad sectors detected.

HOWEVER...it is reporting the drive as a 500 GB drive...when in fact it is a 320 GB drive.

???

In addition, when I took the computer back to the basement to perform this test, it booted normally more than once, no "CPU is unworkable or has changed" messages. I did not try booting into Windows as it is already clear that either (a) a reformat & reinstall is in order, or (2) the drive is dying even though it "passed" the Seagate tests.

I dunno, I may go ahead and pick up some new memory sticks, do the reformat and reinstall and go from there. I could always build another machine based on the ASUS mobo later on.

Syl, I have an Ubuntu question which I will ask in a new thread I'll start on that subject.

Syl · 03-23-2009, 03:13 AM

Ron Ramirez Wrote:Downloaded the Seagate disk drive utility and ran the full test on the primary IDE drive in the newer computer.

Results: It passed both the short and long tests, no bad sectors detected.

HOWEVER...it is reporting the drive as a 500 GB drive...when in fact it is a 320 GB drive.

???

In addition, when I took the computer back to the basement to perform this test, it booted normally more than once, no "CPU is unworkable or has changed" messages. I did not try booting into Windows as it is already clear that either (a) a reformat & reinstall is in order, or (2) the drive is dying even though it "passed" the Seagate tests.

I dunno, I may go ahead and pick up some new memory sticks, do the reformat and reinstall and go from there. I could always build another machine based on the ASUS mobo later on.

Syl, I have an Ubuntu question which I will ask in a new thread I'll start on that subject.

Sounds like your drive has corrupt FAT table(s).

You can address all Ubuntu question through my current email if you wish.

Syl

Syl · 03-23-2009, 03:15 AM

Syl Wrote:
Ron Ramirez Wrote:Downloaded the Seagate disk drive utility and ran the full test on the primary IDE drive in the newer computer.

Results: It passed both the short and long tests, no bad sectors detected.

HOWEVER...it is reporting the drive as a 500 GB drive...when in fact it is a 320 GB drive.

???

In addition, when I took the computer back to the basement to perform this test, it booted normally more than once, no "CPU is unworkable or has changed" messages. I did not try booting into Windows as it is already clear that either (a) a reformat & reinstall is in order, or (2) the drive is dying even though it "passed" the Seagate tests.

I dunno, I may go ahead and pick up some new memory sticks, do the reformat and reinstall and go from there. I could always build another machine based on the ASUS mobo later on.

Syl, I have an Ubuntu question which I will ask in a new thread I'll start on that subject.

Sounds like your drive has a corrupt partition table.

You can address all Ubuntu question through my current email if you wish.

Syl

***Ron Ramirez*** · 03-30-2009, 02:42 AM

The progress so far:

* A new power supply seems to have helped things out quite a bit.
* The 320 gig IDE drive is (NOT) dead. The 500 gig SATA drive is alive and (so far) well.
* After removing one memory stick, the thing (original ABIT motherboard) seems to be behaving itself, and I am now reinstalling XP as I type. Ubuntu to follow. I am hoping it works as this older machine I've been using is very slow compared to the newer computer.

This leaves me with a new ASUS motherboard, my newer computer case, and a new SATA DVD burner. Hmmm...all I need is a CPU, memory, hard drive, video card and another power supply and I have the ingredients for another computer...

CORRECTION: The 320 gig IDE drive is very much alive. Its cable was unplugged. DUH! So now XP is installed on the SATA drive and is working fine so far; it recognizes all three gigs of memory, also. Ubuntu to follow later, maybe tomorrow night? Then I shall have my dual-boot system I have been wanting...then comes the fun of reinstalling all of my programs...ugh.

***Ron Ramirez*** · 03-31-2009, 04:06 AM

Back up and running as of tonight; same newer system in a different case, with a brand new power supply as mentioned before. So far, so good. I am typing this on the newer (ABIT mobo) computer. Keeping my fingers crossed; looks like all is well again.

codefox1 · 04-01-2009, 12:33 AM

Glad to hear you are up and running. I was beginning to think you were of Finnish extraction like me, but the name didn't fit. Scary, that computers are just like ancient radios, over 80 % of the probles are with the power supply. The more things change....