Hard Drive (?) Crashing

SlyEnemy · 05-28-2007, 01:05 AM

Hi guys, apologies first off if I don't explain everything I need to, I'm not fully up on my hardware knowledge (Which is why I've come here for help) :)

I really hope you can help as I've been stuck for about a month now. Basically, a friend gave me a PC. It's got a brilliant graphics card in there, but it won't fit in mine.

When I got the PC to mine, the transit caused one of the Hard Drives to fail (It was on it's last legs anyway), a Maxtor hard-drive with the Windows OS on it. I decided to format the other drive and stick a fresh install of Windows XP on it. Everything went fine, and I decided to check out the graphics card, installed the drivers and stuck Oblivion on.

All was going swimmingly until the game suddenly froze, the screen went blank, and the PC inexplicabley rebooted. Then the error: "0 Hard Disc Detected". I assumed there and then that this Hard Drive had also blown.

A couple of days later I tried to connect my Sata Drive up to his (He has the older version (IDE?) with the thick black cables) but that wouldn't seem to detect (I imagine it has something to do with BIOS settings? I have no idea where to start). I switched the computer on, and the Hard Drive that had previously crashed booted up without a problem. I decided to have a look in settings and see if there were any clashes, nothing out of the ordinary.

I then started hooking it up to my Modem to see if there was any Diagnostic tools to download, when no sooner had I thunk it, the PC rebooted and the eponymous error: "0 Hard Disc Detected" appeared.

I'm completely at a loss with it now, and I hope to God that one of you helpful and knowledgable folks can give me a shunt in the right direction. I'll list what info I can, but please let me know if there's anything else you need.

Thank you.

Western Digital 120 GB Hard Disc
1GB Ram
Radeon X800 Graphics Card
Asus Motherboard (The sticker reads: A8V Deluxe 54MG077497
230V Power Supply
Not sure at all on the Processor speed

The Hard Drive on this PC is a Western Digital 80GB drive, but as stated before, I've no idea how to get the other PC to detect it (I can connect it up okay, I think, using the bits out of mine).

Anyway, hope this helps, thanks again.

**Deleted090308** · 05-28-2007, 01:27 AM

Hi and welcome to TSF,
It could be three things: PSU, hard drive (connection?) or motherboard (not very likely).
Try another power supply.
Try another hard drive cable (IDE? SATA?)

Nicholas

SlyEnemy · 05-28-2007, 01:51 AM

Hi eneles, I've tried to different cables with the Hard Drive and the same problem occurs on both. Could it really be the power supply though? It has less Hard Drives in it now than it ever has, and yet it's started being problematic now.

Any ideas how to get the SATA Hard Drive working in this machine?

**Deleted090308** · 05-28-2007, 02:46 AM

Try a BIOS reset. Can you "see" the hard drive in BIOS?
Please post the PSU specs (read the label on the PSU inside the case)

SlyEnemy · 05-28-2007, 02:50 AM

Well I've just booted it up and it said 0 hard disc, but it appears in the bios!

Edit: Windows has now inexlicably booted. Anything I should test?

**Deleted090308** · 05-28-2007, 02:52 AM

Reset BIOS - unplug the computer first.

SlyEnemy · 05-28-2007, 02:55 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by eneles

Reset BIOS - unplug the computer first.

Any idea how?

Sorry

**Deleted090308** · 05-28-2007, 03:06 AM

No need to be sorry

Unplug the computer.
Open the case.
Remove the little lithium battery (it looks like a silver coin) on the motherboard.
Put the battery back in after a couple of minutes and turn the computer on. When the computer boots you will get a "checksum error" message - enter BIOS and load default settings (or something similar).
Don't forget to save before you exit BIOS.

And - please - when you have the case open: Have a look at the label on the PSU.

SlyEnemy · 05-28-2007, 03:20 AM

Which would be the PSU?

SlyEnemy · 05-28-2007, 03:23 AM

I've reset the bios as stated. Windows has booted, as before.

**Deleted090308** · 05-28-2007, 03:28 AM

It's the "box" connected to the wall socket.

SlyEnemy · 05-28-2007, 03:38 AM

I think its DPS-350PB-2 C

it hasn't crashd yet, which is the longest so far.

SlyEnemy · 05-28-2007, 03:53 AM

Ahh, just got a blue screen! PC reset and Windows is now restarting. Only word I caught on the Blue Screen "dump".

SlyEnemy · 05-28-2007, 03:58 AM

The following error appeared upon restarting:

Windows unable to save all data for file C:/windos/system32/config/sysevent.evt
The data has been lost. This error may be caused by Hardware or Network connection.

SlyEnemy · 05-28-2007, 04:15 AM

and now we're back to 0 Hard Disk detected :(

**Deleted090308** · 05-28-2007, 04:19 AM

Here's a program to test the hard drive:
Downlad " Data lifeguard Diagnostic for DOS (floppy)" from Western Digital (I'm assuming you're using the Western Digital 120 GB Hard Disc now).
Read the instructions on the download page.
Run the extended test.

Quote:

I think its DPS-350PB-2 C

That power supply has an output of only 350W and isn't "strong" enough to run the computer. See if you can borrow another PSU with at least 500W.

SlyEnemy · 05-28-2007, 04:34 AM

No floppy drive :/

**Deleted090308** · 05-28-2007, 05:08 AM

First: Find another power supply.
Then download "Data lifeguard Diagnostic for DOS (CD)"

SlyEnemy · 05-28-2007, 05:36 AM

I've actually just whacked the dodgy hard drive from the wonky PC into this one and am running Diagnostic checks and the likes on it now. I'm going to try taking the Power Supply from this one and sticking it in the dodgy one, see if that helps matters.

Cheers for your help ,I'll post more words should something exciting happen.

05-28-2007, 01:05 AM	#1 (permalink)
SlyEnemy Registered User Join Date: May 2007 Posts: 14 OS: Win XP	Hard Drive (?) Crashing Hi guys, apologies first off if I don't explain everything I need to, I'm not fully up on my hardware knowledge (Which is why I've come here for help) :) I really hope you can help as I've been stuck for about a month now. Basically, a friend gave me a PC. It's got a brilliant graphics card in there, but it won't fit in mine. When I got the PC to mine, the transit caused one of the Hard Drives to fail (It was on it's last legs anyway), a Maxtor hard-drive with the Windows OS on it. I decided to format the other drive and stick a fresh install of Windows XP on it. Everything went fine, and I decided to check out the graphics card, installed the drivers and stuck Oblivion on. All was going swimmingly until the game suddenly froze, the screen went blank, and the PC inexplicabley rebooted. Then the error: "0 Hard Disc Detected". I assumed there and then that this Hard Drive had also blown. A couple of days later I tried to connect my Sata Drive up to his (He has the older version (IDE?) with the thick black cables) but that wouldn't seem to detect (I imagine it has something to do with BIOS settings? I have no idea where to start). I switched the computer on, and the Hard Drive that had previously crashed booted up without a problem. I decided to have a look in settings and see if there were any clashes, nothing out of the ordinary. I then started hooking it up to my Modem to see if there was any Diagnostic tools to download, when no sooner had I thunk it, the PC rebooted and the eponymous error: "0 Hard Disc Detected" appeared. I'm completely at a loss with it now, and I hope to God that one of you helpful and knowledgable folks can give me a shunt in the right direction. I'll list what info I can, but please let me know if there's anything else you need. Thank you. Western Digital 120 GB Hard Disc 1GB Ram Radeon X800 Graphics Card Asus Motherboard (The sticker reads: A8V Deluxe 54MG077497 230V Power Supply Not sure at all on the Processor speed The Hard Drive on this PC is a Western Digital 80GB drive, but as stated before, I've no idea how to get the other PC to detect it (I can connect it up okay, I think, using the bits out of mine). Anyway, hope this helps, thanks again.

05-28-2007, 01:27 AM	#2 (permalink)
Deleted090308 Not... Join Date: Jan 2007 Posts: 22,277 OS: Xp	Re: Hard Drive (?) Crashing Hi and welcome to TSF, It could be three things: PSU, hard drive (connection?) or motherboard (not very likely). Try another power supply. Try another hard drive cable (IDE? SATA?) Nicholas

05-28-2007, 01:51 AM	#3 (permalink)
SlyEnemy Registered User Join Date: May 2007 Posts: 14 OS: Win XP	Re: Hard Drive (?) Crashing Hi eneles, I've tried to different cables with the Hard Drive and the same problem occurs on both. Could it really be the power supply though? It has less Hard Drives in it now than it ever has, and yet it's started being problematic now. Any ideas how to get the SATA Hard Drive working in this machine?

05-28-2007, 02:46 AM	#4 (permalink)
Deleted090308 Not... Join Date: Jan 2007 Posts: 22,277 OS: Xp	Re: Hard Drive (?) Crashing Try a BIOS reset. Can you "see" the hard drive in BIOS? Please post the PSU specs (read the label on the PSU inside the case)

05-28-2007, 02:50 AM	#5 (permalink)
SlyEnemy Registered User Join Date: May 2007 Posts: 14 OS: Win XP	Re: Hard Drive (?) Crashing Well I've just booted it up and it said 0 hard disc, but it appears in the bios! Edit: Windows has now inexlicably booted. Anything I should test? Last edited by SlyEnemy; 05-28-2007 at 02:54 AM.

05-28-2007, 02:52 AM	#6 (permalink)
Deleted090308 Not... Join Date: Jan 2007 Posts: 22,277 OS: Xp	Re: Hard Drive (?) Crashing Reset BIOS - unplug the computer first.

05-28-2007, 03:06 AM	#8 (permalink)
Deleted090308 Not... Join Date: Jan 2007 Posts: 22,277 OS: Xp	Re: Hard Drive (?) Crashing No need to be sorry Unplug the computer. Open the case. Remove the little lithium battery (it looks like a silver coin) on the motherboard. Put the battery back in after a couple of minutes and turn the computer on. When the computer boots you will get a "checksum error" message - enter BIOS and load default settings (or something similar). Don't forget to save before you exit BIOS. And - please - when you have the case open: Have a look at the label on the PSU.

05-28-2007, 03:20 AM	#9 (permalink)
SlyEnemy Registered User Join Date: May 2007 Posts: 14 OS: Win XP	Re: Hard Drive (?) Crashing Which would be the PSU?

05-28-2007, 03:23 AM	#10 (permalink)
SlyEnemy Registered User Join Date: May 2007 Posts: 14 OS: Win XP	Re: Hard Drive (?) Crashing I've reset the bios as stated. Windows has booted, as before.

05-28-2007, 03:28 AM	#11 (permalink)
Deleted090308 Not... Join Date: Jan 2007 Posts: 22,277 OS: Xp	Re: Hard Drive (?) Crashing It's the "box" connected to the wall socket.

05-28-2007, 03:38 AM	#12 (permalink)
SlyEnemy Registered User Join Date: May 2007 Posts: 14 OS: Win XP	Re: Hard Drive (?) Crashing I think its DPS-350PB-2 C it hasn't crashd yet, which is the longest so far.

05-28-2007, 03:53 AM	#13 (permalink)
SlyEnemy Registered User Join Date: May 2007 Posts: 14 OS: Win XP	Re: Hard Drive (?) Crashing Ahh, just got a blue screen! PC reset and Windows is now restarting. Only word I caught on the Blue Screen "dump".

05-28-2007, 03:58 AM	#14 (permalink)
SlyEnemy Registered User Join Date: May 2007 Posts: 14 OS: Win XP	Re: Hard Drive (?) Crashing The following error appeared upon restarting: Windows unable to save all data for file C:/windos/system32/config/sysevent.evt The data has been lost. This error may be caused by Hardware or Network connection.

05-28-2007, 04:15 AM	#15 (permalink)
SlyEnemy Registered User Join Date: May 2007 Posts: 14 OS: Win XP	Re: Hard Drive (?) Crashing and now we're back to 0 Hard Disk detected :(

05-28-2007, 04:34 AM	#17 (permalink)
SlyEnemy Registered User Join Date: May 2007 Posts: 14 OS: Win XP	Re: Hard Drive (?) Crashing No floppy drive :/

05-28-2007, 05:08 AM	#18 (permalink)
Deleted090308 Not... Join Date: Jan 2007 Posts: 22,277 OS: Xp	Re: Hard Drive (?) Crashing First: Find another power supply. Then download "Data lifeguard Diagnostic for DOS (CD)"

05-28-2007, 05:36 AM	#19 (permalink)
SlyEnemy Registered User Join Date: May 2007 Posts: 14 OS: Win XP	Re: Hard Drive (?) Crashing I've actually just whacked the dodgy hard drive from the wonky PC into this one and am running Diagnostic checks and the likes on it now. I'm going to try taking the Power Supply from this one and sticking it in the dodgy one, see if that helps matters. Cheers for your help ,I'll post more words should something exciting happen.