BWPerkins

I have a computer that constantly reboots unless I catch it in the Bios and let it set for 3-5 minutes. Then the computer boots normally without any Bios changes. Processor is a AMDXP 2500 or AMDXP3000. I have two ASUS A7V8X-X Mboard computers. I moved the Hard disk from the XP3000 computer to the XP2500 computer and the problem stayed with the Hard disk which tells me the problem is in the Win2K OS rather than a hardware problem. This computer also may hang up in 2 days to 14 days and there is no predicting when this will happen.

I know this boot problem also exists in WinXP Pro as well because my neighbor is a computer technician and he has not been able to fix this except by formatting and reloading the OS. The second Win2K computer has never had this problem, nor does it hang up. None of the disk programs indicate there is a disk integrity problem.

BWPerkins

Riskyone101

Hello and Welcome to TSF,

Have you tested the harddrive recently?

Note: the problem can still be a hardware problem - harddrive

BWPerkins

I have tested the hard disk with Windows 2000 Pro Checkdisk with and W/O the options checked to fix it and got no errors. I ran Fix-It 5 - Disk Fixer and found no errors. Norton Utilities says, NO errors in system area, No errors to file structure and No index errors.

I have run Spinrite 6.0 in the past on this harddrive with no errors while it had this reboot problem. Spinrite is on floppy. I can not run it again right now on this computer as my floppy is not cooperating.

Sometimes on booting it will stay up. If it lasts more than 1 minute and 20 seconds after I enter the password and hit return, it probably will stay up otherwise, I catch it in the Bios for 3-5 minutes then go on.

I called Kim Kommando's radio show to ask about it and was told it was too complex to handle on the show.

BWPerkins

Riskyone101

what are you running:
video card
cpu
m/board
ram
Harddrive (brand name)
power supply (brand and wattage)

check the listings in the bios for voltages and temperatures and post them

power supply (brand and wattage)

Go here and look at figure 3 & 4:
http://www.hardwaresecrets.com/article/362

Also download and run everest:
http://majorgeeks.com/download.php?det=4181

Copy and paste the report to Notepad or MS Word.
Save the report so you know where it is.
You then can attach the report.

BWPerkins

I listed the hardware at the beginning. This is not a hardware problem because I have two computers running the same motherboard and AMD XP processors. When I moved the harddrive the problem moved with the HD which means it is in the HD or OS. All diagnostics to this point do not find a HD problem. I think it is in the OS (Win2KPro). The other computer has had no problem with the same OS, MB, AMD processor but did have a problem prior to moving the HD.
BWPerkins

Riskyone101

Have you tried using the recovery console with the W2K pro disc inserted?

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/229716

FIXBOOT

BWPerkins

Yes I tried the recovery with the Win2K CD. It does not do anything.

Riskyone101

Is the pc booting from the cd/drive rom? another words do have the
boot order configured in the bios "to boot cd rom first"?

BWPerkins

Booting from harddrive. I have two computers running the same motherboard. When the problem started, I moved the HD to the second computer, the problem stayed with the HD. I have continued to run diagnostics on the HD with no errors showing up. The last program was System Suite 7, but several others do not show disk errors. I have completely changed all the hardware except the HD and the problem does not change. It has to be some glitch in the Win2KPro. I have been told that this problem also occurs in WinXPpro and nothing has been found to fix it but formatting and reloading the OS.

Riskyone101

Are you able to boot from the Windows 2000 pro cd disk?

If not, then enter bios: F1, F2, Delete, escape key (varies on different pc`s)
when pc first turns on.
Once in bios, go to boot tab (or something similar to this)
Change the boot order to this:

cd/drive rom
floppy
harddrive
other devices (optional)

Save and exit bios

Will the pc boot from the windows 2000 pro cd disc?

If so,

Enter recovery console
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/229716

FIXBOOT

Stu_computer

Hello BW,

What is the brand name and model number of the suspect hard drive?

Is the hard drive in the second computer the same model? If not, tell us the make-n-model as well.

This needs to be answered because, (for example), the ASUS A7V8X-X has had problems with some Seagate hard drives, or it may be another issue like UDMA 6 support.

BWPerkins

Both computer are running Western Digital IDE drives. The HD working well is a WD1200JB (120gb) and the HD in the problem computer is a WD800JB-00CRA1 (80gb). I have installed a second WD800JB-00JJC0 drive that I had as a backup external drive, installed Win2KPro, did the updates and added email to it. It boots normally, but without a day or so of adding software to that drive, it is not productive. I am gradually adding software as I have time and will eventually switch if I can not determine the cause of the continuous reboot problem. Probably one time out of 10 it will boot normally. Sometimes I can let it set waiting for the password and it will boot normally. If it is going to reboot it will happen in 1 minute 10 seconds to 1 minute and 30 seconds while waiting for the password or while booting up if the password is entered.
The problem disk ran in the other computer for 1.5 to 2 years without a problem. When it started causing a problem, I swapped the disk drives to make sure it was not a hardware problem. The problem moved with the HD so it was not a motherboard, power supply, video card, screen, modem, KB or mouse problem.
I will try the recovery console again, but it did not help when I tried it before.
BWPerkins

Stu_computer

suggest you get a new drive and retire that one as it is likely on it's way to worse/total failure.

http://datacent.com/datarecovery/hdd...WD800JB-00CRA1