I had this problem not too long ago, and resolved it by
replacing my HD drive cable, now it's back.
The computer is giving me the following error
can't find hd 0, and time out on wait interval.
also had a corrupt text file on nortons log.
recently I've experienced some power outages that I think
may have caused some damage , in spite of the fact that I
have surge protectors and a UPS.
If I shut down the pc and wait a few moments I can boot
and get windows back just fine. I don't understand what
is going on, the cables are only a few months old.

If cables were the problem, then you could see (measure) the
problem with basic test equipment (the so inexpensive and
necessary 3.5 digit multimeter). Intermittent is back
probably because it was not identified up front; before trying
to fix it. This is why, for example, manufacturers provide
free diagnostics. Let's assume the cable was a problem. Then
when running a diagnostic constantly, the intermittent was
created and eliminated by shaking cable. Simple test.

Currently you don't know if it was a cable, or connectors at
either end. But then the list of possibilities gets longer.
One factor that can often cause strange problems are marginal
power supply voltages. Again, a first test to identify
intermittent is to verify voltage are within upper 3/4s of
these limits - including on disc drive PC board (after
connection from power supply wire). This again means the 3.5
digit meter:
Voltage Wire Color Min V Max V
+5 V Red 4.75 V 5.25 V
+12 V Yellow 11.4 V 12.6 V
+3.3 V Orange 3.135 V 3.465 V
+5VSB Purple 4.75 5.25

Then move on to diagnostics. Not just to verify that long
data reads work; but to verify long data reads work when
electronics is heated by hair dryer on high or operates in a
room at 100 degree F. Normal operating temperature to
electronics but can expose intermittent failures. (Too many
try to then fix this heat aggravated problem with more fans
rather than cure the problem.)

Just two ideas to identify problem before trying to fix
anything. Shotgunning - a poor solution that attempts to find
the problem by first fixing it.

You have no reason to suspect surges. If UPS was solving
something, then that 3.5 digit meter would have made the
problem obvious up front. Even worse is a UPS and other surge
protectors connected together. But this is the bottom line -
the surge protectors and UPS were never a solution to your
problem AND did not protect as you think they do. They only
protected as manufacturer cryptically said they would.

Further necessary information - is disk in FAT or NTFS
filesystem? What did system (event) logs say?

sgopus wrote:
> I had this problem not too long ago, and resolved it by
> replacing my HD drive cable, now it's back.
> The computer is giving me the following error
> can't find hd 0, and time out on wait interval.
> also had a corrupt text file on nortons log.
> recently I've experienced some power outages that I think
> may have caused some damage , in spite of the fact that I
> have surge protectors and a UPS.
> If I shut down the pc and wait a few moments I can boot
> and get windows back just fine. I don't understand what
> is going on, the cables are only a few months old.

I would use the drive manufacturer's downloadable diagnostic utility in
a case like this, because an intermittent drive failure can signal
impending doom. If the diagnostic finds irreparable problems, the drive
may be replaced free - drive warranties are years long & tech support
people are generally cooperative. They'll even send you the replacement
first, so you can clone the baddie if you wish before mailing it to them.

I'd also do everything possible ASAP to back up important dirs & files
on that drive.

And I'd check yet again to make sure cable connectors are really fully
and tightly seated. PCs do vibrate a bit.

sgopus wrote:

> I had this problem not too long ago, and resolved it by
> replacing my HD drive cable, now it's back.
> The computer is giving me the following error
> can't find hd 0, and time out on wait interval.
> also had a corrupt text file on nortons log.
> recently I've experienced some power outages that I think
> may have caused some damage , in spite of the fact that I
> have surge protectors and a UPS.
> If I shut down the pc and wait a few moments I can boot
> and get windows back just fine. I don't understand what
> is going on, the cables are only a few months old.

My thanks to both of you, for your response(s).
What I've done to date, System event log gave me details
about a few errors, one the log used by norton for
reporting errors had gotten corrupted, it was
automatically replaced by the system, another error was
the hd could not be written to, due to a time out failure.

I figured the power surges could have caused some type of
glich on the HD, even though it was protected via surge
protectors and the UPS, so I did a check disk with
automatically fix the errors checked, this did find a few
errors, and fixed them, the system has worked fine since
then, I also did a backup, JIC..



>-----Original Message-----
>I would use the drive manufacturer's downloadable
diagnostic utility in
>a case like this, because an intermittent drive failure
can signal
>impending doom. If the diagnostic finds irreparable
problems, the drive
>may be replaced free - drive warranties are years long &
tech support
>people are generally cooperative. They'll even send you
the replacement
>first, so you can clone the baddie if you wish before
mailing it to them.
>
>I'd also do everything possible ASAP to back up important
dirs & files
>on that drive.
>
>And I'd check yet again to make sure cable connectors are
really fully
>and tightly seated. PCs do vibrate a bit.
>
>sgopus wrote:
>
>> I had this problem not too long ago, and resolved it by
>> replacing my HD drive cable, now it's back.
>> The computer is giving me the following error
>> can't find hd 0, and time out on wait interval.
>> also had a corrupt text file on nortons log.
>> recently I've experienced some power outages that I
think
>> may have caused some damage , in spite of the fact that
I
>> have surge protectors and a UPS.
>> If I shut down the pc and wait a few moments I can boot
>> and get windows back just fine. I don't understand
what
>> is going on, the cables are only a few months old.
>
>.
>

1) If check disk was executed, then is disk an FAT
filesystem? Therein lies a typical reason for disk problems
due to power loss. Your disk filesystem should be the far
more robust and reliable NTFS. FATxx filesystems can be
corrupted by power loss. Just one of so many reasons why NTFS
had obsoleted FAT even before Windows 95 or FAT32 appeared.

2) Let's assume that a power surge did create the problem.
Possible since plug-in protectors (power strip and UPS) don't
even claim protection from the destructive type of surge.
Your system already has sufficient internal protection.
Anything that can be effective at the computer is already
required by, among others, Intel specs. But this internal
protection assumes incoming surges are earthed before entering
a building; before surge can overwhelm that existing, internal
protection.

Those plug-in solutions avoid discussing this fact. They
forget to mention common mode verses differential mode
transients. They forget to mention that a surge protector is
only as effective as its earth ground. They forget to mention
the critically important building earthing inspection and
dedicated grounding wire. If they mentioned any of this, then
you might ask some very embarrassing questions.

One embarrassing question that protector's cost. About $20
to only protect one appliance? A 'whole house' protector
protects everything besides computer; only for about $1 per
protected appliance.

In the meantime, that UPS connects computer directly to AC
mains when not in battery backup mode. So where is the
protection? Just another fact they would avoid discussing so
as to make a sale. Bottom line is this: a surge protector is
only as effective as its earth ground. Just what those
overpriced, overhyped, typically undersized protector
manufacturers would rather forget. 'Whole house' protector is
the properly earthed protector. A protector without a short
connection to earth ground (such as plug-in protectors)
provides no effective protection. Instead they avoid
discussing any of this to make a 'so profitable' sale.

Learn about NTFS. Help on the Disk Administrator, if
necessary, for further details.

sgopus wrote:
> My thanks to both of you, for your response(s).
> What I've done to date, System event log gave me details
> about a few errors, one the log used by norton for
> reporting errors had gotten corrupted, it was
> automatically replaced by the system, another error was
> the hd could not be written to, due to a time out failure.
>
> I figured the power surges could have caused some type of
> glich on the HD, even though it was protected via surge
> protectors and the UPS, so I did a check disk with
> automatically fix the errors checked, this did find a few
> errors, and fixed them, the system has worked fine since
> then, I also did a backup, JIC..

Many thanks for the detailed opinion!

Further news.
It happened again, this time I paid attention, it seemed
to always happen just as Norton was starting it's nightly
system scan, so to test this, I manually started a system
scan, and the results are thus, Norton starts a scan of an
empty CD drive and for some reason gets stuck in an
endless loop of waiting for some return, this just started
happening recently, so I assume norton made some change to
their engine, So I changed the scan defaults to only scan
certain drives/folders, as of last night this change
resulted in no system hang/crash, so I assume the problem
has been resolved, I have also sent a note to symantec
telling them of the issue.



>-----Original Message-----
> 1) If check disk was executed, then is disk an FAT
>filesystem? Therein lies a typical reason for disk
problems
>due to power loss. Your disk filesystem should be the far
>more robust and reliable NTFS. FATxx filesystems can be
>corrupted by power loss. Just one of so many reasons why
NTFS
>had obsoleted FAT even before Windows 95 or FAT32
appeared.
>
> 2) Let's assume that a power surge did create the
problem.
>Possible since plug-in protectors (power strip and UPS)
don't
>even claim protection from the destructive type of surge.
>Your system already has sufficient internal protection.
>Anything that can be effective at the computer is already
>required by, among others, Intel specs. But this internal
>protection assumes incoming surges are earthed before
entering
>a building; before surge can overwhelm that existing,
internal
>protection.
>
> Those plug-in solutions avoid discussing this fact.
They
>forget to mention common mode verses differential mode
>transients. They forget to mention that a surge
protector is
>only as effective as its earth ground. They forget to
mention
>the critically important building earthing inspection and
>dedicated grounding wire. If they mentioned any of this,
then
>you might ask some very embarrassing questions.
>
> One embarrassing question that protector's cost. About
$20
>to only protect one appliance? A 'whole house' protector
>protects everything besides computer; only for about $1
per
>protected appliance.
>
> In the meantime, that UPS connects computer directly to
AC
>mains when not in battery backup mode. So where is the
>protection? Just another fact they would avoid
discussing so
>as to make a sale. Bottom line is this: a surge
protector is
>only as effective as its earth ground. Just what those
>overpriced, overhyped, typically undersized protector
>manufacturers would rather forget. 'Whole house'
protector is
>the properly earthed protector. A protector without a
short
>connection to earth ground (such as plug-in protectors)
>provides no effective protection. Instead they avoid
>discussing any of this to make a 'so profitable' sale.
>
> Learn about NTFS. Help on the Disk Administrator, if
>necessary, for further details.
>
>sgopus wrote:
>> My thanks to both of you, for your response(s).
>> What I've done to date, System event log gave me
details
>> about a few errors, one the log used by norton for
>> reporting errors had gotten corrupted, it was
>> automatically replaced by the system, another error was
>> the hd could not be written to, due to a time out
failure.
>>
>> I figured the power surges could have caused some type
of
>> glich on the HD, even though it was protected via surge
>> protectors and the UPS, so I did a check disk with
>> automatically fix the errors checked, this did find a
few
>> errors, and fixed them, the system has worked fine since
>> then, I also did a backup, JIC..
>.
>

To answer some of your questions, yes FILE structure is
FAT32, not NTFS.
I have a triple boot system, ME/W2K/XP and enjoy the
ability to pass files back and forth within ME and W2K,
at some point ME will go away, when I am VERY certain all
my programs that I consider important, will work ok with
W2k/XP, at that time I will convert to NTFS as I installed
XP using NTFS.



>-----Original Message-----
> 1) If check disk was executed, then is disk an FAT
>filesystem? Therein lies a typical reason for disk
problems
>due to power loss. Your disk filesystem should be the far
>more robust and reliable NTFS. FATxx filesystems can be
>corrupted by power loss. Just one of so many reasons why
NTFS
>had obsoleted FAT even before Windows 95 or FAT32
appeared.
>
> 2) Let's assume that a power surge did create the
problem.
>Possible since plug-in protectors (power strip and UPS)
don't
>even claim protection from the destructive type of surge.
>Your system already has sufficient internal protection.
>Anything that can be effective at the computer is already
>required by, among others, Intel specs. But this internal
>protection assumes incoming surges are earthed before
entering
>a building; before surge can overwhelm that existing,
internal
>protection.
>
> Those plug-in solutions avoid discussing this fact.
They
>forget to mention common mode verses differential mode
>transients. They forget to mention that a surge
protector is
>only as effective as its earth ground. They forget to
mention
>the critically important building earthing inspection and
>dedicated grounding wire. If they mentioned any of this,
then
>you might ask some very embarrassing questions.
>
> One embarrassing question that protector's cost. About
$20
>to only protect one appliance? A 'whole house' protector
>protects everything besides computer; only for about $1
per
>protected appliance.
>
> In the meantime, that UPS connects computer directly to
AC
>mains when not in battery backup mode. So where is the
>protection? Just another fact they would avoid
discussing so
>as to make a sale. Bottom line is this: a surge
protector is
>only as effective as its earth ground. Just what those
>overpriced, overhyped, typically undersized protector
>manufacturers would rather forget. 'Whole house'
protector is
>the properly earthed protector. A protector without a
short
>connection to earth ground (such as plug-in protectors)
>provides no effective protection. Instead they avoid
>discussing any of this to make a 'so profitable' sale.
>
> Learn about NTFS. Help on the Disk Administrator, if
>necessary, for further details.
>
>sgopus wrote:
>> My thanks to both of you, for your response(s).
>> What I've done to date, System event log gave me
details
>> about a few errors, one the log used by norton for
>> reporting errors had gotten corrupted, it was
>> automatically replaced by the system, another error was
>> the hd could not be written to, due to a time out
failure.
>>
>> I figured the power surges could have caused some type
of
>> glich on the HD, even though it was protected via surge
>> protectors and the UPS, so I did a check disk with
>> automatically fix the errors checked, this did find a
few
>> errors, and fixed them, the system has worked fine since
>> then, I also did a backup, JIC..
>.
>

I solve this 'other OS' problem by setting up a small FAT
partition and a large NTFS partition. When I must use a DOS
only program, the files on the FAT partition can be used.
Then those files and everything else is available to the NT
based OS.

Another method to avoid the weakness of FAT filesystems - a
plug-in UPS so that a power loss does not contaminate the
drive. Of course the UPS would not solve a Norton software
problem.

sgopus wrote:
> To answer some of your questions, yes FILE structure is
> FAT32, not NTFS.
> I have a triple boot system, ME/W2K/XP and enjoy the
> ability to pass files back and forth within ME and W2K,
> at some point ME will go away, when I am VERY certain all
> my programs that I consider important, will work ok with
> W2k/XP, at that time I will convert to NTFS as I installed
> XP using NTFS.