queer pc error

[Roy]

Hello group
Just recently my nephew complained that is desktop just gave an
unusual error when booted: that is before the winxp logo appears a
black screen appear with these note:
'reboot and select proper boot device or insert boot media in selected
boot device and press key'

when he pressed a key the note keeps perpetuating by itself.
He shut down and restarted the PC and the error keeps reappearing.....
As I have never experienced this ...I could not give hin a suggestion
to sort this out....
Does anybody here is familiar with this kind of error?

Roy

 

[Pen]

Hello group
Just recently my nephew complained that is desktop just gave an
unusual error when booted: that is before the winxp logo appears a
black screen appear with these note:
'reboot and select proper boot device or insert boot media in selected
boot device and press key'

when he pressed a key the note keeps perpetuating by itself.
He shut down and restarted the PC and the error keeps reappearing.....
As I have never experienced this ...I could not give hin a suggestion
to sort this out....
Does anybody here is familiar with this kind of error?

Roy

The error means that there is a problem with the Hard Drive.
The computer can't find it. You should do a search on this
group for trouble shooting help.

 

[peter]

?Have him enter the BIOS of his system.. usually pushing the DEL key upon
boot ..and check to see if the HD is listed as a boot device.

If it is post back with more details of his system
does he have a CD/DVD drive?
what OS is he using?? does he have the installation disc for that OS??

peter



If you find a posting or message from me offensive,inappropriate
or disruptive,please ignore it.
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"Roy" wrote in message

Hello group
Just recently my nephew complained that is desktop just gave an
unusual error when booted: that is before the winxp logo appears a
black screen appear with these note:
'reboot and select proper boot device or insert boot media in selected
boot device and press key'

when he pressed a key the note keeps perpetuating by itself.
He shut down and restarted the PC and the error keeps reappearing.....
As I have never experienced this ...I could not give hin a suggestion
to sort this out....
Does anybody here is familiar with this kind of error?

Roy

 

[Roy]

?Have him enter the BIOS of his system.. usually pushing the DEL key upon
boot ..and check to see if the HD is listed as a boot device.

If it is post back with more details of his system
does he have a CD/DVD drive?
what OS is he using?? does he have the installation disc for that OS??

I have conversed with my nephew by phone recently and told me that
the fault happens occasionally and it can be irritating when it
occurs.... From what I gleaned during that communication the OS is
WinXPSp2, 1 gig of ram, non functioning CD/DVD drive..
He did not tell me if he had the recovery disk , perhaps its gone as
that PC was sold second hand from a friend.

Roy

 

[peter]

?I would suggest he look at the connections inside for the HD
to make sure it is seated properly....both the Power and Data cable.
I would also suggest he enter the BIOS and move the HD to the
1st boot position.......touch nothing else...save and exit.

If none of those work it most likely is time for a new HD.
The manufacturer of whatever model you buy will usually have a
cloning program on their website which would clone his old HD
to the new HD,which of course would need to be hooked up.
After the cloning is done remove the old and place the new in its place
and boot up.
peter



If you find a posting or message from me offensive,inappropriate
or disruptive,please ignore it.
If you dont know how to ignore a posting complain
to me and I will be only too happy to demonstrate
"Roy" wrote in message

?Have him enter the BIOS of his system.. usually pushing the DEL key upon
boot ..and check to see if the HD is listed as a boot device.

If it is post back with more details of his system
does he have a CD/DVD drive?
what OS is he using?? does he have the installation disc for that OS??

I have conversed with my nephew by phone recently and told me that
the fault happens occasionally and it can be irritating when it
occurs.... From what I gleaned during that communication the OS is
WinXPSp2, 1 gig of ram, non functioning CD/DVD drive..
He did not tell me if he had the recovery disk , perhaps its gone as
that PC was sold second hand from a friend.

Roy

 

[Roy]

?I would suggest he look at the connections inside for the HD
to make sure it is seated properly....both the Power and Data cable.
I would also suggest he enter the BIOS and move the HD to the
1st boot position.......touch nothing else...save and exit.

If none of those work it most likely is time for a new HD.
The manufacturer of whatever model you buy will usually have a
cloning program on their website which would  clone his old HD
to the new HD,which of course would need to be hooked up.
After the cloning is done remove the old and place the new in its place
and boot up.
peter

I will relay this important information to him...thanks!

If you find a posting or message from me offensive,inappropriate
or disruptive,please ignore it.
If you dont know how to ignore a posting complain
to me and I will be only too happy to demonstrate

Nope there is nothing offensive in your message......
Thanks again for your input..
Roy

 

[GMAN]

I have conversed with my nephew by phone recently and told me that
the fault happens occasionally and it can be irritating when it
occurs.... From what I gleaned during that communication the OS is
WinXPSp2, 1 gig of ram, non functioning CD/DVD drive..
He did not tell me if he had the recovery disk , perhaps its gone as
that PC was sold second hand from a friend.

Roy

If the bad/dead CD rom drive is on the same cable as the Hard Drive, it could
be causing the IDE controller to lock up.

A replacement DVD drive can be had for only a few bucks. Many Slavation Army
type stores have used one for a buck or two. Its worth a try to raplace the
DVD drive and make sure the cables are firmly attached to the Hard
Drive.Sometimes a crappy power supply will have bad molex power connectors
that are loose.

 

[Roy]

If the bad/dead CD rom drive is on the same cable as the Hard Drive, it could
be causing the IDE controller to lock up.

A replacement DVD drive can be had for only a few bucks. Many Slavation Army
type stores have used one for a buck or two. Its worth a try to raplace the
DVD drive and make sure the cables are firmly attached to the Hard
Drive.Sometimes a crappy power supply will have bad molex power connectors
that are loose.

Thanks for the input! I am relaying the information to the kid...
Regards
Roy

 

[Roy]

Roy,
just a thought before he starts major disk surgery!

If the system is a bit long in the tooth and he regularly removes mains
power when not in use,
then just maybe the bios battery is flat.  That would cause it to forget
which device to boot from.

On power up, press DEL (or maybe F2) to enter the bios and check boot
devices.
If settings are wrong, set it right, save settings and try it.
Keep power on the device  (ie close down with XP start> turn off computer
but don't unplug or switch off at the back) until such time as the battery
can be replaced.

HTH good luck!
Phil

Thanks for the input Phil!
I am relaying that valuable information to my nephew.
Regards
Roy