Boot problem

[Dave Neve]

Hi,

The message below is for a friend.

Can't boot my Windows XP hard drive. At boot time I get a black screen
(the words "no signal" are displayed).
I've tried installing the disk as a slave on a second computer (Windows
ME) but the the drive is not even visible in Windows (although it is
visible in the BIOS setup screen).

I can however view the contents of the drive using a small utility
called "Drive Rescue". So if necessary I could probably save all the
data I need to another disk.

Ideally, I'd like to try to boot from CD but how can I configure DOS to
boot from CD when screen is blank.

Also, if I manage to do this, what is the next step to make HD bootable
again assuming it is a configuration problem and not a hardware
problem?

 

[Alias]

"Dave Neve" wrote

Hi,
Hi.

The message below is for a friend.

Sure

Can't boot my Windows XP hard drive. At boot time I get a black screen
(the words "no signal" are displayed).

Sounds like the video card or the monitor to me.

I've tried installing the disk as a slave on a second computer (Windows
ME) but the the drive is not even visible in Windows (although it is
visible in the BIOS setup screen).

ME can't read NTFS.

I can however view the contents of the drive using a small utility
called "Drive Rescue". So if necessary I could probably save all the
data I need to another disk.

Ideally, I'd like to try to boot from CD but how can I configure DOS to
boot from CD when screen is blank.

Also, if I manage to do this, what is the next step to make HD bootable
again assuming it is a configuration problem and not a hardware
problem?

Check the connections of the monitor and the video card.

 

[S.Sengupta]

Check your monitor/monitor cable/graphic card.

regards,
ssg MS-MVP

 

[Pavel]

Often the problem is video resolution. Try to boot using VGA resolution,
available from Windows boot menu, available with the use of F8 key during
boot. If you actually get to this menu you are already halfway there. If the
VGA resolution allows you to boot to windows, then simply change the video
resolution to something that is acceptable to the monitor.

Also, if you have an LCD display and it can accept Analog and Digital,
sometimes just switching back and forth between the two can correct the
problem, providing your video card supports both.

 

[Sparda]

"The message below is for a friend. "

Dose it realy matter who it’s from or for?

"Can’t boot my Windows XP hard drive."

A hard drive cannot be OS specific, at least for your standared IBM PC
any way.

"At boot time I get a black screen (the words "no signal" are
displayed)."

This means your monitor is not getting a signel, to fix this you
should check all the connections to the monitor, if they are fine you
should check it with another monitor, if that fails then your graphics
card is probabley dead.

"I’ve tried installing the disk as a slave on a second computer
(Windows ME) but the the drive is not even visible in Windows
(although it is visible in the BIOS setup screen)."

Of course it wont asuming you used New Technology File System
filesystem for XP, Windows ME dose not support the NTFS fielsystem.

"I can however view the contents of the drive using a small utility
called "Drive Rescue". So if necessary I could probably save all the
data I need to another disk."

If they utility supports NTFS filesystem, thats not supprising.

"Ideally, I’d like to try to boot from CD but how can I configure
DOS to boot from CD when screen is blank."

Don’t even atempt this untlill you have tested the monitor and
graphics card. Oh and what you refer to as DOS is not DOS at all in
any shape or form, it is the BIOS you refer to.

"Also, if I manage to do this, what is the next step to make HD
bootable again assuming it is a configuration problem and not a
hardware problem?"

It should be fine now. Asuming it is the graphics card and/or the
monitor at fault.

 

[Ron Sommer]

Use a ME boot disk. You should boot to a A: prompt.
Work with the video cable and card is you don't get the A: prompt.