hard drive refuses to boot after XP re-install

[Dan Hagerman]

I changed to a new mobo/proc. System would boot, but not fully into Windows
(BSOD - which I expected). Booted to Windows XP CD, attempted
re-installation. Seemed to work fine, up until the point where it had to
reboot to the hard drive. System reboots, I ignore the boot to CD, it tries
to boot to the hard drive. The screen goes blank, hard drive cranks for a
second and then stops. Have let sit for many minutes, does not recover.
Just hangs there.

Have tried completely deleting & recreating & reformatting the partitions
(NTFS) using the Windows XP CD, and the Maxtor MaxBLAST 4 program. Again,
seems to work fine, install Windows, still won't boot. Have run full test
on the drive, checks out OK. Have tried booting to recovery console, and
running chkdsk, fixboot, and fixmbr. Still no luck, and I'm stumped!

Again, it didn't have a problem booting the first time, but has ever since
the first attempted re-install of XP.

The drive is a Maxtor 6Y080P0 80GB ATA EIDE. The computer is an Epox 9NDA3J
mobo w/ Athlon 64 3200+.

Any thoughts?

Thanks,
Dan

 

[Dan Hagerman]

Update: I formatted the partition as FAT, and it booted just fine. I still
prefer it to be NTFS, however. Why won't it boot as NTFS? Should I
low-level format the drive?

 

[Roberto]

I changed to a new mobo/proc. System would boot, but not fully into
Windows (BSOD - which I expected). Booted to Windows XP CD, attempted
re-installation. Seemed to work fine, up until the point where it had to
reboot to the hard drive. System reboots, I ignore the boot to CD, it
tries to boot to the hard drive. The screen goes blank, hard drive cranks
for a second and then stops. Have let sit for many minutes, does not
recover. Just hangs there.

Have tried completely deleting & recreating & reformatting the partitions
(NTFS) using the Windows XP CD, and the Maxtor MaxBLAST 4 program. Again,
seems to work fine, install Windows, still won't boot. Have run full test
on the drive, checks out OK. Have tried booting to recovery console, and
running chkdsk, fixboot, and fixmbr. Still no luck, and I'm stumped!

Again, it didn't have a problem booting the first time, but has ever since
the first attempted re-install of XP.

The drive is a Maxtor 6Y080P0 80GB ATA EIDE. The computer is an Epox
9NDA3J mobo w/ Athlon 64 3200+.

Any thoughts?

Thanks,
Dan

If the Maxtor utilities can write zeros to the HDD try that, then do a
fresh install

rgds
Roberto

 

[Anna]

If the Maxtor utilities can write zeros to the HDD try that, then do
a fresh install

rgds
Roberto

Dan:
In virtually every case following a motherboard change a Repair install of
the XP OS is necessary. In a few cases the system will boot without the need
for a Repair install of the OS but that's not the usual scenario.

We're assuming in all this that you've correctly assembled your components,
i.e., the motherboard and processor (and whatever other components you
might have changed) and that your connections & configuration of all those
components are proper. And you've checked that, right? And, of course, we're
dealing with non-defective components. And, of course, you've checked your
motherboard's BIOS to ensure there are no selected options that might be
causing the problem(s) you're experiencing?

Since you've deleted the HDD partitions on your boot drive a Repair install
of the OS isn't viable any longer. Is that not so? So you presumably need to
fresh install the OS which apparently you've tried without success. At least
I *think* that's what you've attempted. So I don't understand your reference
to Recovery console commands. If there's no OS on the HDD what is the
purpose of your invoking Recovery console commands?

But as I review your post perhaps I misunderstand you. Are you indicating
that you apparently *were* able to fresh install XP onto your HDD, i.e., the
installation process proceeded without incident and seemed to come to a
successful conclusion, but at the end it just wouldn't boot?

It would seem that if you did indeed delete your boot HDD partitions, all
your data is gone. I assume you know that. That was (is?) not a problem? You
have a backup HDD?

Again, assuming (as it appears) that we're now talking about a fresh install
of the OS you need only your XP installation CD to accomplish this. There is
no need for a third-party program such as the MaxBLAST one to
partition/format your HDD. Indeed we recommend against the use of those
programs regardless of whether the HDD involved is from that manufacturer.

Anyway, maybe the bottom line in all this is to simply start over. Just try
another fresh install of the OS and see how it goes making sure you delete
whatever partitions have been created. And use only your XP installation CD
to do so. Might help if you have another HDD to use as well.
Anna

 

[Uncle Grumpy]

Update: I formatted the partition as FAT, and it booted just fine. I still
prefer it to be NTFS, however. Why won't it boot as NTFS? Should I
low-level format the drive?

You can use a third-party utility such as Partition Magic to convert
your drive to NTFS.