-=PCTechTalk=- Re: Curiosity may kill the reckless maverick
- From: Don <dsw32952@xxxxxxxxx>
- To: pctechtalk@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Sat, 20 Jun 2009 12:12:38 -0400
So far the problem has happened only when booting from a power off
state. And, IIRC, only when I leave it alone to boot to the default OS
(Vista).
The idea of it being a power or data cable would have occurred to me if
it did not appear to be an intermittent occurrence and if it did not fix
itself after a couple of three finger salutes.
If we assume it is indeed a cable or its connection, I would assume the
change in setup is because the drive is not seen and setup automatically
changes it settings to the other drive.
I will try to pay more attention to this over the next few days and note
the circumstances on each boot where it occurs. Perhaps we will get
some more clues. In July or August I will be ordering a new power
supply and video card for the HP (and a new video card for the old Dell
and some additional memory for our laptops). That will eliminate the
power cord as a possibility. I may go ahead and order some new data
cables as they appear to be reasonably cheap (as low as $1.99 at
Newegg). Until then I will take notes and live with the problem.
Another option will be to take the 160 out of the HP and swap it with
the 250GB in the Dell.
HP has demonstrated to me that they are not happy with customers that
want to make their computers work in anyway other than the way HP wants
them to work. Without intending to sound paranoid, is there anything
in the CMOS or BIOS that HP could muck with that would cause or
contribute to problems like this?
Don
Gman wrote:
> Below
>
> Peace,
> Gman
>
> http://www.thevenusproject.com/index.php
>
> "The only dumb questions are the ones we fail to ask"
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Don" <dsw32952@xxxxxxxxx>
> To: <pctechtalk@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
> Sent: Saturday, June 20, 2009 12:01 AM
> Subject: -=PCTechTalk=- Re: Curiosity may kill the reckless maverick
>
> Once you finish wrapping this one, I have another...
>> Every once in a while something changes setup to give boot priority to
>> my 500GB drive instead of the 160GB drive where Vista and XP are
>> installed. When I turn the computer on I get a very nice explanation
>> that the system could not boot because the hardware configuration is
>> incorrect. I press CTRL-ALT-DEL, enter setup go to boot priority and
>> set it to the 160GB drive and it reboots correctly. For a while.
>>
>> Today, when I first entered setup to fix the problem, the 160GB drive
>> was not even listed as a choice. I exited, rebooted, pressed F2 to get
>> the boot menu and the 160 wasn't listed there either. I rebooted again
>> to the boot menu and there it was. I selected it and things booted as
>> normal.
>>
>
>
> The fact that the main drive is not listed gives you the most important
> clue. For whatever reason, this main drive is suffering from a bad
> connection to the mobo. Try replacing the data cable. If no joy, try a
> different PS cable. If again no joy, try moving the data cable to a
> different connection on the mobo. IF still no joy, you may have a drive
> that's on its way out.
>
>
>
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