I have a windows 2003 server which was working fine. One day, windows cannot start. The Intel MB will display a picture when the server starts and after that, the monitor just becomes blank. I tried to reinstall windows 2003 but in the blue-coloured installation screen, it said "Setup did not find any hard disk drives installed in your computer". I then reboot and went into the Adaptec SCSI Utility using CTRL A. In the utility, I can see my harddisks(maxtor ATLAS) and also the SCSI controller. I then verify both harddisks and did not get any errors. When I start the computer, both HD lights up but stops after that and just would not boot. Another unusual thing was that there was a noise coming from the motherboard(i think) when i turn on the server. Previously, when the server was working fine, there was no noise. When I plug out the SCSI cable from the HD but keep the power cable attached, the noise disappear. THere was also no noise when i plug out the power and keep the SCSI cable attached. But when i plug both SCSI cable n power cable in, there was some noise. THe noise last for a while and ONLY comes when the server is start up(the lights of the HD will light up and before it goes off, the noise will come). When I restart, there was no noise. I'm not sure whether this has got anything to do with some SCSI/HD problems with the MB. It is okay if your suggestions does not address the 'noise' problem. I'm more concerned about the server not detecting the HD although i can see both in the SCSI utility as well as verify them. Pls advice and help. Thank you.

If the Asaptec utililty says the HDs are OK, they probably are. Can you try the SCSI card and HDs in another box? Seems like your mobo is acting up. If at first you don't succeed, you're about average. M2

Try removing the SCSI controller card and reseat. Next option is to reinstall the controller into a different PCI slot and test booting. The scsi host utility shows the host bios is OK and the HD is ok; this doesn't mean the PCI interface is correct.