Initially I had a major problem on my PC:
http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=269075
And in my possession I had:
• A Windows2000 professional CD (with repair facility)
• A PC Health Floppy disk
I used a Win2K start-up CD and used the repair facility to repair Win 2K on hard drive C: (I have two hard drives in one machine - C: & D: 40Gig & 20Gig respectively, with the C: drive being the main bootable drive (Win 2K).
It seemed to have worked just fine, albeit with a few problems here and there (like to monitor not coming on, occasional freezing of the PC (we’ll get back to that later) etc. To counter act this I purchased Saturday gone a new DDR 256Mb stick of RAM running @ 400 MHz.
On the advice of a friend, I finally decided to create a backup of all the files (inc. any software and programs I use on a regular basis) currently stored on my C: drive, and save them onto either CDs or my additional hard disk (D: drive), then go on to reformat my C: drive (NFTS file system), load back on my backup files (as well store them for safety’ sake) and end this silly game of PC NOT WORKING PROPERLY.
Before I did this though, I deleted all the files, programs and software I didn’t need anymore on BOTH C: & D: drives.
Then I went onto the use Start\Programs\Accessories\System Tools to clean the C: and D: drives.
I managed to successfully use Disk Cleanup on both drives, but had problems when trying to use Disk Defragmenter. I used Disk Defragmenter to successfully Analyze and Defrag drive D: , but when I tried to use it on C: it reported that I couldn’t do so as it as was already a scheduled task. If I wanted to do it, I should type the following in a DOS prompt:
chkdsk \f
I deleted the scheduled tasks, tried again the defrag C: and the same message came up.
So, I opened up a DOS window, typed chkdsk \f, and as it went through its stages of checking the disk, it deleted two bad files, ended, and I rebooted my machine.
Ever since then my PC won’t boot up or load Win 2K – at all.
And since Saturday afternoon, I’ve tried endlessly to boot up my machine, and on the FOUR occasions that it did managed to boot up, each time it automatically went to chkdsk as one of the drives (C: needs to be checked for inconsistency).
On ALL four occasions it asked that if I wanted to ignore chkdsk, press any key:-
On TWO occasions I ignored it tried to boot up and it froze.
First of all, on BOOT UP I entered <del> to enter the BIOS CMOS setup utility to set the PC up to boot from floppy.
Then I went through each of the eleven setup functions in the BIOS CMOS setup utility to attempt to change some, but not all, of the settings. The 11 functions are as follows:
Standard CMOS Features
QDI Innovation Features
Advanced BIOS Features
Advanced Chipset Features
Power Management Setup
PnP/PCI Configurations
Integrated Peripherals
PC Health Status
Load Fail-Safe Defaults
Load Optimized Defaults
Set Supervisor Password
Save and Exit Setup
Exit Without Saving
Throughout each of the settings I changed stuff like:
“Halt On No errors” - Standard CMOS Features
“First Boot Device - Floppy - Advanced BIOS Features
… and so on…
But, on the NUMEROUS attempts made to change some of these settings, none of them (except the boot on floppy command) were ever SAVED… why? Not because it wouldn’t save the commands I gave it, because I never ever got the opportunity to save and exit - the PC would freeze.
The PC would simply freeze and not allow any keystrokes to be executed…
Everything would simply stop…
Every attempt I made at doing ANYTHING, the PC would freeze…
Sometimes it would freeze on the QDI motherboard logo…
Other times it would freeze on the POST (Power On Self Test)…
Other times, the PC managed to reach beyond the POST, I’d press <del> and it would freeze on entering the main menu on the BIOS CMOS setup utility…
Sometimes I would get as far as Power Management Setup (the above 5th function) and it would freeze…
The PC just freezes… every… single… time.
When the machine acts like this it literally needs to power back up, so I have to switch the power off, turn off the machine, disconnect the mains and leave it for 15-20mins.
As what was happen was trying my patience, I decided to and successfully (of course after MANY attempts) set the PC up to boot from floppy:
Power on
press <del>
select Advanced BIOS Features <enter>
select First Boot Device <enter>
select Floppy <enter>
select Save and Exit Setup <enter> (or press F10)
Power down
Good…
Then, I’d attempt to use the PC Health disk and… you guessed it… it would freeze on various stages of executing the program. It would freeze on:
• Start up
• While detecting hardware
• After being fully loaded, etc etc… it would never just load and not freeze so I could use it.
What does this sound like? What kind of problem do I have? Is it?
• A problem with the hard drive C:?
• A problem with the hard drive D:?
• A problem with the RAM?
• A problem with the cache?
• A problem with the bios?
• A problem with the power supply?
• A virus on the mainboard?
If it’s…
Hard Drive C:
Yes, there is a problem which I plan to rectify by re-formatting the disk and re-loading Win2K, but I wasn’t using the C: drive when I attempted to use the PC Health disk, and it STILL froze with regularity…
Hard Drive D:
How can it be, it’s clean, virus free, defragged and ready to use and a temporary backup to C:
RAM:
How could it be? It’s 512 (total), 2 sticks, single sided, BOTH running @ 400Mhz
Cache:
Dunno… could be? Could it?
Bios:
Again could be. I created a bootable floppy with a suitable A:\AWDFLASH xxxx.bin programs ready and waiting to upgrade my BIOS, but I dare not use it, in-case it freezes again, and it cannot freeze when updating the BIOS.
Power Supply:
It 300W, low I know, but I’ve stripped my PC of all un-essential and obsolete hardware. With this 300W PSU, I use a 10/100 Ethernet network card, an SPDIF connector, a 64Mb graphics card, PS/2 x 2, 2 x USB, 1 x parallel and 1 x serial port, 2 x DIMM slots (256 each), 2 x 7200 rpm hard drives, 1 x floppy, 1 x CDROM, 1 x DVD… I was running more but I stripped it to its bare essentials…
Virus on Mainboard:
It always has and always will be flash write protected (until of course I decided and are able to upgrade my BIOS).
I have the tools to fix it…
I have a PC Health Disk ready to figure out what’s wrong…
I have a Win2K start up disc to utilise the repair facility…
The PC just keeps freezing…
Here’s the initial problem…
http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=269075
Here’s a detailed spec. of my motherboard…
http://www.qdigrp.com/qdisite/eng/products/Kudoz7X400A.htm
Waddaya think?
I AM SUCH A NOVICE AT THIS I AM AMAZED THAT I GOT THIS FAR! IF ANYONE CAN HELP ME I'D BE FOREVER GRATEFUL!!!
Either get busy livin' or get busy dying... but DONT touch my PC!
