The problem "could" be a duff motherboard controller - poor/intermittent connections somewhere on the board. It could be the ribbon connector isn't all it should be (but I doubt that would produce the situation of listing the Maxtor as third Master...?). It could be intermittent connections (loose, or inadequately seated plugs etc.) It could be dubious PSU (Power Supply) output to one or more areas of the MoBo (MotherBoard). It could be the drive itself that's gone down... The corrupt hall.dll message can be due to less than perfect drive (faulty/failing sectors etc...). Overheating "might" be an issue; CPU might be overheated (faulty fan) or the PSU and other fans not working properly? This would be lowish on my list - but then again...? Software shouldnt' cause the problem you're having. However a bios virus might cause some grief. In the late '90s there were numerous cases of a range of such pests... Once the bios was infected it was frequently time to junk the MoBo, if it wasn't possible to replace the bios chip (some of them were plug-in, some weren't). You might see if the shop can slave the drive(s) to a working (secure) system and do a full bios scan (there are on-line outfits that will allow this - at least there were in the late '90s). The bios-virus would be low on my list at this time however; usually once such a pest has arrived there is no access to the system from then on. You have/had intermittent access - thus I doubt it's bios-virus (but useful to have the thought as a distant possible...?). I'd be more inclined to hardware issues; software very low... "The system is not quite two months old..." i.e. it's still under warranty? This being so, I think you are in a very strong position to request (demand...?) a replacement system (another new one) - the one you have is not performing as described etc., not working properly... You as the client should not have to undergo the angst/disruption etc. of dealing with unsatisfactory/unreliable/faulty equipment...; warranties are supposed to cover all that - even to the point of a full replacement of the affected system. My first port of call would be a replacement drive...; after verifying all bios settings are correct; similarly all jumper settings. Worth bearing mind though... if it was working OK and then "suddenly" it isn't - I doubt it's jumper settings; how would they have changed on their own? However if using "cable-select" and the ribbon is questionable in some way... then possibly the master drive might "appear" to have disappeared/failed... (and this could produce a similar effect when using jumper - Master/Slave settings, rahtetr than cable-select). Check the ribbon-cable and its connectors. If that fails to resolve it, and a replacement drive likewise fails to resolve it all - request a full replacement system. You say you've known them for 10yrs and "they're good people"; good to know - but don't let it blind you. They may not be as clued up/on the ball etc. as once they were (or as you thought they were)??? If they value you as a client they should be keen/willing to replace a "dubious" system with a fresh (good) one - and follow it thru' to ensure the replacment is OK...? Main thing for a local store - a happy/satisfied client...'; best advertising in the world.

0

The "Third master" thing is easily explained. You have already told us your harddrive is SATA. That's your answer. Primary Master would be physically connected to the Primary IDE controller. Secondary Master connects to Secondary IDE controller. Bios reports as Third Master any SATA drive connected to the first SATA connector on the motherboard. You will probably find that your primary and secondary masters are your optic drives. Your system has the capacity to accommodate a further two IDE drives and at least one more SATA drive if you ever need to expand your storage capacity. And I would have to agree with the previous respondents. The drive or it's cable is faulty. Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach him to fish and you feed him for life.

0

Wow. Seems I'm getting every possible problem covered, which is why I came here! Yes, I'm under warrenty, and I've been with these guys since my 386 running windows 3.1 so I know they will do the right thing. They handle big business too, but there is always the possibility of "not being up to date on everything". I guess, since they were pushing the software issue so hard, I felt I could use a little imput from here. Believe me, I'll run all the suggestions by them that is offered here. The bios-virus is really last on my list. I would think with all the protection I have, unless it was a new one not caught yet, I should be pretty safe. I don't wait for the weekly liveupdate. If there is a new definition out, I download it. I don't wait for liveupdate to send it to me. The only other two things that I can think of is I have an APC 500 (300watt) and my power supply is 500 watt. But it seems to work fine. The power went off twice since we had the system and I still have 5 min. to shut down. Just enough time to shut down safely. The second thing is I still don't know what a good temp. range is for my system. They said 52C which is 127F is OK, but I'm going on what they think. I was ready to add more fans but they said I was fine. Other than that, I think everyone has helped me cover just about every possibility. I just have to wait and see what happens when they look it over. I will post back when the problem is solved!

0

Here is something NEW. Just to see if anything would happen, my husband turned the computer on this morning. Windows came up with a "Found NEW Hardware" WinXP Promise FastTrack 378 Controller "If your hardware came with an installation CD or Floppy insert it now" I left the screen up and haven't touched a thing. Could this be the source of all my problems? Motherboard maybe? The other thing I noticed is one of those XP "help bubbles" popped up saying my network connection was unplugged. I'm going to leave the "Add New Hardware" window up until I know what to do. Since I'm under warrenty, I'm going to wait for my computer store tech to phone be back today. But I still would like everyone's imput if you don't mind! Geez.. I'm going to have to buy everyone lunch for all the advice!

0

The latest error message does suggest some serious issues with this Motherboard. That error message refers to a hard-disk controller on the MoBo... Some MoBo come with two separate controller types/makes - Promise is a very common one; it allows for a RAID configuration. One minute it seems it's there, the next it's not, and so on... If there are two controllers on the MoBo then it may be that your hard-drive is connected to the Promise. If there is only one then logically it will be the Promise. Either way it's a problem/issue you should not have to be concerned with now, and do not want to be concerned with it in the future. Motherboards can (do) fail; not unknown to have one duff out of the box; not unknown to have one start to fail in very early days. Some are more reliable than others; and it varies across the makes/models. I would push - firmly... - for a totally new (replacement) system. The one you have is "very" suspect. It could have a duff MoBo - and/or any of its constituent parts; and this would include controller(s). It could have all manner of nasty little surprises waiting to pop up. A responsible vendor would/should be only too willing to replace the whole system at this time. To do so reduces his time/costs spent trying to resolve it all; reduces level of (removes) customer frustration - and thus increases the level of customer satisfaction (always good for business/advertising... - especially for a local store). If you have anything on the drive that you wish to preserve - insist they do NOT reformat the drive; rather encourage them to (i.e. insist they) transfer all the data you wish to perserve to either CDR/RW, or the new drive - and verify the data on CDR/RW or the new drive can be seen/accessed, before they "lose/dump or whatever" that original drive...

0

Bring the PC back 3 times under warranty to any store you bought it from and then ask about the lemon law. Not sure where your from but in Michigan it works not just on cars but PC's too. Sounds to me with having that "found new hardware" pop up that your SATA controller is going off and on (basically freakin out on ya), and not being recognized when it needs too. Tell the store to install a new mobo or give you a new PC and recite the Lemon law to them. Which states "A pc which is brought into a shop 3 times with the same or different problems will be replaced" No joke on this, as I have had to replace people systems alot, home or business PC's based on this law in Mich. for Best Buy and EDS. They have told me to shut up and not tell customers about this, but I never listen. Hope this helps!

0