Bad PBR

Keggers Senior

Hi everbody,

I'm not sure if this is the appropriate place to post this, so if it isn't I'd appreciate if the mods could move it to where it is deemed appropriate. In any case, here goes.

About two months ago one our desktop computers packed it in. Or, more specifically, according to my technologically limited mind this computer appeared to pack it in. :rolleyes: However, I was informed by a friend, and the internet, that this is a fixable problem, but I've been leaving it off time and again to try and fix the thing. In any case, every time I turn on the computer I get the following:

"Loading PBR for descriptor 2 . . . done. Bad PBR."

Can someone, as simply as possible, suggest what the problem is and how it might be fixed?

Any help would be greatly appreciated. It's a good computer and I'd hate to end up scrapping the thing if it can be fixed.

mp22

If you don't want any data on the pc reinstall the os.

Jackena

Yup
Get your boot CD,
change the boot preference in the BIOS to CD first,
Restart the Computer and boot from the CD.

However this will erase ALL and i mean all data from your PC. So if you have data you need you will have to take it to a repair shop and have them recover it.

Jack

Keggers Senior

Thanks guys, I'll give it a try and get back to yee.

Don't worry about data lost, I'm resigned to that fact.

massy086

what os was it running a repair os should fix it without data loss

Keggers Senior

massy086 wrote: »

what os was it running a repair os should fix it without data loss

We were running XP professional on the computer when it died. That said, can't find the damn thing at the moment. Apparently the lads 'misplaced' it. :rolleyes:

Currently only have XP home edition to work off've. Will that work?

massy086

Keggers Senior wrote: »

We were running XP professional on the computer when it died. That said, can't find the damn thing at the moment. Apparently the lads 'misplaced' it. :rolleyes:

Currently only have XP home edition to work off've. Will that work?

yes should work ok here is a how to guide hope it helpshttp://www.michaelstevenstech.com/XPrepairinstall.htm

bonzodog2

XP Home disc should indeed work, but I can't remember what you don't get compared to Pro. If you're only surfing and emailing etc it probably wont matter.

If theres some data you do want, you could download a live CD of Ubuntu, and copy files to an external drive or USB key

Keggers Senior

bonzodog2 wrote: »

XP Home disc should indeed work, but I can't remember what you don't get compared to Pro. If you're only surfing and emailing etc it probably wont matter.

If theres some data you do want, you could download a live CD of Ubuntu, and copy files to an external drive or USB key

No, data isn't a problem. I just want to get the computer working again.

Keggers Senior

Ok, after changing the boot order I inserted the windows cd. After loading the necessary files from the boot CD I end up with the following message:

"A problem has been detected and windows has been shut down to prevent damage to your computer.

If this is the first time you've seen this stop error screen, restart your computer. If the screen appears again, follow these steps:

Check for viruses in your computer. Remove any newly installed hard drives or hard drive controllers. Check your hard drive to make sure it is properly configured and terminated.

Run CHKDSK /f to check for hard drive corruption, and then restart your computer.

Technical information:

***STOP: 0x0000007B (0xf78D663C, 0x00000034, 0x00000000, 0x00000000)"

Does anybody have any suggestions?

mp22

Get a linux live cd run it from the cd it will soon tell you if your hd is knackered http://www.ubuntu.com/download/ubuntu/download

yoyo

Keggers Senior wrote: »

Ok, after changing the boot order I inserted the windows cd. After loading the necessary files from the boot CD I end up with the following message:

"A problem has been detected and windows has been shut down to prevent damage to your computer.

If this is the first time you've seen this stop error screen, restart your computer. If the screen appears again, follow these steps:

Check for viruses in your computer. Remove any newly installed hard drives or hard drive controllers. Check your hard drive to make sure it is properly configured and terminated.

Run CHKDSK /f to check for hard drive corruption, and then restart your computer.

Technical information:

***STOP: 0x0000007B (0xf78D663C, 0x00000034, 0x00000000, 0x00000000)"

Does anybody have any suggestions?

Sounds very much like your hard drive is damaged to me, run a diagnostic scan such as one on Ultimate Boot CD to confirm this. You simply download the .iso file on a working computer with a CD burner and burn it to a cd, then boot off this CD and choose Seatools for Dos under hard drive diagnostics menu. Even if you don't have a Seagate hard drive Seatools will work fine

Nick

Keggers Senior

Thanks guys. Was talking to a mate of mine this afternoon, said the same thing. Damn pain but oh well.

yoyo

Keggers Senior wrote: »

Thanks guys. Was talking to a mate of mine this afternoon, said the same thing. Damn pain but oh well.

Very easy to replace hard drives in fairness, cheap enough as well

Nick

Keggers Senior

yoyo wrote: »

Very easy to replace hard drives in fairness, cheap enough as well

Nick

I know, I was just having a cheap-skate moment. Still, while I'll probably just replace the drives, I wouldn't mind being absolutely sure that the hard drives are the ONLY problem present.

yoyo

Keggers Senior wrote: »

I know, I was just having a cheap-skate moment. Still, while I'll probably just replace the drives, I wouldn't mind being absolutely sure that the hard drives are the ONLY problem present.

Run diagnostics as I said above, this will confirm if hard drives at fault or not!

Nick

Keggers Senior

Back again Ladies and Gents.

I've replaced the drives with a new 500GB job, but I'm getting the same error message as mentioned previously.

Does anybody have any other suggestions that might solve this problem?

yoyo wrote: »

Run diagnostics as I said above, this will confirm if hard drives at fault or not!

Nick

Sorry Yoyo, hadn't seen your message there. Well, I think this rules out a hard drive problem. Any suggestions?

massy086

remove the bios battery for 10 mins then replace it and see if it boots with the new hd