Very old desktop repair

JulesInKy

Trying to help out a neighbour with a very old computer.

Hard Drive is 160gb IDE. Freshly formatted, working fine on dock.

My problem is that I cannot get XP to re-install for her.

Installation CD is original XP SP2, but same results with a different XP SP3 cd.

System is set to boot from CD.

Without hard drive attached it will read CD for Windows XP install and proceed to the point where it cannot find a HD.

With hard drive attached it will give the following:
"An operating system wasn't found. Try disconnecting any drives that don't contain an operating system.

p.s. No point advising to get a newer computer, zero budget

wotzgoingon

It's a very long time since I messed with XP and even a IDE drive so I'm out of the loop for a long time but did you try connecting up the HD on the fly when the CD is looking for a drive. I forget if you can do that but worth a shot I suppose.

tuxy

wotzgoingon wrote: »

It's a very long time since I messed with XP and even a IDE drive so I'm out of the loop for a long time but did you try connecting up the HD on the fly when the CD is looking for a drive. I forget if you can do that but worth a shot I suppose.

Don't do that, Ide is not like SATA, it is not hot swapable.

Can you select the CD drive as the first bootable device in BIOS. Try seting the CD as the primary drive and the HDD as the slave using the jumpers while they are connected to the same motherboard port or try switching around which one they are plugged into if on seperate IDE cables.
I think I'd have to read an ancient history book to figure out how to do this again :P

CoBo55

With the HDD attached does it give the error straight away? Is the HDD jumpered correctly?

wotzgoingon

tuxy wrote: »

Don't do that, Ide is not like SATA, it is not hot swapable.

I had a feeling that was the case that's why I said I forget if you can do that. I should have really researched first before commenting and hopefully the guy didn't read my post and try and then brick the HD.

extra-ordinary_

How do you know "System is set to boot from CD"?
It doesn't look like it if it's trying to boot off the HDD once it's connected?

ED E

No computer is better than an XP computer thats connected to the internet. Just bin it if they cant afford €80 for a refurb workstation.

CoBo55

extra-ordinary_ wrote: »

How do you know "System is set to boot from CD"?
It doesn't look like it if it's trying to boot off the HDD once it's connected?

That's what I thought too. Are the disc drive and the HDD on the same ribbon cable? HDD should be on the end connector and the disc drive on the middle one.

deckie27

Yes from memory as above.

You can use on same cable. With jumpers setting primary and slave

Or use 2 cables both set at primary with jumpers and set boot device in bios.

With both connected you should see them in bios


Also do you remember which way they were before you started?

beauf

Could be the ide controller on the motherboard is failing.

Waste of time fixing that though, as others have said.

extra-ordinary_

beauf wrote: »

Could be the ide controller on the motherboard is failing.

Waste of time fixing that though, as others have said.

You could put 7 on it and get another few months out of it! :pac:

Bigmac1euro

Bang windows 7 on it.
It runs surprisingly well on old beasts.

deckie27

Bigmac1euro wrote: »

Bang windows 7 on it.
It runs surprisingly well on old beasts.

Windows 7 may have issues with drivers. Well that s my experience

beauf

We are missing the information why the disk needed to be formatted to begin with.

So don't know if this is a hardware or software problem. He's tested the hd in the dock. So the next thing to test is a different drive in the pc.

I threw out a fully working i3 a week ago. Couldn't sell it. Or you could have had that. You can find a pc for free or closer to it, that's already working. Save you hours of wasted time.

http://www.adverts.ie/17808797

beauf

Bigmac1euro wrote: »

Bang windows 7 on it.
It runs surprisingly well on old beasts.

Won't run very well if theres no hard drive....

JulesInKy

Post#4 The error only appears with the HDD hooked up. Yes, the jumper settings are correct.

Post#6 I know that system is set to boot from CD as I set it as first boot device in BIOS.

Post#7 I already stated that there is zero budget. As with so many other people in this country, financial circumstances mean that she certainly can NOT afford €80 for a refurb. I'm trying to fix this for free for her.

Post#8 The drives (CD, HDD and yes!! Floppy!!!!) are connected each on their own ribbon, with jumpers set correctly. POST shows the HD as Primary Master, the CD as Secondary Master. Boot sequence is CD - HDD - Floppy.

Post#9 The BIOS sees all drives. Everything is as it was when I started, just taking out old broken HDD and replacing with working one.

Post#10 Learning is never a waste of time. I'm treating this as a learning @(or re-learning) experience if nothing else.

Post#11 The problem is getting any operating system on it!

Post#14 The HDD needed to be formatted as I am giving her an old one that belonged to me, to replace her installed one that died. I have tried another drive in the PC, same problem. Thank you so much for your offer, it's very good of you, but I'm all the way out in the sticks of North Kerry. I appreciate your kindness.


I'll root out my box of equally old cables and see if I have an IDE in there. Will update for those interested at some point over the weekend.

Thank you all for your input!

beauf

Swap the cd and hd see if that works.

I know you've all sorts of reasons you think makes this worthwhile. But it really isn't. Unless you were building a retro gaming rig, or pc.

Ten Pin

The problem is getting any operating system on it!

Will it boot from USB live Linux and then install a XP-lookalike Linux on it.

If it must be XP then try install it on another HDD in the PC and then clone it onto the 160GB drive. Then see if it will boot with the CD to allow 'fixmbr' and if that doesn't boot then just use a USB flash drive as the boot device to boot into the cloned XP on the 160GB drive.

extra-ordinary_

JulesInKy wrote: »

Post#4 The error only appears with the HDD hooked up. Yes, the jumper settings are correct.

Post#6 I know that system is set to boot from CD as I set it as first boot device in BIOS.

Post#7 I already stated that there is zero budget. As with so many other people in this country, financial circumstances mean that she certainly can NOT afford €80 for a refurb. I'm trying to fix this for free for her.

Post#8 The drives (CD, HDD and yes!! Floppy!!!!) are connected each on their own ribbon, with jumpers set correctly. POST shows the HD as Primary Master, the CD as Secondary Master. Boot sequence is CD - HDD - Floppy.

Post#9 The BIOS sees all drives. Everything is as it was when I started, just taking out old broken HDD and replacing with working one.

Post#10 Learning is never a waste of time. I'm treating this as a learning @(or re-learning) experience if nothing else.

Post#11 The problem is getting any operating system on it!

Post#14 The HDD needed to be formatted as I am giving her an old one that belonged to me, to replace her installed one that died. I have tried another drive in the PC, same problem. Thank you so much for your offer, it's very good of you, but I'm all the way out in the sticks of North Kerry. I appreciate your kindness.


I'll root out my box of equally old cables and see if I have an IDE in there. Will update for those interested at some point over the weekend.

Thank you all for your input!

If the only change to the working PC has been you removing a HDD and replacing it with another one...have you made any other changes in the BIOS or is there any other setting in the BIOS concerning booting?

Peatys

Where are you? I've a wiped win 10 hp laptop here you can give to your neighbour.

I used it for work years ago, but they told me i could keep it as long as i handed back the hard drive.

Dave_The_Sheep

I'm going to take all this at face value.

Same as Peatys, I have a PC about 5 years old sitting in my house, it was my parents - they got rid of it (more to it than that but it's irrelevant). If I wiped it, stuck the OS on it (Win 7/10) would your friends take it, free of charge? It's an able replacement, I think. I haven't booted it since I took it back, but if it works, I have no need/want for it, so I don't care. They're welcome to it if it helps them out.

Peatys

Dave_The_Sheep wrote: »

I'm going to take all this at face value.

I had a look at the posters history prior to making my offer and she's a genuine poster.

Coyler

Are you booting into ACHI mode? Problem is, you could do that in XP but you had make sure you had the drivers. Ever notice that F6 option during install ?. Used to build my own XP discs back the day for my own business and it was a common problem. Worst case, just do what the link says and turn it off. Not really needed. Could have been installed with the drivers by the manufacturer.

smacl

JulesInKy wrote: »

"An operating system wasn't found. Try disconnecting any drives that don't contain an operating system.

From memory, you've an option in XP installation to drop back to a command prompt. I'd try doing this and using DISKPART to delete all partitions on your hard drive. At a guess, you've formatted the O/S drive but left a boot partition in place.

tuxy

smacl wrote: »

From memory, you've an option in XP installation to drop back to a command prompt. I'd try doing this and using DISKPART to delete all partitions on your hard drive. At a guess, you've formatted the O/S drive but left a boot partition in place.

How does he get that far when the xp cd won't boot with a hdd present?

smacl

tuxy wrote: »

How does he get that far when the xp cd won't boot with a hdd present?

If it was booting up until he formatted the hdd, my guess is boot sequence in BIOS is hdd first.

tuxy

smacl wrote: »

If it was booting up until he formatted the hdd, my guess is boot sequence in BIOS is hdd first.

Yes either bios or set by jumper on the ide cable or by which IDE connector on the motherboard is booted first but the OP said all this has been tested.
I guess they could get into diskpart from a floppy disk but do you think that would help?

ct5amr2ig1nfhp

XP... wow. Bin it.

I can donate an old Dell 22 inch wide-screen LCD. What part of the country are you in?

Would also be happy to donate a few quid if you're going down that route. I am sure another few posters would do the same.

Edit: I had a quick look and I have an old Dell optiplex 990 that just needs a power supply. Windows 10 on it with a 256gb SSD in it. Although I would wipe the SSD before I gave it to you, the original Windows 7 key is stuck on it, will work for Win10. 8GB RAM in it too.

tuxy

Ira Most Violinist wrote: »

XP... wow. Bin it.

I can donate an old Dell 22 inch wide-screen LCD. What part of the country are you in?

Would also be happy to donate a few quid if you're going down that route. I am sure another few posters would do the same.

Edit: I had a quick look and I have an old Dell optiplex 990 that just needs a power supply. Windows 10 on it with a 256gb SSD in it. Although I would wipe the SSD before I gave it to you, the original Windows 7 key is stuck on it, will work for Win10. 8GB RAM in it too.

The import tax for North Kerry is too high!

JulesInKy

tuxy wrote: »

The import tax for North Kerry is too high!

I'll get the Healy-Rae's onto that pronto!

JulesInKy

First of all, I just want to say you guys rock! A little light in a time of hardship is a precious thing. Even the smallest gesture can make a huge difference to someone's day. The response to this thread brought a genuine smile to my heart.

I have been a long time member of Boards; always lurking and only posting rarely - typically when I need advice or feel that I can give a little myself.

The problem with the computer was the cable, it was borked (that's the technical term). The venerable and Very Old Desktop has now been repaired. However, that's not the end of the story. A different neighbour, happened to read the thread and knew who I was from my boards nick. The lady is now getting a Win7 machine that was gathering dust under a bed!

From the bottom of my heart, thank you all

p.s. the "guy" is a gal!