| Hardware Issue (Hard Drive)
Posted: 8/27/2009 4:03:16 PM | Built two machines a little while ago: one for Linux and one for Windows.
The Windows machine has:
Asus Mobo
8800GTS XFX
160 gig Seagate HD
PIV 3.2 gig Dual Core
Well, the original mobo died - it was a Gygabtye... so I replaced it. The I also bought a new HD (even though the original was working ok) - basically I was having problems with the system booting and after troubleshooting I decided it was either the mobo or the HD - turns out it was the mobo.
Put the Asus in and booted with the new HD - works fine.
When I try to connect the old HD (which I need booted because it has files I need) it locks and freezes on the Windows splash screen and won't boot. I've diconnected the new HD completely.
Not sure what else to do... any ideas? | |
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| Hardware Issue (Hard Drive)
Posted: 8/27/2009 4:36:16 PM | | If all you need is to pull some files off the old HD, boot off the new HD while the old HD is connected as the second drive. | |
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| Hardware Issue (Hard Drive)
Posted: 8/27/2009 4:45:05 PM | | Tried that... even set it up as a slave - it wont even detect it. They BOTH have a full install of Windows, so I figured I'd get a dual boot option - but didn't work either. | |
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| Hardware Issue (Hard Drive)
Posted: 8/27/2009 5:42:48 PM | | Get a caddy that will allow you to hot plug the original drive, attach when already booted. Remove all jumpers from the original drive also. If this fails you need to boot from cd using windows install disk or otherwise with the drive connected as boot HDD on it's own, then run fdisk to check for errors. final options are run windows repair from CD/DVD or just quick format disk, use as slave then run file recovery software on the drive to get the files you need; recommend "Recover My Files", top software, cheap but powerful and easy to use. | |
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| Hardware Issue (Hard Drive)
Posted: 8/27/2009 5:45:59 PM | You might have the data cable connector flipped around. Even thought it's keyed, it's possible the cable is attached wrong. I had that happen before.
The only other thing I can suggest is to to put the HD into an external USB case or use an adapter kit like this one:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000HJ99DI/
I got one off ebay for under $10 delivered. It's very handy for hard drive trouble shooting.
Search using the keywords 'IDE SATA USB Adapter'. Make sure you get the complete kit that includes the power supply. | |
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| Hardware Issue (Hard Drive)
Posted: 8/27/2009 6:21:37 PM | | Windows hates a motherboard change. Dual boot doesn't work like that either; you need to tell the bootloader on the primary drive about the other OS. but if you boot using the new HD, you should be able to get your files from the other drive. | |
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| Hardware Issue (Hard Drive)
Posted: 8/27/2009 9:34:50 PM | | the old hard drive still has an active partition on it, it should be easy if you had an external hard drive enclosure and booted up on the new drive , then plugged it in, can you set it up in the bios to specifically boot from your new drive | |
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- don
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Joined: 4/23/2009
Msg: 9 | |
| Hardware Issue (Hard Drive)
Posted: 8/27/2009 9:59:41 PM | For your old HDD, your new HAL maay be an issue....Try a SATA/PATA/-to-USB connector to extract your data.
If it's a Windows issue with the new HDD, try a 'Live' Linux CD like Knoppix or Ubuntu, Linux in general has excellent basic hardware detection built into the kernel | |
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| Hardware Issue (Hard Drive)
Posted: 8/28/2009 12:53:20 AM | Check the pins on the back of the drive, when it's plugged into the second connector they must be attached in the configuration on the label which denotes Slave or Cable Select, also make sure your primary drive is set for Master or Cable Select as well.
If both are set for Master or Slave then it will just use the first one on the ribbon in majority case while the other would go undetected. | |
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| Hardware Issue (Hard Drive)
Posted: 8/29/2009 3:43:31 AM | Computer freezing on the Windoze splash screen is odd...
Might be a driver issue. Have you tried safe mode? Safe mod with no networking? If that doesn't work, then I would hook up both the new hard drive and the old hard drive, and then tell the BIOS to boot from the new hard drive.
But if it still hangs with the new and old drive attached, then we have to see where the problem lies...either with the hard drive itself or with how the machine interacts with the hard drive.
Seems like it checks out OK in the BIOS, but check again anyway. Like others have said, get a usb adaptor for that old hard drive and plug it in after you boot from the new HD. Try plugging it into another Vista and/or XP machine.
If the USB option isn't working, then hook up the old drive to the machine and boot from a CD...go online to find some boot tools, or use the manufacturers utilities. You may have a corrupted sector on the disk that holds vital information (MFT, MBR, bootsector, etc...). Correcting the corruption may allow you to boot or at least detect the drive. Spinrite is a good tool to use to correct physical hard drive corruption.
The fact that it hangs during the Windows splash screen tells me that it is a driver issue, really. If it actually hangs before Windows even comes up or you get a blue screen, then that tells me that you have to strip away the old controller drivers. What I do is use Acronis with Universal Restore to strip away the drivers when you image the old drive onto a different drive. This would be my next step even if you can get all the way to the Windows splash screen before hang up.
All in all, this doesn't seem like a problem that can't be solved, IMHO. So have hope.
Let us know how it turns out. | |
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| Hardware Issue (Hard Drive)
Posted: 8/29/2009 8:50:37 AM | The windows logo splash screen is the point that windows loads its high level drives...
If you can boot into safe mode, F8 after BIOS > before the splash screen will invoke the selection screen.
Go in to safe mode
Start > Run > MSCONFIG > BOOT.INI tab > tick the /SOS option...
Restart, putting /SOS into the boot.ini will force it to display the driver list on boot, watch what driver it gets stuck on then report back...
If it doesnt get stuck there its not a high level driver, its more like an access problem, which would say to me a HDD problem | |
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| Hardware Issue (Hard Drive)
Posted: 8/29/2009 11:06:40 AM |
Computer freezing on the Windoze splash screen is odd...
It isn't odd at all. In this sort of case it should be expected. You hit on the main issue yourself...
The fact that it hangs during the Windows splash screen tells me that it is a driver issue, really.
Bingo! When someone installs Windows, the install routine detects all the necessary drivers for the devices on the motherboard. When you replace the motherboard with a different model you change all of those devices. Windows is trying to start up with all the wrong device drivers. | |
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| Hardware Issue (Hard Drive)
Posted: 8/31/2009 4:14:32 AM | Yeah...when I wrote that first line I actually thought that the OP had had both drives hooked up, and was booting from the new HD. When I went back to reread the original post, I actually had to rewrite my reply! The oddness was meant to imply that it was not a driver thing, but rather a problem with the actual hardware of the drive itself (which is unusual and odd, but it still happens if only rarely).
Come to think of it...me leaving that line about it being frozen at the splash being odd and not further elaborating was sorta odd. Gonna chalk that one up to friggin' allnighter sloppiness  | |
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- don
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Joined: 4/23/2009
Msg: 15 | |
| Hardware Issue (Hard Drive)
Posted: 8/31/2009 4:52:01 AM |
For your old HDD, your new HAL maay be an issue....Try a SATA/PATA/-to-USB connector to extract your data.
HAL (Hardware Abstraction Layer)
Hardware abstraction layer
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hardware_abstraction_layer
A hardware abstraction layer (HAL) is an abstraction layer, implemented in software, between the physical hardware of a computer and the software that runs on that computer. Its function is to hide differences in hardware from most of the operating system kernel, so that most of the kernel-mode code does not need to be changed to run on systems with different hardware. On a PC, HAL can basically be considered to be the driver for the motherboard and allows instructions from higher level computer languages to communicate with lower level components, such as directly with hardware.
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| Hardware Issue (Hard Drive)
Posted: 8/31/2009 6:06:13 AM | Well I feel humble...
Anyway after rereading the OP
Right what you need to do is remove all the high level drivers that relate to your old mainboard...
Quickest and easiest way considering the old mainboard is now gone [its easier to remove them if its still in the old mainboard] is to do a repair install of Windows XP...
It will look to you like it is reinstalling Windows XP but all the files and folders you have will be intact when it finnishes... you will need to reinstall any software, drivers, windows updates etc but it will work | |
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- don
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Joined: 4/23/2009
Msg: 17 | |
| Hardware Issue (Hard Drive)
Posted: 8/31/2009 10:18:52 AM |
Quickest and easiest way considering the old mainboard is now gone [its easier to remove them if its still in the old mainboard] is to do a repair install of Windows XP...
Good Idea, hadn't thought of that and it will save the installation. | |
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| Hardware Issue (Hard Drive)
Posted: 8/31/2009 11:17:06 AM | Yeah...I swear by Acronis with the Universal Restore add-on. It allows me to clone over a drive, but strips away the drivers on the destination drive. I then take that drive and can stick it in any new system and it'll get me to Windoze so I can do an "upgrade" or repair installation. Usually, just installing the new motherboard and chipset drivers is enough, although I usually end up doing an ugrade installation. Once in while (rarely) I'd do a repair installation from booting with the XP CD, but this is rare.
Saved me 100's of hours of headaches. Before that I'd have to either strip away the drivers manually if the system was still functional, but if it wasn't I'd have to dig in and do it offline and crossed my fingers that it would work.
I do not relish those days at all. | |
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