What shop did you take it to to have the hard drive replaced?
operaflute wrote:
> Okay, folks, I guess I need more help! I gave up for a while, because I got
> SO sick of restoring from back up constantly, and just didn't turn off my
> computer. (If I don't turn it off, then I don't run into problems turning it
> back on!) Obviously this defeats the purpose of a lap top...
>
> I just replaced the hard drive yesterday and...
>
> SAME PROBLEM! ARRRRRGH! Basically, if I shut down, I can't start up. I
> get the first splash screen where I can get to the simple diagnostics, or
> boot from CD, but before windows loads, I just get a black screen with
> blinking cursor from which I can do nothing. Can't boot into safe mode,
> either.
>
> I can't take it any more... it's been a month!
>
>
If the drive isn't seen on a cold boot, I think you have a reset
problem. Will it pick it up on a CTRL-ALT-DEL?
operaflute wrote:
> Did it myself - bought a compatible Western Digital 160GB drive.
>
> "Bob I" wrote:
>
>
>>What shop did you take it to to have the hard drive replaced?
>>
>
>
If I hit Ctrl-ALt-Del at the blinking cursor screen, yes it will try to
reboot again (and fail again.) Does that answer the question?
Also - ran MemTest over night last night - no error msgs.
"Bob I" wrote:
> If the drive isn't seen on a cold boot, I think you have a reset
> problem. Will it pick it up on a CTRL-ALT-DEL?
>
> operaflute wrote:
> > Did it myself - bought a compatible Western Digital 160GB drive.
> >
> > "Bob I" wrote:
> >
> >
> >>What shop did you take it to to have the hard drive replaced?
> >>
> >
> >
>
>
> If I hit Ctrl-ALt-Del at the blinking cursor screen, yes it will try to
> reboot again (and fail again.) Does that answer the question?
> Also - ran MemTest over night last night - no error msgs.
>
> "Bob I" wrote:
>
>
>>If the drive isn't seen on a cold boot, I think you have a reset
>>problem. Will it pick it up on a CTRL-ALT-DEL?
>>
>>operaflute wrote:
>>
>>>Did it myself - bought a compatible Western Digital 160GB drive.
>>>
>>>"Bob I" wrote:
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>>What shop did you take it to to have the hard drive replaced?
>>>>
>>>
>>>
>>
> does it have a master boot record on it
>
> FIXMBR
>
> operaflute wrote:
>
> > If I hit Ctrl-ALt-Del at the blinking cursor screen, yes it will try to
> > reboot again (and fail again.) Does that answer the question?
> > Also - ran MemTest over night last night - no error msgs.
> >
> > "Bob I" wrote:
> >
> >
> >>If the drive isn't seen on a cold boot, I think you have a reset
> >>problem. Will it pick it up on a CTRL-ALT-DEL?
> >>
> >>operaflute wrote:
> >>
> >>>Did it myself - bought a compatible Western Digital 160GB drive.
> >>>
> >>>"Bob I" wrote:
> >>>
> >>>
> >>>
> >>>>What shop did you take it to to have the hard drive replaced?
> >>>>
> >>>
> >>>
> >>
>
>
> neither fixmbr or fixboot did anything
>
> "Bob I" wrote:
>
>
>>does it have a master boot record on it
>>
>>FIXMBR
>>
>>operaflute wrote:
>>
>>
>>>If I hit Ctrl-ALt-Del at the blinking cursor screen, yes it will try to
>>>reboot again (and fail again.) Does that answer the question?
>>>Also - ran MemTest over night last night - no error msgs.
>>>
>>>"Bob I" wrote:
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>>If the drive isn't seen on a cold boot, I think you have a reset
>>>>problem. Will it pick it up on a CTRL-ALT-DEL?
>>>>
>>>>operaflute wrote:
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>>Did it myself - bought a compatible Western Digital 160GB drive.
>>>>>
>>>>>"Bob I" wrote:
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>>What shop did you take it to to have the hard drive replaced?
>>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>
"operaflute" <operaflute@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:A43BB76C-7698-48DC-BE5C-EBD8E9FA24AF@microsoft.com...
> Okay, folks, I guess I need more help! I gave up for a while, because
> I got
> SO sick of restoring from back up constantly, and just didn't turn off
> my
> computer. (If I don't turn it off, then I don't run into problems
> turning it
> back on!) Obviously this defeats the purpose of a lap top...
>
> I just replaced the hard drive yesterday and...
>
> SAME PROBLEM! ARRRRRGH! Basically, if I shut down, I can't start up.
> I
> get the first splash screen where I can get to the simple diagnostics,
> or
> boot from CD, but before windows loads, I just get a black screen with
> blinking cursor from which I can do nothing. Can't boot into safe
> mode,
> either.
It's possible that your new hard drive is also shot, but I highly doubt
it.
We still need to determine if this is a hardware or software issue.
When you replaced the hard drive, did you perform a clean install of XP?
Or did you clone the contents of your old hard drive onto it? Or is it
still just a brand new blank hard drive? :-)
Or you can just bypass the hard drive altogether and boot off something
like:
Bart PE or Ultimate Boot CD for Windows
Knoppix Live CD
Your hard drive is fine. Your system is fine. FIXMBR and FIXBOOT won't
work unless you have an x86 based processor (P3 or earlier). But that
isn't your problem either.
The real problem is that your BIOS will only allow up to a 137Gb HDD.
Windows doesn't have a problem with over-extending your BIOS limit. It
will even show your full capacity. The problem arises when data is
written past the BIOS' limit... then the HDD becomes "invisible" to
the BIOS. All of your data is still there and just fine. If you used a
program like PUPPY LINUX 4.1 (which boots from RAM) you would be able
to see that all of your data is in perfect order.
What you need to do is use a partition manager to shrink your C:
partition below the 137Gb limit and then reboot. You will be amazed to
see that EVERYTHING will be back to normal... with the small exception
that your C drive will be smaller. No problem, because now you'll have
a D drive with the remaining space available to use as back-up or
whatever you decide to use it for!!
Re: Can't boot - black screen blinking cursor 
Linear Mode
