Member Avatar for John Mullins

A friend gave me this computer. The problem was there when I got it. He had tried to put Win 2K on it along with DOS and Win 98. I have tried to just install Win 2K and it did not work. When computer goes to reboot computer into W2K, it starts the loop again. I tried loading PCBSD with same results. I have updated BIOS(Phoenix 4.0 Rev 6.0.C), run fixmbr and fixboot from repair console, did not help. Computer is a P3, 700MHz. MOBO is KZM-6120.
If anyone can help me get this computer going it will be much appreciated.

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A compact, prioritized troubleshooting plan to isolate whether the problem is a drive/controller, memory/PSU, or the motherboard itself. The suggestions from , and are on point; below is a focused workflow you can run through quickly and in order so each test rules a single class of faults in or out.

  1. Reduce to minimum hardware. Remove every nonessential device and card so only the board, CPU, one stick of RAM (in the primary slot), video and a single boot drive remain. Booting with the fewest parts eliminates many causes.
  2. Run a memory test from bootable media (MemTest86 or equivalent) — one full pass should be clean; any errors mean try a different module or slot.
  3. Check power and caps. Look for bulging/leaking capacitors on the board, check PSU voltages or swap with a known-good PSU. Unsteady power commonly makes systems loop during POST or early boot.
  4. Replace the data cable and check master/slave or cable-select settings; if possible try an add-in IDE/SATA controller or an IDE-to-USB adapter to rule out the onboard controller.
  5. Perform a long SMART/sector test with the drive manufacturer tool (or via USB on another PC). If the disk reports reallocated sectors or long-scan failures, salvage data and replace the drive.
  6. Clear CMOS (jumper or remove battery briefly), load BIOS defaults, and disable nonessential onboard devices (floppy, LAN, extra controllers) while testing. Reflashing BIOS is a last resort and should be done only with a known-good image and power.

If the machine still loops after these steps, the most likely culprits are motherboard-level faults (bad chipset, failing caps or traces) or intermittent power problems. Prioritize data backup before destructive tests. When asking for further help, report exact POST behavior (beeps, LED codes, whether POST completes, and which of the above tests failed).

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Member Avatar for mechbas

When you tried to install 2K, did you do so on a freshly formatted HD?

Member Avatar for John Mullins

When you tried to install 2K, did you do so on a freshly formatted HD?

mechbas
I let setup format the drive. Then went thru the rest of setup till it got to the place where it reboots the computer. from there it brings the the opening screen(with the progress bar at the bottom). The screen then goes blank and it goes into the reboot loop.

Member Avatar for mechbas

When you let setup format the drive was it a matter of maybe a few minutes or 30min. or more?
Seems that you have some sort of HD error. Don't think it's a system (mobo, etc.) error.
Do you have another system that you can stick the HD in for a AV check? Some Boot sector viruses are a pain that a new MBR and Format will not fix. Short of software specificaly desiged to search and destroy BS err.s, a low level format usually does the trick, but I suspect drive is rather large which will make something like that quite time consuming.
If you've another drive that you can try an install on you might try that to see how it goes.

Member Avatar for ect76

Just a quick question to make this thread idiot proof - You did ensure that when it restarts it's booting from the hard disc, instead of the CD again and going back into setup from the start?
Sounds obvious, but it's momentarily confused me a couple of times during a reinstall!

Ewan.

Member Avatar for mechbas

Just a quick question to make this thread idiot proof - You did ensure that when it restarts it's booting from the hard disc, instead of the CD again and going back into setup from the start?
Sounds obvious, but it's momentarily confused me a couple of times during a reinstall!

Ewan.

Valid question, however, someone that has experience with setup on several different OSs would probably have considered that before now. You think maybe?

Member Avatar for bobbyraw

@ mechbas, you would be surprise at to how some simple stuff can slip you by when it comes to computer. However, i suggest you format that hard drive with some other utility then do the. But the best thing do do right now is run a disk utility on the HDD. to verify if the boot sectors are ok.

Member Avatar for John Mullins

Hey guys,
It took about 20 to 30 mins. to format. I also took the CD out of drive. I tried another HD with same results. I have tried installing Spotmau premium 2008 CD. It will boot from the CD, then goes into the BIOS screen loop again.
I am asking my friends for a IDE controller card that I can put in and eliminate the onboard controller. I am running out of things to try, other than the MOBO.

Thanks

Member Avatar for ect76

Well, my apologies if my post was a little basic, but from here I have no idea what his knowledge of computers is and I was just trying to make sure the basics were covered. Won't happen again.

Ewan.

Member Avatar for mechbas

Let's back up some. With the new HD fdisk, format, the put the sys. files on f/win98, THEN see if it'll boot.

Member Avatar for walkerfred

how do you format this thing

Member Avatar for jingda

Hi and welcome to daniweb. With regards to your question, what do you want to format. Your internal hard disk or flash drive.

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