Hard drive not detected in Windows XP, detected in BIOS.

[Desmond]

Hi,

I have a Seagate Barracuda 320 GB internal hard drive. When I try to boot from it, it performs dead slow and I am unable to do anything at all on my machine. When I move it to another machine as a slave, it does not show up at all, despite the fact that the drivers are installed and it shows up in device manager. I've observed that it also gets detected under BIOS.

I suspect that the partition tables might have been corrupted, because when I do a TestDisk analysis, I first got the message "Partition error" and while attempting to detect partitions, I get a message like "Read error at 2/237/44"

*i.imgur.com/XamTU.png

 

[kg11sgbg]

^^DeSmOnD,try Ultimate Boot CD(System Rescue disk : DOS version is aptly recommended ),consisting of SEAGATE Disk RECOVERY/REPAIR tools.
You could get an overview from here.
The download section is download UBCD;if you don't have one.
Burn the image into a CD,and proceed by running through 1st device:---> DVD/CD writer(Changing the device order in BIOS; just a reminder Friend!)

 

[topgear]

just get seagate seatools for Dos, write it on a CD, boot the pc using it and perform a long test.

 

[Desmond]

Well, my dvd drive went bad, so I cannot burn it, any way to boot it from USB?

Edit : The problem is solved and its a really unlikely solution. Apparently, one of the RAM sticks (or RAM slots, I am not sure which) went bad. When I removed one of them, the hard drive started working without any hiccups.

However, another problem has come up. Now, when I have both RAM sticks attached, the machine does not work properly. When I remove one of them (doesn't matter which), it starts working. What can the problem be here?

 

[topgear]

Now that's odd.

what cpu abd psu do you have and how many ram slots are there on the mobo ??

 

[Desmond]

Two slots. PSU is a shitty Odyssey one. Processor is a Core 2 Duo E8400.

 

[kg11sgbg]

Processor is O.K., but PSU is an absolute CRAP.

May be, one of your RAM slots has gone Kaput,due to the crapppyyy PSU,as a result of which when you insert two RAM sticks,your machine is not starting.
Why don't you apply/run the memory diagnostic software memorytest+ or memory test from within BIOS?

The UBCD(Ultimate Boot CD) tool (DOS version)has also some good diagnostic/testing features for memory also. Try it,if you have one.

 

[topgear]

either it's the PSu or the mobos NB chip which is causing this .. mst probably memry slot and modules are ok as the pc works OK when OP use only one module - does not matter which module and slot.

 

[kg11sgbg]

^^Yes,topgear you are correct.
I actually marked "maybe",because of uncertainty.
Most probable,PSU is the culprit,which can be changed.But if NB(NorthBridge) has become faulty,then @DeSmOnD...better buy a new motherboard of choice(If warranty period has expired) or repair.

 

[murphyker]

Dear,

if u have old win xp cd, boot the pc using the cd. and select repair windows option from the menu ( i dont remember when that menu comes. press or enter OK till the menu comes). you will get a DOS window after that. just type "FIX MBR". and reboot the system without cd.

 

[Desmond]

I tried something. I removed my GPU to reduce power consumption and inserted both RAM sticks. It gave some trouble starting up, but started working with the next reset without any problems so far. I think my GPU is a power hog.

 

[topgear]

no .. that means you need to get a better PSU.