Hope some one can help!

[sparticus]

I am putting a computer together for my daughter. Its an older machine that worked a year or so ago when it was last used. My problem is after putting in the HD (a used one with win XP on it) the computer wont POST when I try and start it. I put a new power supply in as part of the work to get it ready, but just in case I also tried a known good power supply, it still has the same problem. In my troubleshooting I have swaped out video cards and RAM all to no avail. Any one have any ideas? I'm not sure if its necessary but do I need to reformat the HD before I can put it in the different box?

Thanks for any help you can provide.

[Troy]

You can't just take a hard drive from one computer and put it in another one, usually. Sometimes you can install windows on top of that xp installation, and it will work. You'll have to update drivers too.

Does it POST without the HD in?

[HayZee518]

When you are building a computer from scratch, that is putting in a hard drive, a "A" floppy drive, a cdrom reader, any hardware - will need the drivers associated with that product. the programs that run the hard drives is called scsi or ide. The motherboard has what is called a system bios or [basic in-out system] this is in or on the eprom chip {erasable/programmable read only memory.} Also the system board or motherboard has a factory installed CMOS with its set of drivers. The ribbon cables connect everything together whether individual or daisy chained. The video card, audio card and modem each have their own set of drivers.

[leodlion]

The two previous posters may be right, you dont have the right disc driver. Make a note of the HD maker and model and try to get a free driver from the internet. Or see if you can locate the installation disc of the HD and install the driver from there.

The other thing I would do is make sure its really the HD thats causing the problem. You tried swapping difference things e.g. ram, power supply, etc. Is there a way you can put back the old working HD and yank out the one in there now? If the PC works, then it must be the HD. If not, you got some other problem.

I just noticed from your post that the HD has XP on it. And you booted from this HD? If this is true, then try reformatting the HD if you dont need any data from it. Otherwise, you need it backup but now its gonna be a pain because you have to find another cpu to plug the HD on.

Good luck.

[HayZee518]

who makes the computer? most times the machine includes bundled software just for that machine i.e. dell, compaq, acer etc and supplies disks for THAT machine should reformatting ever comes necessary. Early machines ran a DOS program, last one was msdos 6.2, then came windows 3.1, windows 95, windows 98 windows 98 SE (special edition) windows NT, windows ME, windows xp ( home and professional)

[sparticus]

Even without a working HD installed I should at least get the BIOS to boot up on the screen, I get diddly squat, nadda, nothing its black. After consulting with my IT guy at work we have narrowed it down to either the CPU or the MOBO. Thanks for the advice though.

[HayZee518]

before you can get the bios to load up - you need an operating system. Win xp, Win 98 or MSDOS 6.2 are the operating systems. The bios will be in an MSDOS atmosphere.

[leodlion]

Even without a working HD installed I should at least get the BIOS to boot up on the screen, I get diddly squat, nadda, nothing its black. After consulting with my IT guy at work we have narrowed it down to either the CPU or the MOBO. Thanks for the advice though.

Okay, I did not understand when you say the machine wont 'POST'. You really meant it wont even boot.

You can try booting the pc with a floppy disc if you have a floppy drive but most new pc dont have a floppy drive anymore.

You are right that the strap bootloader which is memory resident, should boot the disc bootloader from the HD drive. If this works, the disc bootloader should load the XP system from the HD. If step one is not even working, you are right: either motherboard is faulty or HD faulty.

[Troy]

Even without a working HD installed I should at least get the BIOS to boot up on the screen, I get diddly squat, nadda, nothing its black. After consulting with my IT guy at work we have narrowed it down to either the CPU or the MOBO. Thanks for the advice though.

If something is wrong with the configuration or the hard drive, then that might prevent it from booting. Will it POST without the hard drive connected?

[sparticus]

It won't POST or boot up. Even on the machine I am typing this now if I go in and disconnect the hard drive out of the system(i tried it to make certain) the computer will beep saying it passed its POST, it will just give me a message saying it needs help finding what to boot from. On the other used machine I am putting back together I get no POST, No Beep and no BIOS loaded up on the machine because I have no video. My question was on what could be causing the grief. The hard drive question was more of an "in addition to". I have it narrowed down to the CPU or the MOBO. Just a matter of a lucky guess or a coin flip as to which I try first.

[leodlion]

It won't POST or boot up. Even on the machine I am typing this now if I go in and disconnect the hard drive out of the system(i tried it to make certain) the computer will beep saying it passed its POST, it will just give me a message saying it needs help finding what to boot from. On the other used machine I am putting back together I get no POST, No Beep and no BIOS loaded up on the machine because I have no video. My question was on what could be causing the grief. The hard drive question was more of an "in addition to". I have it narrowed down to the CPU or the MOBO. Just a matter of a lucky guess or a coin flip as to which I try first.

If I were you, this is what I am going to do. Put back the old machine the way it was two years ago when it was working. Make this one work first. No sense continuing to replace any other part if you can not make it to work at this point. Then replace the HD.

Replacing the MOBO (mother board) is expensive, might as well buy a new computer. CPU is in the MOBO as well.

You can get a nice new desktop for $500-$700. Your daughter will appreciate it I am sure. What is expensive is what comes after that. Internet connection, games, games accessories, and horror of all horror, online shopping !!!

[sparticus]

For those that were curious about how the computer turned out..... it was a bad mother board. Swapped out the MOBO and all is well!!!!!

[HayZee518]

Great! I hope we were of "some" help.