Topic: Oh jesus, it never stops  (Read 7320 times)

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Offline Clark Kent

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Oh jesus, it never stops
« on: August 23, 2005, 05:50:27 pm »
I booted up my old Compaq 5000 today to set up for my sister since I have a new laptop.  When i tried to set up Win XP to use I found that the hard drive was constantly being accessed, and CPU constantly was active despite no programs being open.  I didn't like it, and unable to see an unauthorized process, I just simply decided to wipe the computer and start from scratch.  The copy of XP is one I bought off of ebay, no disk, no manuals, but have been unable to register it, so I assume I bought an unautorized copy of XP, and would go back to the original ME. 
Did that, no problem, began to conduct updates, when all of a sudden both the DVD rom drive and the CD-RW drives ceased to be recognized.  I'm not sure where it happened, it was somewhere in the multiple restarts while updating.  In any event, I can't even load the recovery CD anymore because windows won't recognize the damn drives anymore.  The DVD drive will open and close, the CD-RW will do nothing now.
can anyone help me out?  If not, I think I will just take this damn thing out to the range and use it as target practice for my MAK-90.
CK

But tell me, can you heal what father's done?
Or fix this hole in a mother's son?
Can you heal the broken worlds within?
Can you strip away so we may start again?
Tell me, can you heal what father's done?
Or cut this rope and let us run?
Just when all seems fine, and I'm pain free, you jab another pin,
Jab another pin in me
-Metallica

Offline toasty0

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Re: Oh jesus, it never stops
« Reply #1 on: August 23, 2005, 05:54:09 pm »
Bet ya dollars for doughnuts that it's your active virus scanner software doing a bootup scan...
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Offline Clark Kent

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Re: Oh jesus, it never stops
« Reply #2 on: August 23, 2005, 05:55:33 pm »
Bet ya dollars for doughnuts that it's your active virus scanner software doing a bootup scan...

There should be no anti virus installed, as I have not had the chance to install it.
CK

But tell me, can you heal what father's done?
Or fix this hole in a mother's son?
Can you heal the broken worlds within?
Can you strip away so we may start again?
Tell me, can you heal what father's done?
Or cut this rope and let us run?
Just when all seems fine, and I'm pain free, you jab another pin,
Jab another pin in me
-Metallica

Offline Clark Kent

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Re: Oh jesus, it never stops
« Reply #3 on: August 23, 2005, 05:59:31 pm »
I also do not see any hint of the drives in the BIOS.
CK

But tell me, can you heal what father's done?
Or fix this hole in a mother's son?
Can you heal the broken worlds within?
Can you strip away so we may start again?
Tell me, can you heal what father's done?
Or cut this rope and let us run?
Just when all seems fine, and I'm pain free, you jab another pin,
Jab another pin in me
-Metallica

Offline toasty0

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Re: Oh jesus, it never stops
« Reply #4 on: August 23, 2005, 06:01:13 pm »
Is there anything important on the HDD?
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Offline Clark Kent

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Re: Oh jesus, it never stops
« Reply #5 on: August 23, 2005, 06:02:11 pm »
Is there anything important on the HDD?

Nope, shouldn't be.  I've hardly even turned it on over the last year.
CK

But tell me, can you heal what father's done?
Or fix this hole in a mother's son?
Can you heal the broken worlds within?
Can you strip away so we may start again?
Tell me, can you heal what father's done?
Or cut this rope and let us run?
Just when all seems fine, and I'm pain free, you jab another pin,
Jab another pin in me
-Metallica

Offline toasty0

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Re: Oh jesus, it never stops
« Reply #6 on: August 23, 2005, 06:04:43 pm »
Do you know how to scratch and format a HDD?
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Offline Clark Kent

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Re: Oh jesus, it never stops
« Reply #7 on: August 23, 2005, 06:06:05 pm »
Do you know how to scratch and format a HDD?

Always used the recovery CD to do that, so...no.
CK

But tell me, can you heal what father's done?
Or fix this hole in a mother's son?
Can you heal the broken worlds within?
Can you strip away so we may start again?
Tell me, can you heal what father's done?
Or cut this rope and let us run?
Just when all seems fine, and I'm pain free, you jab another pin,
Jab another pin in me
-Metallica

Offline toasty0

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Re: Oh jesus, it never stops
« Reply #8 on: August 23, 2005, 06:13:58 pm »
Ok, it's been a while...

during boot up hit ctrl+alt+del

that should take you to a DOS screen...

if you see a blinking corrot ">" type "C:" without the quotations...

no type "fdisk"...

that will whipe you HDD clean.

if we still in business you should be able to a restart. Your XP CD is a boot disc and you'll now (should) be able to format and install.

Good luck!
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Offline Clark Kent

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Re: Oh jesus, it never stops
« Reply #9 on: August 23, 2005, 06:20:28 pm »
Ok, it's been a while...

during boot up hit ctrl+alt+del

that should take you to a DOS screen...

if you see a blinking corrot ">" type "C:" without the quotations...

no type "fdisk"...

that will whipe you HDD clean.

if we still in business you should be able to a restart. Your XP CD is a boot disc and you'll now (should) be able to format and install.

Good luck!

Well, tried ctrl+alt+delete and it just restarted the computer each time I tried it.  No DOS prompt for me it would appear.
CK

But tell me, can you heal what father's done?
Or fix this hole in a mother's son?
Can you heal the broken worlds within?
Can you strip away so we may start again?
Tell me, can you heal what father's done?
Or cut this rope and let us run?
Just when all seems fine, and I'm pain free, you jab another pin,
Jab another pin in me
-Metallica

Offline toasty0

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Re: Oh jesus, it never stops
« Reply #10 on: August 23, 2005, 06:25:30 pm »
Ok, it's been a while...

during boot up hit ctrl+alt+del

that should take you to a DOS screen...

if you see a blinking corrot ">" type "C:" without the quotations...

no type "fdisk"...

that will whipe you HDD clean.

if we still in business you should be able to a restart. Your XP CD is a boot disc and you'll now (should) be able to format and install.

Good luck!

Well, tried ctrl+alt+delete and it just restarted the computer each time I tried it.  No DOS prompt for me it would appear.

BRB...
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Offline toasty0

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Re: Oh jesus, it never stops
« Reply #11 on: August 23, 2005, 06:35:15 pm »
Ok...you need to put either your XP install disc or ME boot disc in before startup. Sorry bro.
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Offline Clark Kent

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Re: Oh jesus, it never stops
« Reply #12 on: August 23, 2005, 06:37:16 pm »
Ok...you need to put either your XP install disc or ME boot disc in before startup. Sorry bro.

The ME boot/recovery disk that came with the computer has been in the computer this whole time.  Seriously, the computer does not see the optical drives at all, not in windows, not in BIOS, no where.
CK

But tell me, can you heal what father's done?
Or fix this hole in a mother's son?
Can you heal the broken worlds within?
Can you strip away so we may start again?
Tell me, can you heal what father's done?
Or cut this rope and let us run?
Just when all seems fine, and I'm pain free, you jab another pin,
Jab another pin in me
-Metallica

Offline toasty0

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Re: Oh jesus, it never stops
« Reply #13 on: August 23, 2005, 06:38:01 pm »
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Offline toasty0

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Re: Oh jesus, it never stops
« Reply #14 on: August 23, 2005, 06:39:39 pm »
Ok...you need to put either your XP install disc or ME boot disc in before startup. Sorry bro.

The ME boot/recovery disk that came with the computer has been in the computer this whole time.  Seriously, the computer does not see the optical drives at all, not in windows, not in BIOS, no where.

If bios is not seeing the hardware it could be a bios corruption or a hardware failure. No way to be sure without testing...
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Offline Clark Kent

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Re: Oh jesus, it never stops
« Reply #15 on: August 23, 2005, 06:40:45 pm »
Ok...you need to put either your XP install disc or ME boot disc in before startup. Sorry bro.

The ME boot/recovery disk that came with the computer has been in the computer this whole time.  Seriously, the computer does not see the optical drives at all, not in windows, not in BIOS, no where.

If bios is not seeing the hardware it could be a bios corruption or a hardware failure. No way to be sure without testing...

How does one test such a thing?
CK

But tell me, can you heal what father's done?
Or fix this hole in a mother's son?
Can you heal the broken worlds within?
Can you strip away so we may start again?
Tell me, can you heal what father's done?
Or cut this rope and let us run?
Just when all seems fine, and I'm pain free, you jab another pin,
Jab another pin in me
-Metallica

Offline toasty0

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Re: Oh jesus, it never stops
« Reply #16 on: August 23, 2005, 06:42:38 pm »
Ok...you need to put either your XP install disc or ME boot disc in before startup. Sorry bro.

The ME boot/recovery disk that came with the computer has been in the computer this whole time.  Seriously, the computer does not see the optical drives at all, not in windows, not in BIOS, no where.

If bios is not seeing the hardware it could be a bios corruption or a hardware failure. No way to be sure without testing...

How does one test such a thing?


Diagnostic equipment.
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Offline Clark Kent

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Re: Oh jesus, it never stops
« Reply #17 on: August 23, 2005, 06:44:06 pm »
Ok...you need to put either your XP install disc or ME boot disc in before startup. Sorry bro.

The ME boot/recovery disk that came with the computer has been in the computer this whole time.  Seriously, the computer does not see the optical drives at all, not in windows, not in BIOS, no where.

If bios is not seeing the hardware it could be a bios corruption or a hardware failure. No way to be sure without testing...

How does one test such a thing?


Diagnostic equipment.

Assuming it's the BIOS, is there a way to "reload" it, or uncorrupt it?
CK

But tell me, can you heal what father's done?
Or fix this hole in a mother's son?
Can you heal the broken worlds within?
Can you strip away so we may start again?
Tell me, can you heal what father's done?
Or cut this rope and let us run?
Just when all seems fine, and I'm pain free, you jab another pin,
Jab another pin in me
-Metallica

Offline toasty0

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Re: Oh jesus, it never stops
« Reply #18 on: August 23, 2005, 07:41:47 pm »
Ok...you need to put either your XP install disc or ME boot disc in before startup. Sorry bro.

The ME boot/recovery disk that came with the computer has been in the computer this whole time.  Seriously, the computer does not see the optical drives at all, not in windows, not in BIOS, no where.

If bios is not seeing the hardware it could be a bios corruption or a hardware failure. No way to be sure without testing...

How does one test such a thing?


Diagnostic equipment.

Assuming it's the BIOS, is there a way to "reload" it, or uncorrupt it?

Maybe one of the others guys here knows, but I'm not sure.
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Offline Nemesis

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Re: Oh jesus, it never stops
« Reply #19 on: August 23, 2005, 08:24:36 pm »
Assuming it's the BIOS, is there a way to "reload" it, or uncorrupt it?


I don't have any direct experience with Compaq laptops but did a google search and then a search of HPs site.  The following Link might be useful.  Giving your precise model would make more accurate targetting easier.

If all else fails removing the BIOS battery (a small circular battery mounted on the motherboard) and waiting a while will clear the CMOS settings back to factory defaults.
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Offline mc_cloud

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Re: Oh jesus, it never stops
« Reply #20 on: August 23, 2005, 08:46:42 pm »
i'd clear the cmos........

then use a win98 boot disk, and fdisk the c drive..

then reload.

Offline Clark Kent

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Re: Oh jesus, it never stops
« Reply #21 on: August 23, 2005, 09:00:33 pm »
Resetting BIOS to default did nothing, will try to wipe the CMOS.
CK

But tell me, can you heal what father's done?
Or fix this hole in a mother's son?
Can you heal the broken worlds within?
Can you strip away so we may start again?
Tell me, can you heal what father's done?
Or cut this rope and let us run?
Just when all seems fine, and I'm pain free, you jab another pin,
Jab another pin in me
-Metallica

Offline toasty0

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Re: Oh jesus, it never stops
« Reply #22 on: August 24, 2005, 09:01:24 am »
I wonder if this could be a problem with his CMOS battery?
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Offline Nemesis

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Re: Oh jesus, it never stops
« Reply #23 on: August 24, 2005, 03:41:52 pm »
Next step.  Are the cables firmly connected to the drives? 

Recently I moved a computer and both the CD and the DVD failed.  As soon as I opened it up and pressed the motherboard end of the cable they were on firmly down they both started working immediately after the reboot. 

It is also possible that they cable has failed.  I had that happen on one system to the HD cable.   Fortunately I had a spare.

Do unto others as Frey has done unto you.
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I believe truth and principle do matter. If you have to sacrifice them to get the results you want, then the results aren't worth it.
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Offline Commander Maxillius

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Re: Oh jesus, it never stops
« Reply #24 on: August 24, 2005, 07:53:36 pm »
I'll watch this thread closely as my sister has a Compaq 5000 that I've worked on that seems to have the exact same set-up (DVD drive and CD burner) that I've also upgraded to XP.

Not to be an ass or anything, but I think you should've waited to see if it stopped before deciding to wipe the disk, and then get it online to download AdAware and Hijack This! to dig deeper into the problem.  My sister's machine is pretty old, 600MHz, so I wouldn't be surprised if it did the same thing upon booting after a few minutes. 

I think it was just finishing loading Windows.  I think the fastest 5000 is like 1.2 GHz, and my laptop is that speed and needs a little time after the desktop loads to be stable.  When you get XP back on it make sure you wait to see if the activity stops, it should within 5 minutes.  If not then something's wrong.
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Offline Just plain old Punisher

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Re: Oh jesus, it never stops
« Reply #25 on: August 24, 2005, 07:58:12 pm »
I wonder if this could be a problem with his CMOS battery?

You'll know its a problem when you have to set the date everytime on bootup.

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Offline toasty0

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Re: Oh jesus, it never stops
« Reply #26 on: August 24, 2005, 09:27:24 pm »
I wonder if this could be a problem with his CMOS battery?

You'll know its a problem when you have to set the date everytime on bootup.

I knew there was a simple indicator, I just couldn't remember what it was.

Clark, is that the case with your notebook?
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Offline Dracho

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Re: Oh jesus, it never stops
« Reply #27 on: August 24, 2005, 09:37:29 pm »
Unplug the hard drive and put a boot disk in the floppy.  If it boots up, your hard drive has given up the ghost and is hanging the system.
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Offline Clark Kent

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Re: Oh jesus, it never stops
« Reply #28 on: August 25, 2005, 11:15:27 am »
I'll watch this thread closely as my sister has a Compaq 5000 that I've worked on that seems to have the exact same set-up (DVD drive and CD burner) that I've also upgraded to XP.

Not to be an ass or anything, but I think you should've waited to see if it stopped before deciding to wipe the disk, and then get it online to download AdAware and Hijack This! to dig deeper into the problem.  My sister's machine is pretty old, 600MHz, so I wouldn't be surprised if it did the same thing upon booting after a few minutes. 

I think it was just finishing loading Windows.  I think the fastest 5000 is like 1.2 GHz, and my laptop is that speed and needs a little time after the desktop loads to be stable.  When you get XP back on it make sure you wait to see if the activity stops, it should within 5 minutes.  If not then something's wrong.

The disk light was on for over an hour.  I don't think that's disk catalogging.
CK

But tell me, can you heal what father's done?
Or fix this hole in a mother's son?
Can you heal the broken worlds within?
Can you strip away so we may start again?
Tell me, can you heal what father's done?
Or cut this rope and let us run?
Just when all seems fine, and I'm pain free, you jab another pin,
Jab another pin in me
-Metallica

Offline Tus-XC

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Re: Oh jesus, it never stops
« Reply #29 on: August 25, 2005, 07:39:39 pm »
whats your boot order?  if its not already been set to the cd rom drive, do so.  Once it reads the me or xp disk it should bring you to a window that will let you go to repair mode eventually... from there you can frag the bloody thing
Rob

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Offline Commander Maxillius

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Re: Oh jesus, it never stops
« Reply #30 on: August 30, 2005, 04:07:20 am »
I'll watch this thread closely as my sister has a Compaq 5000 that I've worked on that seems to have the exact same set-up (DVD drive and CD burner) that I've also upgraded to XP.

Not to be an ass or anything, but I think you should've waited to see if it stopped before deciding to wipe the disk, and then get it online to download AdAware and Hijack This! to dig deeper into the problem.  My sister's machine is pretty old, 600MHz, so I wouldn't be surprised if it did the same thing upon booting after a few minutes. 

I think it was just finishing loading Windows.  I think the fastest 5000 is like 1.2 GHz, and my laptop is that speed and needs a little time after the desktop loads to be stable.  When you get XP back on it make sure you wait to see if the activity stops, it should within 5 minutes.  If not then something's wrong.

The disk light was on for over an hour.  I don't think that's disk catalogging.

aye....  not much help then, am I?
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Offline Clark Kent

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Re: Oh jesus, it never stops
« Reply #31 on: August 30, 2005, 10:36:34 am »
I'll watch this thread closely as my sister has a Compaq 5000 that I've worked on that seems to have the exact same set-up (DVD drive and CD burner) that I've also upgraded to XP.

Not to be an ass or anything, but I think you should've waited to see if it stopped before deciding to wipe the disk, and then get it online to download AdAware and Hijack This! to dig deeper into the problem.  My sister's machine is pretty old, 600MHz, so I wouldn't be surprised if it did the same thing upon booting after a few minutes. 

I think it was just finishing loading Windows.  I think the fastest 5000 is like 1.2 GHz, and my laptop is that speed and needs a little time after the desktop loads to be stable.  When you get XP back on it make sure you wait to see if the activity stops, it should within 5 minutes.  If not then something's wrong.

The disk light was on for over an hour.  I don't think that's disk catalogging.

aye....  not much help then, am I?

It's allo good.  I wish I could work on this machine more, but I have limited time and have to try things a little at a time with it.  Plus, given the fact thatthis machine has always required days of work whenever it went down- which was actually quite often.  If I can't get it working, no big.  I'll just strip it for parts for my Powermac.
CK

But tell me, can you heal what father's done?
Or fix this hole in a mother's son?
Can you heal the broken worlds within?
Can you strip away so we may start again?
Tell me, can you heal what father's done?
Or cut this rope and let us run?
Just when all seems fine, and I'm pain free, you jab another pin,
Jab another pin in me
-Metallica

Offline Sethan

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Re: Oh jesus, it never stops
« Reply #32 on: August 31, 2005, 01:02:11 am »
Clark - a few things come to mind.

1) It might be a DRM feature of Windows XP or ME that disabled the OS because it determined you were using a bootleg copy.  With DRM installed, Win98 does this to a CDRW drive if it determines you are trying to copy a copy protected CD.  In the case of the CD, it goes away after a day.

2) Might be a bad copy of the OS - given that you cannot see the drives in the BIOS, this is unlikely.

3) Hard drive is going out.

4) Boot Sector Virus

5) CPU/MB/Memory

Try here:  http://www.bootdisk.com/bootdisk.htm

...for a Win98 boot disk, and see if you can get the machine to boot off that.
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Offline Clark Kent

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Re: Oh jesus, it never stops
« Reply #33 on: September 01, 2005, 04:33:54 pm »
Why would the DRM kick in after I had deleted the XP I couldn't register, and loaded the ME that I could?  I'm not entirely sure the copy I bought of XP was illegal, but I do wonder.  In any event, seems odd that I go back to factory install and then, in the middle of the updates, everythign disapears.
The hard drive seems to be ok, it reads and writes alright, and no change in sound...
How can I tell if it's a boot sector virus?
CK

But tell me, can you heal what father's done?
Or fix this hole in a mother's son?
Can you heal the broken worlds within?
Can you strip away so we may start again?
Tell me, can you heal what father's done?
Or cut this rope and let us run?
Just when all seems fine, and I'm pain free, you jab another pin,
Jab another pin in me
-Metallica

Offline Sethan

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Re: Oh jesus, it never stops
« Reply #34 on: September 02, 2005, 12:32:26 am »
Why would the DRM kick in after I had deleted the XP I couldn't register, and loaded the ME that I could?

Because M$ sucks?

It is possible that even though you were able to register, DRM determined when you started installing updates that it could not determine if the copy of the OS was licensed or not.  I've seen that happen before.

I'm not entirely sure the copy I bought of XP was illegal, but I do wonder.  In any event, seems odd that I go back to factory install and then, in the middle of the updates, everythign disapears.

Try reinstalling, and applying the updates one at a time, until you find the one that breaks it - it may be a driver conflict.

The hard drive seems to be ok, it reads and writes alright, and no change in sound...
How can I tell if it's a boot sector virus?

Easiest way to deal with a boot sector virus is to turn the machine completely off for 30 seconds, then boot with a write-protected win98 boot floppy, and run the following command:

FDISK /MBR

Then use fdisk to remove the partitions, and reinstall Windows.  See if you can get a copy of Win98 or Win2k - either of those is more stable than WinME, and will run faster than WinXP.
It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it. --Aristotle

Offline toasty0

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Re: Oh jesus, it never stops
« Reply #35 on: September 02, 2005, 11:20:16 pm »
Then again it could be a lack of rum to run XP, or a short, or a bad ram stick, or a MoBo taking a dump.

I say at this point we use the notebook for taget practice. Then again I'm feeling a but luddite-ish tonight. Freaking out of application exceptions.
MCTS: SQL Server 2005 | MCP: Windows Server 2003 | MCTS: Microsoft Certified Technology Specialist | MCT: Microsoft Certified Trainer | MOS: Microsoft Office Specialist 2003 | VSP: VMware Sales Professional | MCTS: Vista

Offline Clark Kent

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Re: Oh jesus, it never stops
« Reply #36 on: September 30, 2005, 08:55:58 pm »
Well, I haven't had much time to go over the old compaq, but after a time I hooked up the monitor once again, and the optical drives are still out cold.  They seem to have power, and seem to work still, but the computer does not see them.  Unless someone has a way I can wipe the computer clean and attempt a fresh install from WITHIN windows ME, I'm gonna abandon this guy and start stripping it for parts to put into another computer.
CK

But tell me, can you heal what father's done?
Or fix this hole in a mother's son?
Can you heal the broken worlds within?
Can you strip away so we may start again?
Tell me, can you heal what father's done?
Or cut this rope and let us run?
Just when all seems fine, and I'm pain free, you jab another pin,
Jab another pin in me
-Metallica