For you computer geeks

[Black Omega]

A quick question. I have a spare computer with issues booting. We've been using it to image hard drives, it can boot off the CD (this is the first choice) but it never boots up off the hard drive. It will get as far as saying 'no system disk' if it's not an imaged drive. After we image it tries to reboot then black screens. Booting again will take us to the screen where it gives us the option of booting into windows, with safe mode, safe mode with networking, ect. If I pick windows it freezes. Safemode shows a series of files rolling by then freezes. It's not the hard drives, we've tried quite a few. And we can hook the HDs to other computers and they work. When booting from the CD it sees the drive without trouble.

Any suggestions what might cause this?

 

[Mycanid]

This should probably be in the Software, Computers and DnD Utilities forum perhaps?

 

[SteelDraco]

If you've tried other hard drives, then my guess would be a BIOS problem. You might need to get a new version; it sounds like the one you have has gone wonky on you.

Let me get this straight. You've put a new hard drive in there, with nothing on it, and tried to install your OS again, and it repeats the same error?

 

[kibbitz]

More information on what you're specifically doing would be good. Anyway, from what I can gather, it sounds like the Windows installation on your image could be faulty, since you did mention that it freezes after a certain number of files were loaded in Safe Mode. You might want to try building another image again and using that instead.

 

[Black Omega]

Here is the basic problem. The computer is not used for anything other than imaging drives. Which it does fine. I have several difference images I use depending on the drive. After the imaging is done I can remove the drive from the bay put it on another computer and everything is fine. It boots up without trouble. However, the imaging computer won't boot with any HD. It can read the drive, if I boot up with a CD. It images the drives. But after the imaging is done, the default is for it to reboot using the hard drive. Then it blackscreens. I only know the image was successful by putting the drive on another computer. BIOS would make sense. I've checked settings but not update the BIOS or anything yet.

 

[Black Omega]

Let me get this straight. You've put a new hard drive in there, with nothing on it, and tried to install your OS again, and it repeats the same error?

Yep. But the drive works without trouble on other computers.

 

[kibbitz]

K, I apparently misunderstood your initial post very badly. I somehow thought that you meant that you checked that the HDDs are okay in the sense that you can access the filesystem, as opposed to being able to use those HDDs to boot up the other PCs.

Anyway, SteelDraco made an excellent suggestion and you may want to update your BIOS. Could plausibly be other hardware though this would require additional testing. I had a case like yours except that it could boot in Safe Mode. Later discovered that it was a gfx-related issue. I could run Windows XP normally on that system if I forced the resolution to 640x480, and once I raised it past that, it blackscreened. Out of curiosity, did you record which file it froze at while loading in Safe Mode?

 

[Black Omega]

I have the file written down someplace. But the BIOS was the problem. Once that was fixed everything else is working. Thanks all.