Started with a virus...

[suzy666]

My son managed to click on a virus which I could not get rid of. I have had this problem before and know its near impossible to fix so i decided to reformat.
The PC was not reconising the windows disc so I went into bios and changed to boot from CD and it worked. I was just about to enter the code when I kicked the wire shutting off the power eeeeekkkk. When I switched it back on I got the first black screen, then black a screen with Windows XP or Windows Setup. When I click on setup I get a black screen with 1 dot and a continual beeping from the box, I have searched beeping codes and it appears to be a problem with the power supply or the motherboard.

When I click on Windows XP I get the page Safe Mode, Last know good configuration etc. When I go into safe mode it shuts off and reboots. When I go into Last known good configuration I get a flash of a blue screen which says error 0x0000007b which is apparently a device driver/hard drive issue.

I then went into bios again and disabled auto restart and managed somehow to get the windows disc to boot (cant remember how which is a pain). Now it was saying... Set up did not find hard disc drive. I restarted with the Support CD/driver disc pressing F6 and get a black screen up Generate Serial ATA driver diskette [Y,N]?,When I type Y I have a screen saying insert blank formatted diskette into floppy drive A then it says seek failed. pressing N says Error reading from drive C: Dos area: drive not ready.

I am totally stumped and have no idea what to do now. I am thinking I will have to pay someone to look at it but thought i would post on here and see if anyone has any ideas. Thanks in advance for any help.

[R C Cola]

Do you have the original disks to reload XP and format ?  You may need them.

[harry 48]

Do you have the original disks to reload XP and format ?  You may need them.

please do not tell peole to re-format


suzy666

go to below and complete to the end and post 3 logs

http://www.computerhope.com/forum/index.php/topic,46313.0.html

[suzy666]

Hi Harry, thanks for the reply.

Unfortunately I can not do what you have asked as I cannot get the PC to turn on. It just keeps rebooting.

[harry 48]

you are on another pc now go to the virus forum , start a topic they may tell you how to make a rescue disk  and take it from there , harry

[suzy666]

Thanks I will do that.

[SuperDave]

Go to this link to create a Rescue CD or to this site to create a Rescue USB. Carefully follow all the instructions for whichever method you choose.

[suzy666]

Hi SuperDave, I have burned the second option onto a cd and followed the instuctions but when I click "start scanner" nothing happens, I then got a message saying Scanner not found or Rescue System Device not detected. I then tried the other option but that one wont boot from the cd. Any suggestions? Thanks in advance.

[SuperDave]

Let me see if I'm getting this straight. When you boot with the Rescue CD, your computer recognizes the CD? Then, you select Dr Web LiveCD (Default) mode and press Enter on the keyboard?  Then you checked the drive that you want to scan and click scan? Is this where you get the message? Did you try the second option in "Safe Mode"?

[suzy666]

No, I tried the Avira disc first, the rescue screen comes up and I ticked the boxes but when I click on "start scanner" nothing happens and I got the message above eventually.
I then tried the Dr Web CD but there was no option to select Dr Web LiveCD (Default), just the usual safe mode, last known good configuration etc

Thanks for helping Dave, I really appreciate it.

[SuperDave]

Here's another rescue disk that may work. Let's give it a try but you'll have to do this on a fully functioning computer.

ISOBurner this will allow you to burn OTLPE ISO to a cd and make it bootable. Just install the program, from there on in it is fairly automatic.  Instructions

Second

• Download OTLPE.iso and burn to a CD using ISO Burner. NOTE: This file is 292Mb in size so it may take some time to download.
  
• When downloaded double click and this will then open ISOBurner to burn the file to CD
• Reboot your system using the boot CD you just created.

Note : If you do not know how to set your computer to boot from CD follow the steps here

• Your system should now display a REATOGO-X-PE desktop.
• Double-click on the OTLPE icon.
  
• When asked "Do you wish to load the remote registry", select Yes
  
• When asked "Do you wish to load remote user profile(s) for scanning", select Yes
  
• Ensure the box "Automatically Load All Remaining Users" is checked and press OK
  
• OTL should now start. Change the following settings
• Change Drivers to Non-Microsoft
  
• Press Run Scan to start the scan.
  
• When finished, the file will be saved  in drive C:\_OTL\MovedFiles
  
• Copy this file to your USB drive if you do not have internet connection on this system
• Please post the contents of the OTL.txt file in your reply.
  

[suzy666]

I have tried that and this cd didnt work either unfortunately.

[suzy666]

Second try was a little more successful.

The disc boots up but when I click on OTLPE there is a quick flash of a black box then there is a "browse for folder" box. I tried clicking on "my computer" and it says "RunScanner" No windows installation found. A click on ReatogoPE (X:) says Runscanner Error Target is not windows 2000 or later.

[evilfantasy]

Did you actually start the reformat process before these latest issues?

[suzy666]

Yes I started to reformat as I had the same problem a while back and found no solution to getting rid of virus (not same pc) . Unfortunately I kicked the power cable just after starting reformat and cut the power. Not good :-(

[evilfantasy]

No. Not good at all.

Have you checked inside of the computer so see of there are any loose cables?

[suzy666]

Yes, when I first started googling this was one of the first suggestions. It all seems to be intact.

[evilfantasy]

Since this is a computer problem and not a malware issue I am going to move this topic into the Microsoft Windows forum so the regulars in there can give some input.

[suzy666]

I know its not looked on kindly to bump threads but I have a 14yr old son who is driving me nuts. He is autistic and has an obsession with WoW.  Its his computer that has gone wrong.

Can someone PLEASE give me some advice. I am trying to fix it as cheap as possible as i am a single parent but I have now got to the stage that I am thinking about buying a whole new system and putting it on my credit card.

HELP!!!

[evilfantasy]

Unfortunately the only thing I can suggest is taking it to a repair shop and hope it is an easy fix. Not all repair shops work from fixed industry rates. Many small shops will charge accordingly because they rely on return business and word of mouth to keep in business. Without being able to properly boot the computer there is not really anything we can do here.

[suzy666]

Thank you for your reply.
 
I thought that might be the case but hoped someone might have a suggestion.

Sorry for bumping but my son is very impatient and at least I now know I have done my best to try and sort it.

HUGE thanks to Harry 48, SuperDave and evilfantasy for taking the time to try and sort it out....FANTASTIC forum and I will recommend it to all my friends x

[evilfantasy]

No problem on the bump. When everyone stops replying it usually means we are out of ideas...

Good luck!

[Azzaboi]

I use to play WoW all the time too, hurry up and get it fixed!  

The STOP 0x0000007B error refers to INACCESSIBLE_BOOT_DEVICE.
This can be caused by boot sector viruses and device driver issues or hardware issues.

Since you had a virus, I would suggest running a bootup anti-virus tool to check the boot sector.

Verify that the hard drive is properly installed and doesn't have a loose cable or is damaged.

A device driver that the computer boot controller needs could be corrupted.

If you can launch a recovery console, run the fixmbr command to create a new master boot record.

Clearing the CMOS could solve the problem if it's not loading up, simply remove the CMOS battery from the motherboard for a few minutes and restore the default factory settings. If your motherboard has it just use the Motherboard Jumper - Clear CMOS, instead for a quicker option.

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/324103
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/316401

[evilfantasy]

Good post Azzaboi but she is having trouble booting the computer. Which is why we really can't do much.

[suzy666]

Thx for your post Azzaboi but as evilfantasy said I cant get a recovery disc to load so have no way of posting the data needed to solve the problem 

[Azzaboi]

Did you already try the clearing of the CMOS/BIOS? Like removing the battery.

I feel sad for your son not getting to play WoW!
My parents sold my copy of it as I was playing that rather than doing my homework, heh.

[suzy666]

Was just thinking that...is something I havent tried.

Thank you for giving me a glimmer of hope.

I REALLY have to go to bed now as its 03.35 in UK and I have to be up at 7am to get kids to school.

I will try this tomorrow/later. Thank you Azzaboi x

[suzy666]

Im back :-)

I tried changing the battery but no luck. I then tried swapping the wires around on the hard drives (there are 2) and that didnt work either so decided the best plan would be to buy new hard drives. When I pulled out one to find out make etc I discovered the OTHER end of one of the wires was not connected to the motherboard.

I now cant remember which wires went into which HD, does it matter?. There is one wire with 2 black, 1 yellow, 1 red. The other has 4 black, 2 yellow, 2 red. There is also a thick red wire coming out of each box, on the motherboard it looks like there is 4 possible places to plug them in, one wire is still connected to a blue socket. There are 3 other sockets which are black, red and orange...can anyone advise which wires go where? I have tried googling and searched on here with no luck.

Hopefully if I get this sorted i can send you guys some data 

[Azzaboi]

Is your Hard drive SATA or IDE cabled?

If it's SATA it's a red fat cable, only can be plugged in one way round and in the same shaped ports. The motherboard should have small print labelling SATA1, SATA2, SATA3, and SATA4 on each port to connect, use in order. No need to worry about jumpers.

If it's IDE it's got a red strip on the side (gray ribbon cable) to show the direction it should be connected. IF multiple HDs make sure you connect them in order of master then slave (if on cable select jumper). Don't confuse the jumper pins in the middle as connectors.

Then you also need a (white) power cable per HD. Use a direct one that hasn't also been used for the graphic card or fans, etc, if possible. Ensure the pins for this aren't loose, it's a tight fit and sometimes one or more of the pin(s) can move out loosing connection. These cables are coming from your Power Supply Unit (PSU), not the motherboard.

IDE top / SATA bottom


Check your motherboard manual for layout if needed.

[suzy666]

It is SATA cabled.

I have tried booting with the 8 wire power cable and fat red cable into the blue socket (which is labled port 0) and the other one into the black socket (labeled port 1) which hasnt worked.

If the problem is the hard drive would both of them be damaged after the power cutting?

[Azzaboi]

Well if you can get the name of the motherboard and of the hard drive, I might have a better idea.

It will be different for each motherboard...

SATA II ports are normally split into two groups on the motherboard. You could have...

1 x eSATAII 3.0 Gb/s connector (external devices from the case)
6 x SATA 3Gb/s ports  (supports RAID)
2 x SATA 6Gb/s ports

Most of the time they will be red, however in your case they might be colour-coded?
Black is SATA1, White is SATA2, Blue is SATA3, Yellow is SATA4.

In which case use the black port.

As for the 8 wire power cable? I'm pretty sure your HD has extra pins? You shouldn't be using pins on a SATA HD. Those are the master / slave pins, left over from the PATA days or possibly a 3G jumper in there too (transfer speed control)... but in any case, they don't need to be used at all.

You need the two plugs like the SATA HD pictured above in the last post. They are both specially shaped connectors.

[suzy666]

The motherboard is an asrock conroe 1333-esata2 and the hard drives are 2 x SAMSUNG 160GB 7200RPM HARD DRIVE 8MB CACHE HD161HJ and yes the wires are like the bottom picture.

[patio]

Which drive has the OS on it ? ?
Find out and hook it up to SATA 0 and leave the other drive dis-connected.

Also check to see if the BIOS is recognising the HDD...

Personally if you were infected you may want to consider a wipe and a clean install....

[suzy666]

Im not sure which is why I swapped the wires around. I am trying them seperately at the moment.

I have the bios set to boot from CD at the moment as I am trying to run the OTLPE disc. Should I change this?

A wipe and clean sounds great if I can ever get it to get past booting up

[patio]

Did you connect 1 drive as i suggested ? ?
Does the BIOS pick it up ? ?

[suzy666]

Yes patio, I tried both hard drives seperately and swapped the wires around too but still no joy and yes the BIOS reconises that it is there.

I can get a screen up when I put the OTLPE disc in but cant get the scan to run. I am thinking that maybe I should buy a new hard drive as all the problems seem to point to it being fried.

Should I try that?

[suzy666]

I know no one wants to suggest a route that could cost me money that will not fix the problem but the only guy I know who fixes PCs in my area charges £75 an hour (I am in UK).

I would rather buy parts and try to fix it myself and if it doesnt work out I can put the parts on ebay and hopefully get back what I paid.

I think the problem is either the hard drive or the motherboard. I have bought a duplicate motherboard on ebay tonight as I cant buy it new as it has been discontinued but I am dreading having to fit it.

I am also searching now for the same hard drives as googling suggests that getting the same products makes it easier.

I saved up for a long time to get my son this PC so I am not willing to give it up just yet.

Please guys...any thoughts appreciated.

[JJ 3000]

If BIOS recognizes the drive, then you should be good to go. Are you booting to an XP CD?

[harry 48]

quote ; I know no one wants to suggest a route that could cost me money that will not fix the problem but the only guy I know who fixes PCs in my area charges £75 an hour (I am in UK).


i'm in the UK and you should have a pc business near you called implex they are good and cheap , they will test it , ring you with a price before fixing

[mikeson]

hi friend, what i can tell you is to try reformatting the drive c: again. am sure that power failure had caused this. if this does not work try to dissemble the machine foe some time and assemble them again .

[suzy666]

If BIOS recognizes the drive, then you should be good to go. Are you booting to an XP CD?

Tried that...doesnt work or any other recovery disc I have tried.

hi friend, what i can tell you is to try reformatting the drive c: again. am sure that power failure had caused this. if this does not work try to dissemble the machine foe some time and assemble them again .

Cant reformat as the disc will not load.

[JJ 3000]

You may need to change the boot order in BIOS. Set the CD drive as the first boot device and then save changes (F10). Then when the computer restarts you may see a message that says "press any key to boot to CD". Just keep tapping a key until you hear the CD start to spin in the cd drive. Also, you may want to check that the drive is plugged in.

[suzy666]

I have the BIOS set to boot from CD and the CD does spin. Also tried various ways of plugging the drive(s) in as I stupidly did not take note of which wire went where.

All combinations have failed.

[patio]

Where are these XP CD's from ? ?
They should be bootable...

However most times the Sharpie versions do not.

[suzy666]

It came with the PC when I bought it. What is a Sharpie version?

[suzy666]

Update coz I am still hoping you guys can help me somewhere along the line.

Bought the same 2 hard drives that were in the PC...cost £70. Replaced them and no change. Still getting exactly the same messages as i was before.

So its not a corrupt hard drive.

Hopefully new motherboard will arrive soon but I am dreading this as I really am a complete novice and have never done this before. Google is my friend..I hope.

Its a challenge and although I would love to fix the problem, I am hating every minute of this.

[JJ 3000]

I'd try a different CD drive before the motherboard or hard drive.

Does your CD drive connect to your motherboard with this cable?

[suzy666]

Same kind of wire but its blue..does the colour make any difference?

New motherboard is in the post and will arrive tomorrow.

Should I try a new CD drive first? I really would like to avoid taking the PC to bits if I can avoid it.

Also if I buy a new CD drive does it have to be the same make/model?

[JJ 3000]

Make sure that the connector that's the furthest from the middle connector is plugged into the port on the motherboard. Make sure that the other end is plugged into the drive - not the middle connector. You'll notice a small notch on each connector that will let you make sure that you are plugging the cable into the drive the right way (not upside down).

MOTHERBOARD==============NONE=====DRIVE

[suzy666]

Yes it is.