Will not boot.

[dahlarbear]

0.  Dang!  You're way too fast for me.  You must be every employer's dream.  What was the original reason this computer wasn't being used?

1.  Floppy Drive.
     a.  Where is the floppy drive in the Boot Order (First, Second, Third, Fourth)?
     b.  Was there a non-boot floppy in the drive?
     c.  If you've disconnected the floppy drive, on general principle, I'd disable it in the BIOS.

2.  Blue Screen of Death (BSOD).  If the screen flashes by too fast to read, you can request operating system not to restart so it stays on BSOD.  Not sure if that's the case here, but it's worth a try.

From the Windows Advanced Options Menu select the "Disable automatic restart on system failure".

If you can read the BSOD, post the "exact" Stop Code string (with its four parameters) and any error message and/or module name it might identify.

3.  Windows Advanced Options Menu.  Use the F8 function key during system startup to access the menu.  Tap the F8 key once or twice per second as you startup the computer (or immediately after POST completes and screen flashes black prior to displaying Windows XP logo with its processing bar display).

When the menu comes up, use the up/down arrow keys to select the line item you want.

4.  Memory Diagnostics.  Test the memory.  http://www.memtest86.com/ provides "free" diagnostic software that runs from either a bootable floppy or CD.  Use the "Free Download" link from left side navigation menu.  Run several complete passes.

5.  Hard Drive Diagnostics.  Most drive manufacturers provide free diagnostic software that runs from bootable floppy or CD.  Links may be found here.

[sierobin]

Haha thank you dahl. Unfortunately I'm not hired doing any IT work but I wish I was I go to school for it. If you can find me job I'd happily go with it, I love this stuff.

Lol jk.. anyway I am at work at the moment so when I get home I will perform what you ask.

[sierobin]

K, lol.

1. I had already disabled the floppy after the disaster it caused, so it no longer exists.

2. The BSOD only appeared once more which I automatically turned the PC off. When I restart the PC once again it said I had no hard drive. Here's the weird part, I changed the jumper pin to Master again and it magically worked. Ever since I did that I have no BSODs and it's been working flawlessly (I left the PC on for more than 24 hours just to see if it would happen again.)

3. Yes this feature with the computer is the Tab key, weird yeah? Anyway, it seems to be just fine.

4. I've tested the memory, no errors came up, so I'm assuming it's just fine.

5. I'll run a full CHKDSK one day, yet it could cause the OS from actually booting lol.

Anyhow, everything seems to be working just great. There was a problem that the OS did not install as an entire partition and only as 8MB. Since windows is amazing I couldn't use the regular Disk Management to combine the rest of the disk to the Primary Partition. Luckily I have Norton Partition Magic and I just combined the unpartitioned space to my Primary Partition and everything is great.

I'll report back in a week or so if any problems arise or if I ran the CHKDSK. Thank you again

[dahlarbear]

1.  Partition Size.  Did you mean "8 MB" or "8 GB"?  The BIOS of older computers limited the size of hard drive (partition) they could access.  One limit was about 8 GB.  The next was at 137 GB.

There was a problem that the OS did not install as an entire partition and only as 8MB. Since windows is amazing I couldn't use the regular Disk Management to combine the rest of the disk to the Primary Partition. Luckily I have Norton Partition Magic and I just combined the unpartitioned space to my Primary Partition and everything is great.

2.  Ntdetect.chk.  NTLDR runs ntdetect.com, which gathers information about the computer's hardware. (If ntdetect hangs during hardware detection there is a debug version called ntdetect.chk which can be found on Microsoft support.)

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NTLDR
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ntdetect.com

[sierobin]

1. I meant 8GB sorry for the confusion lol.

2. Hmmn, I'll check that out.. probably could have helped me out in many ways haha.

[dahlarbear]

1.  BIOS Update.  If you've encountered an 8 GB disk partition limit, there's probably a BIOS update available for that computer.  If brand name computer, check their website, otherwise website of motherboard manufacturer.  Check the release notes on each BIOS update (to see what changes/fixes it supports); or just go with the lastest one that supports your computer and operating system.

Flashing the BIOS isn't something I like to do.  If you screw up, you may not be able to access the computer.

2.  Ntdetect.chk.  It's difficult to find much information on this.  Basically you replace "ntdetect.com" with "ntdetect.chk" in the boot process and observe the debug hardware enumeration information it displays on screen during system startup.  Replacement is done by renaming "ntdetect.chk" to "ntdetect.com" (after saving off ntdetect.com to another name; e.g. "ntdetect.std").

You make the file changes (ntdetect.com) on the boot device you wish to use for troubleshooting.  This could be the hard drive, floppy drive, CD-ROM drive, or USB drive.  Doesn't matter as long as the boot device has the files necessary to boot the operating system (normally this is just ntldr, ntdetect.com, and boot.ini).

See How Windows Starts Up (Part the second).

[sierobin]

1. I'll look for a BIOS update, since that'd be something I'd want to update even without a problem persisting. As of right now the computer is great with no problems and no BSODs.

2. So then you don't actually have to download the file, you simply just rename it?

[Computer_Commando]

1. I'll look for a BIOS update, since that'd be something I'd want to update even without a problem persisting. As of right now the computer is great with no problems and no BSODs.

2. So then you don't actually have to download the file, you simply just rename it?

1.  Good.  Problem solved!
2.  Do nothing or you will be right back here again when it won't boot.

[sierobin]

1.  Good.  Problem solved!
2.  Do nothing or you will be right back here again when it won't boot.

Haha, :]

[dahlarbear]

2. So then you don't actually have to download the file, you simply just rename it?

"Ntdetect.chk" is included within the Windows XP Support Tools package which you would install onto your system.  You can either download it from Windows XP Service Pack 2 Support Tools or access the  "\Support\Tools" folder on your Windows XP CD.

You need to replace the regular "ntdetect.com" with the debug version "ntdetect.chk" in the startup boot sequence.  Since "ntldr" is looking for "ntdetect.com" you must either copy or rename debug version to "ntdetect.com".

If you don't want to modify the "working" system, you can boot the operating system off the hard drive from another device.  Create a bootable floppy, CD, or USB drive with the necessary files (ntldr, ntdetect.com, and boot.ini) in the root directory.  Boot from that device to troubleshoot.