Hardware Failure?

[kawasu 0]

after re-installing windows and messing about with my cmos settings (so that i could boot from cd-rom), i think i somehow buggered up my motherboard. well atleast i think thats the problem. my current cmos settings are set so that the first boot record is HDD and the rest left blank. even so, when i start my computer now it will only search for boot records from cd rom. when it finds that theres nothing it will just state that there is no boot record and stop.i cant get into windows or anything. to fix this, i have to leave my windows xp cd inside the cd-rom drive at startup so that it will detect the cd-rom, ask to boot from cd-rom within next 5 seconds and then when i leave it to skip cd bootup it finally loads the HDD boot records... does anybody know what the hell is wrong with my pc? i'm pretty sure its not my HDDs as it doesnt even load them before asking for boot records. i think i somehow screwed up my motherboard but i havnt touched it at all.. its really annoying. any suggestions?

[God-Of-Earth 0]

Firstly why did you set it up like that in the first place. Personally and im not an expert as such i would have my boot settings on1-hard drive2-cd-romWhy did you want to boot from disc after installing windows

[kawasu 0]

i didnt set it up. as stated, my current cmos settings are set so that hdd is the primary boot but when it actually comes down to it, it just searches for boot records from cd-rom alone...

[God-Of-Earth 0]

You stated that you messed around with cmos settings (so you could boot from cdrom) check what they say try to load optermized or fail safe settings if you can or change your settings around. failing that check the leads to your drive because it could be that or maybe you havent reinstalled properley and therfor there is no data on your hard drive that can be loaded.

Edited August 18, 2006 by God-Of-Earth (see edit history)

[cybermage 0]

Dont think its your motherboard. Try doing the following: Since u said that u already set the boot sequence to HD alone, set it as follows: 1. CD-ROM 2. HDD Your PC will now search for a Bootable device in CD-Rom and then on HDD. If you still get the error message, it means that your boot sector on the HDD is faulty.

[fffanatics 0]

If you boot sector on the HDD is faultry try running fixmbr from the recovery console on the windows disk.

[Moolkye 0]

The easiest solution is to remove the cdrom and let it boot. That should force the default boot, which is from IDE Device 0.Have you gone into your BIOS and changed the boot order back to normal?

[juice 0]

You cannot mess up your computer or hard drive by changing the settings in the cmos. The worst thing that can happen is that your PC will not boot up.

Edited August 18, 2006 by juice (see edit history)

[kawasu 0]

i've tried restoring optomised settings, re-ordering boot records and disconnecting my drives all to no avail. this is the thing, no matter what settings i have in my boot record order in cmos, when it gets to the point where it searches it will only search for CD-ROM. i cannot do anything to fix it, it doesnt even read HDD so its not a HDD problem. this is why i came to the conclusion that maybe its a hardware problem. my onboard mobo memory where cmos settings are kept may have been damaged... but i have no idea how... it may not even be the problem. ;\

[God-Of-Earth 0]

Well i would say problem with you HD itself.

[kdr_98 0]

Did you do a BIOS upgrade ?
This is only needed when you have placed new hardware or have compatibility problems.
Then have to load the deafults for sure.

Anyway when you load the bios setup defaults on your BIOS,
and afterwards check the CPU speed and RAM speed.
The you go to the startup sequnce, you place the Hard drive first
(maybe you have to select wicth hard drive first depending on your mainboard).
2 nd place you can place the floppy drive, CD ROM , ...

You can also place the CD/DVD ROM first but then if you leave a bootable CD / DVD ROM it boots from it.

Another option you can do is checking the master boot record on the hard drive.
When you have installed linux or another OS before in the master boot record there is a bootloader.
To remove this you have to startup from a windows boot floppy.
Go to the command prompt en enter : fdisk /mbr
And also run check fdisk and check if the correct parttion is made active.

Checking the above can also be done when you download the 'ultimate bood CD' and startup from this CD.
You can download it at http://www.ultimatebootcd.com/
Most of the tools are from the good old MSDOS time (or linux based).
It's old fashened but it works for sure.

You chekc most of it with 'Ranish Parttion manager' :
The active parttion is marked, and the Master boot record is visible in the bottom.
When you need help to change anything you alsways give a message in the forum.
Don't change anything you don't know , because with those tools you can remove all the content of your harddrive in seconds.

Can you also mention which mainboard you have ?