If your cables are attached correctly, the drive has been FDISKīd and the
partition made active, then I would check the CMOS battery.  Itīs like a big
watch battery and hard to miss.  If you  can check the voltage it should be
at or close to 3V.  Could it be that the motherboard forgets itīs settings
because the battery was low?  Some CD-ROMs will have a light on constantly
(rare), but I would stick it in another machine to check, you could have a
bent  pin or a bad cable too.
Howard Rubin
Fortaleza, Brazil


RE:Date:    Tue, 14 Jan 2003 00:43:09 -0800
From:    A Cassel <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: Can't load XP Pro

Hi All,

Building new computer.  Here's what's in it;

MB  ECS P4VXASD2+
P-IV 2.4 MHz
Maxtor 80 Gig 8 Meg cache (master on IDE 1)
Asus 40X CD-ROM (master on IDE 2) (This is the only part that isn't
brand new
AGP Mad Dog Ti 4200 64 Meg DDR
Teac floppy
2-256 Meg 266 RAM

Win XP Pro in CD-Rom.  System starts normal.  Memory check shows all 512
Meg.  Recognizes Maxtor HD and Asus CD.  I had it set up so boot
sequence was CD>HD>Floppy.  Got to AMIBIOS Setup Configuration screen
and stopped.  Over a whole lot of tries, it has (2 times) gone into a
Novell 10/100 ethernet setup check screen where it counted off some kind
of ROM up to 200 then stopped.  It has gone to the XP CD twice and
reported "Can't find NTLDR."  The HD is brand new and unformatted.

Got tired of doing this over and over.  Decided to install Win 98SE from
boot disk and upgrade after.  Set boot sequence to Floppy>HD>CD.  No
good.  Usually stops at AMIBIOS Setup Configuration screen.  The few
times it has gone past this, it reports I/O system error, Press any key.
 That leads to endless repetition of the same except for an occasional
"Invalid System Disk error.  Replace disk, press any key."  I'm at wits
end (a very short journey).  I've checked to make sure everything is
seated (not that much to check).  I'm concerned that the MB may be bad
(I know it's not a very good board).  XP Pro does o run in my old
computer so I know the disk is good.  Oh yeah, the CD activity light
stays on the whole time computer is on as long as disk is in it.  I need
your help.  Thanks in advance.

Art Cassel

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