I very, very carefully,having never done this before, attached the hard
drive from the problem computer into my own as the slave.  The BIOS
recognized it as a slave, but it wouldn't boot, it said :"disk error-press
any key to continue"?  Does this mean the hd is dead?  Or am I forgetting to
set something?  My computer uses Win XP and the other one uses Me, make any
difference?  I am terrified of hurting my own computer!  Have I maybe not
connected the hd correctly, I followed instructions about the IDE cable and
power cord.  I really, really would like to copy the info off this hard
drive onto a CD.  Help.
Dianne

----- Original Message -----
From: "Tom Mayer" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Saturday, September 10, 2005 12:01 AM
Subject: Re: [PCBUILD] WIN Me invalid system disk


>I really don't think the hard drive is bad. It appears to be the
> motherboard. You could install the hard drive as a second drive in your
> computer and then burn a CD with data off the hard drive. Remember to set
> the hard drive as a "slave".
>
> Other options:
>
> Try to find another PIII motherboard ( Ebay ? ) and just replace the
> motherboard and reuse all the other components. You need to be careful
> that
> the present CPU and RAM are compatible with the replacement motherboard.
>
> Buy a new P4 motherboard , CPU, RAM, and P4 power supply of at least 350W
> (preferably 400+ W) and reuse all the other components. It is probably
> easier and cheaper to buy a barebone system.
>
> Buy a new system with Windows XP and install the hard drive as a second
> drive. Remember to set the hard drive as a "slave". Then move data from
> the
> second drive to the new hard drive as needed. The second drive could
> thereafter serve as a data backup device.
>
> Good luck
> Tom Mayer
>
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Dianne" <[log in to unmask]>
> To: <[log in to unmask]>
> Sent: Thursday, September 08, 2005 5:46 PM
> Subject: Re: [PCBUILD] WIN Me invalid system disk
>
>
> Once again, I want to thank all you guys for your time and effort on this
> one....
> Here is what I tried:  I disconnected all the connectors to all the drives
> and rebooted.  I got the message "Invalid boot diskette, Insert Boot
> diskette in A:".  Then I went to the BIOS and made sure all the drives
> were
> not being indicated, and changed the A drive to "none installed", when I
> rebooted I got "Invalid Boot disk, Insert Boot diskette in A:".  I
> reconnected and tried another data cable, it made no difference.  The
> light
> on the a drive is on all the time when it is connected.
> OK, if I concede that it IS the Mother board, and therefore the computer
> itself (an older model anyway-P3, Windows Me, etc.  How can I get the info
> off the hard drive, or have I lost it already?  Will it hurt my computer
> to
> connect this hard drive to it, and try to create a disk of the file info
> on
> it?
> Dianne
>
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