"Thank you for your help. I don't have a Win 98 boot disk but did verify
that the OS is on the c: drive and not the one I am trying to remove. I
discovered that I am able to boot to Win XP in safe mode even with the extra
drive disconnected. I used msconfig to experiment with turning off various
processes and applications but haven't yet found the one that is causing the
problem. I guess I may just live with it for now and eventually reinstall
windows. John Vercelli"
Hello!
Have you fooled around with the boot.ini file yet? That's where the computer
looks for directions to whatever OS(s) you have on your hard drive(s). I
don't know, but if you were to remove an OS (by, say, removing the hard
drive it lives on), perhaps that would make the boot.ini file not work -
thereby stopping the boot process right there.
To get to the boot.ini file (almost always in root of C:\), you can right
click on the My Computer icon, choose properties, Advanced tab, Start up and
Recovery Settings button, then click the Edit button to see the boot.ini
file. Perhaps commenting out the OS on the missing hard drive (with a
semicolon ";" - without quotes) would make all work.
Please be careful with this file, it gets broke, you are dead in the water.
Anyone else have any suggestions?
HTH!
Will Stephenson
[log in to unmask]
-----Original Message-----
From: PCBUILD - Personal Computer Hardware discussion List
[mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Automatic digest
processor
Sent: Wednesday, November 05, 2003 12:04 AM
To: Recipients of PCBUILD digests
Subject: PCBUILD Digest - 3 Nov 2003 to 4 Nov 2003 (#2003-307)
There are 22 messages totalling 713 lines in this issue.
Topics of the day:
1. delayed reactions to mouse
2. Removing hard Drive
3. P-II power supply
4. ASUS motherboard / legacy AGP compatibility : "1.5 V.
ONLY"
5. No drive letter (6)
6. Second-to-last rites for a hard drive? (5)
7. ATI All in Wonder7500 AGP at 89Mhz?
8. Ailing BE6 (2)
9. removal of usb device stops laptop
10. Need to buy a printer
11. No optical drives (2)
Visit our website regularly for FAQs,
articles, how-to's, tech tips and much more
http://freepctech.com
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Date: Mon, 3 Nov 2003 00:40:45 -0000
From: m_sayer_ <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: Re: delayed reactions to mouse
Hi, I'd go for driver problems first from what you say.
Try opening up start/settings/control panel/system/device manager and click
on the + next to the mouse . Highlight the mouse (or mice) and remove them.
Restart the computer and the drivers should reload ok. If that doesn't help,
try going to start/settings/control panel/mouse and see if the settings have
been altered in there. If these things don't help, try replacing the mouse,
it could be that the mouse has seen better days. Hope this helps. Michele
Sayer
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 3 Nov 2003 14:31:43 -0800
From: John Vercelli <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: Re: Removing hard Drive
Thank you for your help. I don't have a Win 98 boot disk but did verify that
the OS is on the c: drive and not the one I am trying to remove. I
discovered that I am able to boot to Win XP in safe mode even with the extra
drive disconnected. I used msconfig to experiment with turning off various
processes and applications but haven't yet found the one that is causing the
problem. I guess I may just live with it for now and eventually reinstall
windows. John Vercelli
-----Original Message-----
From: PCBUILD - Personal Computer Hardware discussion List
[mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of John Dinges
Sent: Friday, October 31, 2003 12:09 AM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: [PCBUILD] Removing hard Drive
On Tue, 28 Oct 2003 14:55:18 -0800, John Vercelli
<[log in to unmask]> wrote:
>I am trying to remove an extra hard drive. The computer will not reboot
>when I disconnect that drive. Am using Windows XP Pro. The drive in
>questions is connected to a PCI slot SIIG ide card. Virtual memory is
>on the C: drive. Tried disabling both the drive and the ide card in
>hardware manager then rebooting but same problem. The drive was used to
>store data only, no programs. Before disconnecting, I copied the data
>to another drive and wiped the drive with Norton Utilities.
>
>
> Visit our website regularly for FAQs,
> articles, how-to's, tech tips and much more
> http://freepctech.com
Does the computer complete POST? If so, when you get to the initialization
screen, hit pause/break and see what bios is recognizing. It's possible the
O/S is on the drive you are trying to remove. Boot with a Win 98 boot disk,
at the A prompt type C: then at the C: prompt TypeDIR/P and see what comes
up. Look and see if it shows a Windows Directory, if it doesn't, the O/S is
not on C: which is where Bios looks for the O/S. Type D: Then DIR/P and see
if there is an O/S here. If so, the letters assigned to the drives got
screwed up along the way some how. You might try plugging that drive into
the MOBO and unplugging the other drive and try rebooting. If it comes up,
you've found the problem.
Let us now what happens.
Good Luck
John
The NOSPIN Group provides a monthly newsletter with great
tips, information and ideas: NOSPIN-L, The NOSPIN Magazine
Visit our web site to signup: http://freepctech.com
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 3 Nov 2003 16:24:58 -0800
From: Tony Mayer <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: Re: P-II power supply
ATX is a standard, except p-4 power supplies have an additional connector
(but it does have everything required for a p2). Get the best you can
afford :) You can use it in future upgrades if you so desire.
Tony Mayer
Sysop
The Magic FunHouse BBS
http://bbs.magicom.net
>I want to buy a generic ATX power supply for a P-II.
>Will a power supply for a P-III or P-IV have different type of
>connectors or all ATX connectors the same? Can't seem to find PS ads
>for P-IIs. George Hurless
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 3 Nov 2003 09:15:02 -0800
From: Frank Suszka <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: Re: ASUS motherboard / legacy AGP compatibility : "1.5
V.
ONLY"
Alan Davis wrote:
> > Short question: Will a (not really new) Matrox G450 run ok on an =
ASUS
A7N8X-X or ASUS A7V8X-X motherboard with AGP 8 / 1.5 V only specs?
I'm trying to determine what "not really new" refers to? If the card is
within a year or two old it may work. Anything older than that I'd don't
know.
The difference lies in the slot arrangement. If the video card is a = legacy
card, it will not fit do to the alignment position of the slot.=20
You can look at the card and compare it with the slot to see if it will =
fit. The slot on the card should line up with the bridge in the AGP slot on
= the board. DO NOT modify either in hopes that you can make it fit or work.
= It will render your motherboard useless.
Sincerely,
Frank Suszka
netTek Computers
[log in to unmask]
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 3 Nov 2003 08:29:21 -0500
From: Annette Robart <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: No drive letter
I attached a hard drive as a slave and it is recognized when the computer =
boots up. When I go into my computer the second hard drive is there also, =
but it is not assigned a drive letter so I can not access the drive. I've =
never had this happen, what could be causing this? (win98)
Thanks in advance,
Annette Robart
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 4 Nov 2003 20:09:36 +1300
From: Ian <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: Second-to-last rites for a hard drive?
I seem to have killed a 3\4 year old Western Digital 3gb hard drive and =
I'm wondering if there's any way I can resurrect it.
It originally came out of an old FAT32 computer with a wrecked = motherboard
and has been working fine ever since inside a 1.1 USB = enclosure.
However, in a recent experiment, I reformatted it twice in succession, = the
first time as FAT32 and the second time as NTFS. =20
After the second format it became 'invisible'. Now it still spins up = but
can't be seen at all, not in W98, DOS or in an XP NTFS system.
Spinrite won't recognise it in DOS and neither will any of the Western =
Digital utilities. Should I bury it in the garden or is there some =
last-chance process I can try?
TX
Ian Porter
Computer Guys Inc.
Arrowtown
New Zealand
[log in to unmask]
The NOSPIN Group
http://freepctech.com
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 4 Nov 2003 00:31:17 -0800
From: Mark Rode <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: Re: Second-to-last rites for a hard drive?
It is probably gone, but first try swapping out the cable, and maybe putting
it on another controller as a single master. If that doesn't work, then open
it up and using a heavy mallet, and a steal chisel, break the magnets out.
They make the best refrigerator magnets you will ever have.
Rode
The NOSPIN Group
http://freepctech.com
>Spinrite won't recognise it in DOS and neither will any of the Western
>Digital utilities. Should I bury it in the garden or is there some
>last-chance process I can try? Ian Porter
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 4 Nov 2003 07:26:55 -0500
From: Annette Robart <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: Re: No drive letter
The thing is, this is a hard drive off of another computer with important =
information on it that I need to save. It was starting to get disk write =
errors and I just wanted to hook it up as a slave on another computer to =
get the information off of it. Could it be that the hard drive is just =
toast?? I just installed it brand new a month ago.
>>> <[log in to unmask]> 11/04 7:11 AM >>>
In a message dated 11/4/2003 1:38:29 AM Eastern Standard Time,=20
[log in to unmask] writes: I attached a hard drive as a slave and
it is recognized when the = computer=20 boots up. When I go into my computer
the second hard drive is there also, = but it=20 is not assigned a drive
letter so I can not access the drive. I've never = had=20 this happen, what
could be causing this? (win98)
Thanks in advance,
Annette Robart
Hi,
In order for a drive to be assigned a drive letter, it must be partitione=
d,=20 to be used it must be formatted. With Win98, use the FDISK command
to=20 partition it (DO NOT partition or format your existing C: drive by =
mistake), and then=20 you can either format it from a DOS prompt with the
FORMAT command, or = from=20 windows explorer, if you right click on the new
drive, one of the = choices=20 should be to format it.
HTH,
Peter Hogan
[log in to unmask]
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 4 Nov 2003 12:54:39 -0000
From: m_sayer_ <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: Re: Second-to-last rites for a hard drive?
Hi Ian, I would try my best also to get that drive going again. Have you
tried 'DEPART.EXE' ? (it's free if you do a google search). Just guessing
here, but maybe the format has changed to something unrecognisable? (well,
it's unrecognisable by your system's' by the sound of it anyway) In the
past, because I've had a problem using DELPART as a boot disk, I've got
round this by 'tricking' the computer, and using a win98 boot disk to start
the system, and getting as far as typing 'fdisk' , then swapping the floppy
disks over and hitting 'enter'. So far, it's worked every time when there's
been a partition that just won't delete.(I've had lots of second hand drives
with completely unknown partitions). If you can get that far, I'd try
deleting the partition (s), and reformatting if you can. (just the once,
haha) Because I've come across lots of second hand drives in the past for
next to nothing, I've tried all different ways to get them up and running
again. My motto is, you can't break something which is already broken, so
it's worth a try. This may not help at all, but I've found that delpart
often deletes partitions which are unrecognisable. Good luck, hope it helps.
Michele Sayer
I seem to have killed a 3\4 year old Western Digital 3gb hard drive and I'm
wondering if there's any way I can resurrect it.
It originally came out of an old FAT32 computer with a wrecked motherboard
and has been working fine ever since inside a 1.1 USB enclosure.
However, in a recent experiment, I reformatted it twice in succession, the
first time as FAT32 and the second time as NTFS.
After the second format it became 'invisible'. Now it still spins up but
can't be seen at all, not in W98, DOS or in an XP NTFS system.
Spinrite won't recognise it in DOS and neither will any of the Western
Digital utilities. Should I bury it in the garden or is there some
last-chance process I can try?
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 4 Nov 2003 09:55:25 -0500
From: William Pike <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: Re: Second-to-last rites for a hard drive?
Ian, did you FDISK with the master boot record switch? Going from FAT 32 to
NTFS I would think that the MBR would need to be cleared. PS don't forget
that program I sent you :)
William Pike
[log in to unmask]
-----Original Message-----
From: PCBUILD - Personal Computer Hardware discussion List
[mailto:[log in to unmask]]On Behalf Of Ian
Sent: Tuesday, November 04, 2003 2:10 AM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: [PCBUILD] Second-to-last rites for a hard drive?
I seem to have killed a 3\4 year old Western Digital 3gb hard drive and I'm
wondering if there's any way I can resurrect it.
It originally came out of an old FAT32 computer with a wrecked motherboard
and has been working fine ever since inside a 1.1 USB enclosure.
However, in a recent experiment, I reformatted it twice in succession, the
first time as FAT32 and the second time as NTFS.
After the second format it became 'invisible'. Now it still spins up but
can't be seen at all, not in W98, DOS or in an XP NTFS system.
Spinrite won't recognise it in DOS and neither will any of the Western
Digital utilities. Should I bury it in the garden or is there some
last-chance process I can try?
TX
Ian Porter
Computer Guys Inc.
Arrowtown
New Zealand
[log in to unmask]
The NOSPIN Group
http://freepctech.com
PCBUILD's List Owners:
Bob Wright<[log in to unmask]>
Drew Dunn<[log in to unmask]>
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 4 Nov 2003 11:15:11 -0800
From: Mark Rode <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: ATI All in Wonder7500 AGP at 89Mhz?
I have an old dual processor slot one board, that I want to run a couple
of P3 1 Ghz processors at 133 FSB. Doing so on this old board will push the
AGP Bus to 89Mhz. I realize that many video cards will tolerate this without
a problem. Matrox and Nvidia cards are well known to tolerate this, but has
anybody had success doing this with a ATI All in Wonder 7500 AGP ...or any
All in Wonder?
thanks
Mark Rode
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 4 Nov 2003 07:36:48 -0500
From: Jim <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: Ailing BE6
I am troubleshooting an ABIT BE6 motherboard with Intel P3 500 MHz
processor. This system has been working fine for the past two years.
The BIOS now identifies the processor as PENTIUM III CPU at 333 MHz
When the system executes the BIOS program it halts with the message: "CPU is
unworkable or has been changed. Please recheck - PCU SOFT MENU"
At that point I have the option to either press F1 <continue> or DEL <enter
setup>
When I go to the setup menu to change the CPU in the SOFT MENU, the new
value entered does not hold. When the system continues it will restart and
find the same condition. I have replaced the battery and also the CMOS
chip, but I still have the same problem.
If I press F1 and continue processing the system will then run normally
(apparently), although probably at a reduced speed.
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 4 Nov 2003 14:25:13 -0600
From: "Stanley S. Churchill" <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: Re: Ailing BE6
Jim,
Is it possible that you can change the FSB in the BIOS??? That it got
changed (maybe CMOS battery is dying)to 66mhz? The reason I ask .......a
500mhz chip on a 100mhz bus, will be a 330mhz chip on a 66mhz bus...... Stan
-----Original Message-----
From: PCBUILD - Personal Computer Hardware discussion List
[mailto:[log in to unmask]]On Behalf Of Jim
Sent: Tuesday, November 04, 2003 6:37 AM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: [PCBUILD] Ailing BE6
I am troubleshooting an ABIT BE6 motherboard with Intel P3 500 MHz
processor. This system has been working fine for the past two years.
The BIOS now identifies the processor as PENTIUM III CPU at 333 MHz
When the system executes the BIOS program it halts with the message: "CPU is
unworkable or has been changed. Please recheck - PCU SOFT MENU"
At that point I have the option to either press F1 <continue> or DEL <enter
setup>
When I go to the setup menu to change the CPU in the SOFT MENU, the new
value entered does not hold. When the system continues it will restart and
find the same condition. I have replaced the battery and also the CMOS
chip, but I still have the same problem.
If I press F1 and continue processing the system will then run normally
(apparently), although probably at a reduced speed.
PCBUILD's List Owners:
Bob Wright<[log in to unmask]>
Drew Dunn<[log in to unmask]>
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 4 Nov 2003 12:59:35 -0000
From: m_sayer_ <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: Re: No drive letter
AAAAAHHHHHHH! Makes me wonder if the jumpers are just set wrong then? I'd
double check that. (there's often a guide to jumper settings for the hard
drive on the actual drive itself somewhere). Good luck. Michele Sayer
The thing is, this is a hard drive off of another computer with important
information on it that I need to save. It was starting to get disk write
errors and I just wanted to hook it up as a slave on another computer to get
the information off of it. Could it be that the hard drive is just toast?? I
just installed it brand new a month ago
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 4 Nov 2003 13:38:44 +0100
From: grignolo <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: removal of usb device stops laptop
PCBUILD Digest - 1 Nov 2003 to 2 Nov 2003 (#2003-305)
i'm using a sony vaio sr11k (W2000) that has suddenly started closing = down
when i remove a usb memory stick, and recently the usb floppy drive = device
too. i do what normally is required to de-activate the usb device = and
check all the right windows, but when i come to the last one and = click ok,
a blue screen comes on (with writing on it... something about = the memory,
but it disappears too quickly for me to read it all) and = then the laptop
switches off and starts again with a full check (since = it was not switched
off correctly!)
i thought it was just a problem with the memory stick i was using ( it =
didn't happen with a friend's memory stick), but the same is now = happening
when i want to disconnect the vaio's usb floppy disk drive.
any ideas are welcome!
tia,
laurence grignolo
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 4 Nov 2003 06:50:54 -0600
From: "Stanley S. Churchill" <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: Re: No drive letter
Hey Annette,
I just came in, in the middle of this thread.....did someone mention you may
have to reset the jumper???? Stan
-----Original Message-----
From: PCBUILD - Personal Computer Hardware discussion List
[mailto:[log in to unmask]]On Behalf Of Annette Robart
Sent: Tuesday, November 04, 2003 6:27 AM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: [PCBUILD] No drive letter
The thing is, this is a hard drive off of another computer with important
information on it that I need to save. It was starting to get disk write
errors and I just wanted to hook it up as a slave on another computer to get
the information off of it. Could it be that the hard drive is just toast?? I
just installed it brand new a month ago.
>>> <[log in to unmask]> 11/04 7:11 AM >>>
In a message dated 11/4/2003 1:38:29 AM Eastern Standard Time,
[log in to unmask] writes: I attached a hard drive as a slave and
it is recognized when the computer boots up. When I go into my computer the
second hard drive is there also, but it is not assigned a drive letter so I
can not access the drive. I've never had this happen, what could be causing
this? (win98)
Thanks in advance,
Annette Robart
Hi,
In order for a drive to be assigned a drive letter, it must be
partitioned, to be used it must be formatted. With Win98, use the FDISK
command to partition it (DO NOT partition or format your existing C: drive
by mistake), and then you can either format it from a DOS prompt with the
FORMAT command, or from windows explorer, if you right click on the new
drive, one of the choices should be to format it.
HTH,
Peter Hogan
[log in to unmask]
PCBUILD's List Owners:
Bob Wright<[log in to unmask]>
Drew Dunn<[log in to unmask]>
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 4 Nov 2003 11:36:19 -0800
From: Jeff Lane <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: Re: Second-to-last rites for a hard drive?
I seem to have killed a 3\4 year old Western Digital 3gb hard drive = and
I'm
wondering if there's any way I can resurrect it.
It originally came out of an old FAT32 computer with a wrecked =
motherboard
and has been working fine ever since inside a 1.1 USB enclosure.
However, in a recent experiment, I reformatted it twice in succession, =
the
first time as FAT32 and the second time as NTFS.
After the second format it became 'invisible'. Now it still spins up =
but
can't be seen at all, not in W98, DOS or in an XP NTFS system.
Spinrite won't recognise it in DOS and neither will any of the Western
Digital utilities. Should I bury it in the garden or is there some
last-chance process I can try?
TX
Ian Porter
Computer Guys Inc.
Arrowtown
New Zealand
[log in to unmask]
Ian,
Is it possible that this came from an OS/2 system? If it did you would =
have to obtain OS/2 Warp installation diskettes and that should get you =
into the drive. It sounds like you have a non-dos partition. Have you = run
"auto detect" in your BIOS setup to see if the proper drive = parameters and
size are being reported?
Luck,
Jeff
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 4 Nov 2003 18:25:18 -0400
From: "Jagpal S.Tiwana" <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: Need to buy a printer
--=======1087354=======
Content-Type: text/plain; x-avg-checked=avg-ok-40CB52E1; charset=us-ascii;
format=flowed
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit
I need an inexpensive printer.
I m not into graphics or color printing. I need to print a sheet a day or
so, some recipi for my wife or an email message from a relative to show to
other members of the family , or nutrition advice from a web site etc,
A general dependability with less repair work will do. Less expensive the
better in such a situation. Please indicate brand name and model number too.
Thanx
Jagpal S Tiwana
--=======1087354=======--
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 4 Nov 2003 22:46:26 -0000
From: m_sayer_ <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: Re: No drive letter
Yes, this may not be the problem, but I was meaning the jumper settings on
the drive itself. Michele Sayer
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 4 Nov 2003 12:47:07 -0500
From: Douglas Simmons <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: Re: No drive letter
Was the hard drive from an XP or W2000 machine? If so it may be formatted
with NTFS which Windows 98 doesn't recognize.
Doug
=========
On Tue, 4 Nov 2003 07:26:55 -0500
Annette Robart <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
The thing is, this is a hard drive off of another computer with important
information on it that I need to save. It was starting to get disk write
errors and I just wanted to hook it up as a slave on another computer to get
the information off of it. Could it be that the hard drive is just toast??
I just installed it brand new a month ago.
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 4 Nov 2003 18:43:43 -0500
From: Randy Keys <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: No optical drives
Can anyone help- suddenly, with no apparent changes in software or hardware,
my computer is no longer "seeing" either my DVD drive or my CD-RW. They are
not listed on My Computer and they will not read/burn any disks inserted
into them. I have not had this problem before, so I am at a loss as to what
the problem is or its solution. Thanks for any help. Randy Keys
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 5 Nov 2003 03:35:58 -0000
From: m_sayer_ <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: Re: No optical drives
Have you tried updating the drivers?
Just a guess. This happened to me once with the cdrom, it just disappeared.
Another thing to check for would be viruses. Make sure the virus definitions
are up to date and do a full scan. These are just a couple of things off the
top of my head, it's late here so I can't think straight. Hope it helps
though. Michele Sayer.
------------------------------
End of PCBUILD Digest - 3 Nov 2003 to 4 Nov 2003 (#2003-307)
************************************************************
Visit our website regularly for FAQs,
articles, how-to's, tech tips and much more
http://freepctech.com
|
