right, one of my computers is giving me "bootdisk failure, please insert system disk" when i boot up, then on occasions it manages to boot into XP Pro, but subsequently everything is very pixelated, and i get an hour glass on anything i do.. CPU usage is around 0 - 5% Processes running i think is around 27 pc was working absolutely fine and so so fast when i installed XP Pro on it the machine is a: HP Pavilion 423.UK (with 512mb pc2100DDR) and a new 350W psu. basically its been working, and in use since around lunch time sunday. without problems, but its been not working since bout 12 this afternoon. i've checked the IDE cables, and power connecters, they are all in place, any ideas??
I'd try a new IDE cable on the hard drive and also run the diagnostic tools specific for your hard drive (i.e. Maxtor, Western Digital, Seagate). If you don't have them, they're available for download off the manufacturers site.
when its working do a "scan disk" on the drive for bad sectors within windows. It could easily be the IDE cable, try a different one like Mr B said. Also you could Use Recovery Console (by using XP-CD) and the command chkdsk /r to mark the bad sectors. Looking for Excelstor HD diagnostic tools, I couldn't find any, though you should be able to use this http://www.majorgeeks.com/download2856.html
its not my pc it's my dear old grandfathers, i suspect it was the IDE cable since when i talked him through reconnecting the IDE cables (incase they werent in properly) one of the plastic connectors at the end of the IDE cable (the one that was connected to his hard drive, broke off :O which i have honestly never, seen or heard of happening before lol! anyway, after that he was very reluctant to move or do anything else to his computer, so he's taking it to a PC repair store today for them to do it, as it would cost more for him to deliver it up to me (170 Miles away)
