Alright, here's the deal. I have a secondhand COMPAQ 5100CA which I've pretty much destroyed. I was getting boot errors so was trying to reload windows, encountered errors during format. After doing format c:, I was still unable to load windows. I'm at the point now where I'm trying to run fdisk. I can SOMETIMES get into bios. If I look at IDE devices, it shows a c: drive enabled. Is that a default setting or is it actually recognize it? I can also boot to my 'emergency floppy' but if I choose fdisk, it says 'no fixed disk'. (I've tried fdisk on 2 different floppies.) Any suggestions? (preferably one that doesn't involve any new parts! )
Well, I'd start off with making sure the CPU heatsink is secure. If in doubt, remove it and clean off the heatsink base and the CPU die with some isopropyl alcohol. Get some thermal goop (preferrably something like Arctic Silver) and apply a thin coat to the die, not the entire CPU. If the CPU is getting too hot, this might fix it. While you're doing that, you might wanna take the opportunity to use a can of air and clean out the dust in the rig. Next, make sure the IDE cables are securely in place. You might also consider replacing them to ensure they aren't the problem. You also might wanna try a different power supply. Another possiblity, if the above doesn't fix it is that you've got a bad motherboard. For the BIOS settings, without actually seeing a manual on how they should be, I have no clue if the settings are correct. I would think you're going to have very few user adjustable options available, due to this being a prebuilt.
