PC Boot-Up

Can you get hold of another (known good, and backed up) HDD to try? It would be the quickest way to narrow the fault down.

If it gets through the POST far enough to be trying to access the disk, the CPU & RAM should be OK. If the HDD is known to be OK, it leaves the motherboard IDE/SATA interface (you didn't specify) as the problem.

If HDD is OK, cheapest fix is probably a new motherboard (if you can find one with a socket which will take your CPU).

Good luck.

(PS - serves you right for getting a stone one - most these days are metal & plastic ).

Nice joke

I tried my old PC's hdd, I think it works, but hasn't been used for a few years because the computer broke. After inserting it, it then says that it has no OS.

All the other components on the PC seem to be working fine.

I have a friend who made his own PC, and he seems to think its the hdd, but if I were to buy a new one, it wouldn't have a OS on it either would it?

Also, the disk drive repeatedly goes in and out about 5 times on boot up, so an OS disk wouldn't have time to run from it. That means I need a floppy of an OS - I think. Do you know of any that would fit onto a 1.44mb floppy disk, old linux or something?

Thanks for your post

Please help (not trying to beg)

Sorry - don't know anything that would fit on a floppy - 'fraid I've never used Linux etc.

" ... the disk drive repeatedly goes in and out ... " - presumably that's the CD drive? Does it do it with a bootable CD in, and no HDD connected?

Yes. Its the CD drive, does it whether it has a CD in or not

Also, it does it even if the hdd is disconnected

Assuming the CD drive is OK, it's sounding sadly like a sick motherboard. Can you get any tech help from the supplier?

I'm running out of ideas. Could try re-checking all the connections. Does the BIOS recognise the HDD & CD? (It's often DEL while booting to get into the BIOS/CMOS setup stuff, but can vary - this link gives some info).

Good luck.

Try getting a current Ubuntu CD and boot the 'live' system from it. It will be REAL slow with no swap file on hard disk and only 128M, but it does work (i have one system I have been working on recently).

You might need to boot to the BIOS and change the boot order.

If you can't boot from that, after the other issues you have had, I too might suggest a mother board issue.

LOLuck!

Have you tried popping the battery and booting that way? when my kids f'up mine that seems to work, change the bios boot sequence. and then buy a mac.

How do you "pop" the battery, and do you mean the little CR2032, or whatever it is?