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  1. Member
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    I am having a problem i was wondering if someone could help me out with. I have a msi motherboard in a home built computer. At the post screen, it just hangs for a few minutes.it detects my primary drive but not my slave drive. It is not recognized. I finally disconnected the slave drive. After a bit, i get another screen stating "boot disk failure". I ran some diagnostic programs I found on hirens boot cd and also on ultimate boot cd. They dont see that i even have a hard drive installed. I even tried booting with a Windows cd. It went to the "detecting hardware.." And rebooted.and ran thru the same scenario. Over and over.

    I took out both drives and installed in an external enclosure.they seem to work just fine. I am assuming it is a motherboard problem. I would like to replace the board and reuse the ram i have. And the hard drives.

    Can someone suggest a comparable motherboard that will accept my hardware?

    You can view my profile with the computer's specs.
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  2. is the cd drive you are booting with ide or serial?
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  3. Member
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    Getting a replacement board could, if one can be found, still mean the reinstall of the operating system, unless its a duplicate.

    But as for "boot disk failure", if the drive appears fine in the enclosure, it would be the time to backup data.

    If you have a new hd spare, I would put that into the unit, and see what happens during the xp detection of hardware, if all goes as planned and it dosen't reboot at this point, then that indicates a fault with the original drive.

    I'd go so far as to try and boot the system off a linux live distro, if the system can stay running, then it's not the motherboard.
    As you might already know, as you mentioned running hirens and the ultimate boot cd, case closed.

    After you have backed up data from the original drive, don't forget to backup the activation files if you intend on bypassing ms > http://www.theeldergeek.com/activation_workaround.htm

    From here, use the manufactures tools to repartition and format the drive, prior to os reinstall, as they run cooler, as compared to those created by using ms xp cd to performing those tasks.

    ====

    Recently the same thing happened to a toshiba satelitte l33 for a client, and while the drive appeared fine, it took the recovery system 30 minutes to break into the os, the bios was in seconds. Recovered user files, repartitioned and formatted the drive , followed by os reinstall.

    Upon successful reboots, without fault, user files and accounts re-appeared out of no where ... we got them a new drive

    ====

    If you do intend on replacing the motherboard, your best chance in usa would be to spot one in ebay, just make sure you first check the sellers reputation according to feedback score, and confirm the motherboard contains the features you need, and supports your current processor.
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  4. Mod Neophyte Super Moderator redwudz's Avatar
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    That appears to be a MSI P4MAM2-V micro-ATX MB with a socket 478 CPU and on-board video. Not a lot of choices these days for that combo. NewEgg lists four: http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=2010200280+1070509907&name=478

    Of the ones listed, the MSI 945GCM478-L looks like a good option.

    Personally, I would stay away from VIA chipsets. I've had problems with them in the past. JMO.

    You would be better off to start over with a newer CPU, MB and RAM. But I'm sure you have your reasons.

    Before you give up on that MB, I would try resetting the BIOS to default. Either use the BIOS shorting clip or just pull the BIOS battery with the computer unplugged for about ten minutes. This may correct BIOS corruption. Better yet, install the latest BIOS or reinstall the present one.

    Also remove all cards and drives except the boot and the video card. (On-board, so ignore this)
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  5. After removing the Slave drive, did you reset the Jumper on the Master to Standalone? Described behavior would be absolutely normal if this had not been done.
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  6. Member
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    Most likely a bad IDE cable or drives jumpered incorrectly in my experience, and either new IDE cable or correct jumper setting has fixed it every time for me. This has occurred on at least 2 or 3 occasions. Drives appear to be okay since they work externally. Failure even with a new mobo will occur if bad IDE cable or jumpers incorrectly set. New IDE cables are only 2 or 3 bucks.
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  7. I also think the problem is on IDE cable, or power supply or hard drive power supply connectors.
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  8. Member
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    to make a complicated story more simple,here is what i did.i pulled the bios battery and left it out for about 20-30 minutes.reinstalled the battery and reconnected the drives.it seems to work like it should.

    when i go to start/turn off computer/turn off , the computer reboots instead of shutting down.i have to hit the power button to get it to shut down.
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  9. Mod Neophyte Super Moderator redwudz's Avatar
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    The shutdown problems may be software related. (In the OS power settings) Or it could be a BIOS setting. I would check there as the BIOS has been reset.

    Does it do the same if you select 'Sleep' when you shutdown?

    It could also be a corruption of the OS. But I would try this from the MS site:

    This behavior may occur if Windows stops responding during a typical operation or during the shutdown process. By default, the computer is configured to automatically restart when Windows stops responding. To view this setting, follow these steps:

    1. Click the Start button, right-click My Computer, click Properties, click the Advanced tab, and then click Settings under Startup and Recovery.
    2. Under System Failure, view the Automatically restart check box. If the Automatically restart check box is selected, Windows automatically restarts if the computer stops unexpectedly.
    That should at least give you an error code or fix the problem.

    I would also consider updating the BIOS as that may clear up other problems.
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  10. Member
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    i have the same problem with a fresh install. when i shut down - i have to push the power button to turn off. where in the bios power management should look?
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  11. Mod Neophyte Super Moderator redwudz's Avatar
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    jjwstar, I think it would depend on your BIOS. I would look for APM (Advanced Power Management) settings. But probably the easiest is a BIOS reset. I would make a note of your present BIOS settings, then use the reset jumper or pull the battery to reset the BIOS to default. That should rule out the BIOS as a problem. You might also check to see if any newer BIOS is available that might address the problem. But I wouldn't generally update the BIOS unless the update addresses a specific problem you are having.

    Your problem sounds more like a OS or software problem, something not closing properly during shutdown. MS has a section on shutdown problems that I would explore: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/308029

    Possibly hardware, but seems unlikely.
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