Computer fails after formatting

BAYTHOVAN777 · #1 February 19th, 2002, 10:38 PM

The harddrives was reformatted in a computer. I don't know what else was done.

I start the computer it goes thru the loading (recognizing the memory, the harddrives, the keyboard, and the CD-Rom. The computer does not recognized floppy drive, only cd-rom. I copied thee start-up disk to cd, but I get the following message. Then I get "Press a key to reboot". I press a key, it shutdown and restarts. It's a continuous loop.

I have check the booting sequence. No pressed ribbons. even tried a new floppy drive, neither are recognized.
It is a built computer.

western digital harddrive and a maxtor harddrive I don't know how old the computer is each harddrive is less than 1GB. I can't even get to Dos. Operating system Win 98.

baythovan777@ameritech.net

Junky · #2 February 20th, 2002, 02:22 AM

Hi there,

These old computers can be a tough nut to crack.

Quote:

I have check the booting sequence. No pressed ribbons. even tried a new floppy drive, neither are recognized.
It is a built computer.

Have you checked in the BIOS to see if the floppy drive is enabled as "A" drive?

I don't understand what you mean by "No pressed ribbons." There is a ribbon cable connected to the floopy drive, right? Is it connected at both ends of the cable, not the one in the middle of the cable?

Neither are recgognized? The floppy drive and what else?

When it checks the memory, does it say OK?

Does the BIOS have the Auto features to detect the hard drives? Did you try the "Detect Hard Drives" in the BIOS?

Were both of the hard drives in the computer when it was running correctly? If not, take the one out that wasn't there. If they were both there, you may want to try just one hard drive at a time. Maybe one of them is bad.

If there is more than just the video card and RAM on the motherboard, take the others out...like the sound card. Otherwise, take the computer down it it's most basic configuration so that it's easier to setup. Then add other hardware one at a time to finish.

I hope some of my ideas and/or suggestions help you out.