Won't Boot

My dad bought a cheap emachines to learn to use the computer and for basic email, google, and what not. So one day it froze and he turned it on and off. He gets a widows did not boot corectly what would you like to do with the safe mode, normal bs. So he freaked and calls me up. So i came over and I hit normal, just reboots to same error, tried all 5, same thing. I format and reinstall with the emachines cd, everythign ok. I start loading the printer and scanner and it comes time for a reboot, then the error again! So i reformat, this time i never get into windows. I unplug all the stuff, printer and scanner and the junk and do it again, get to windows, install everything it works and i go home, then a day later same thing. I think the harddrives malfunctioning any thoughts?

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Originally posted by Duffman3@27 April 2004 - 15:54
My dad bought a cheap emachines to learn to use the computer and for basic email, google, and what not. So one day it froze and he turned it on and off. He gets a widows did not boot corectly what would you like to do with the safe mode, normal bs. So he freaked and calls me up. So i came over and I hit normal, just reboots to same error, tried all 5, same thing. I format and reinstall with the emachines cd, everythign ok. I start loading the printer and scanner and it comes time for a reboot, then the error again! So i reformat, this time i never get into windows. I unplug all the stuff, printer and scanner and the junk and do it again, get to windows, install everything it works and i go home, then a day later same thing. I think the harddrives malfunctioning any thoughts?

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just a thought, but this could be time consuming:

unplug all peripherals from the computer (ie scanner, printer, webcams, etc) then reinwstall OS and see what happens for the next few days, if it doesnt freeze then hook up something and then see if it freezes, if not then attach another item, and so on. once it does freeze you will know whats causing it...

that is if its a peripheral problem...i also recomend checking the temps of the processor and motherboard to make sure they arent overheating and causing corruption.

How long ago did you get it?

can't be that long ago, im not at his house ill go there tomarrow and some more details. I called tech support and i got a guy that barley spoke english that said unplug all the periphiales and try again and i did, but nothing, ill check back tomarrow

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Originally posted by ROSSCO_2004+27 April 2004 - 21:03--></div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td>QUOTE (ROSSCO_2004 @ 27 April 2004 - 21:03)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'> <!--QuoteBegin-Duffman3@27 April 2004 - 15:54
My dad bought a cheap emachines to learn to use the computer and for basic email, google, and what not. So one day it froze and he turned it on and off. He gets a widows did not boot corectly what would you like to do with the safe mode, normal bs. So he freaked and calls me up. So i came over and I hit normal, just reboots to same error, tried all 5, same thing. I format and reinstall with the emachines cd, everythign ok. I start loading the printer and scanner and it comes time for a reboot, then the error again&#33; So i reformat, this time i never get into windows. I unplug all the stuff, printer and scanner and the junk and do it again, get to windows, install everything it works and i go home, then a day later same thing. I think the harddrives malfunctioning any thoughts?

---

just a thought, but this could be time consuming:

unplug all peripherals from the computer (ie scanner, printer, webcams, etc) then reinwstall OS and see what happens for the next few days, if it doesnt freeze then hook up something and then see if it freezes, if not then attach another item, and so on. once it does freeze you will know whats causing it...

that is if its a peripheral problem...i also recomend checking the temps of the processor and motherboard to make sure they arent overheating and causing corruption. [/b][/quote]
yer perhaps its an imcompatable driver issue with the operating system

well it worked for about 2 months fine, hes not computer literate enough to install drivers the most hes ever done was in stall the home depot cd, lol, he did said that when it froze he hit a lot of buttons

update, hardrive died there replcing it, i was right&#33;

Boot problems don&#39;t automatically mean that the hard drive has failed.
If it is posting but you have no display chances are that it is a power supply,
video card or memory problem.

Normaly hard drives,CD drives,ect identify themselves to the BIOS automatically,
There must be an entry for the first master drive because this is where the OS
is assumed to be.

If the entry is None or Not Installed,the BIOS is not seeing the drive and
it&#39;s not going to work.

It could be a failed drive or a loose power cable.
If you get a disc error message and the drive ID appears the boot info
may have been damaged by a power surge,virus,or age.

Mabey you have an unbootable floppy disk in your drive.

If no virus are found and you still can&#39;t locate your hard drive,
try testing with FDISK.

Make an bootable floppy disk,boot from the disk.
From the A: prompt try switching to the C: drive from the DOS command
line such as C: <ENTER>

If you see an DOS error message indicating an nonexistent drive,your hard drive is probally toast. ;)

However if the DOS command line responds with the new drive letter (C:/>_
prompt) try taking a directory of the C: drive using the DIR command such as
dir <ENTER>
If you see a listing of your folders,chances are that your hard drive is still working
but its boot related files are toast.

Switch back to the floppy and use the FDISK/MBR command to try and restore
the boot record....A: <ENTER>
fdisk / mbr <ENTER>

By doing this your trying to create a new MBR(master boot record) on the hard drive it might correct simple MBR failures.

Peace brotherdoobie

no the hard drive wasn&#39;t holding data, and it just died and said unable to read press ctrl al del to restart