Computer will not start OS of any kind

[T-rex]

First hung up Windows 7 during boot up, screen just froze. Then did clean install of Ubuntu 11.10, it hangs and freezes on start up too. Was able to start Ubuntu with the CD, so it seems BIOS and board are ok. Wondering if I somehow lost the boot sector of the HD? It's a 500GB, Western Digital Caviar SATA, Board is BIOSTAR geforce 7150 with 4GB DDR2 RAM. Kept this machine simple as it was intended to be a trading computer. Proved too unreliable. Had to replace bad memory stick. Memtest shows both are good now.

Has anyone run into something similar?


Thanks,


T-rex

 

[Trotter]

I would format it with GParted to wipe out the boot sector. I would then use a bootable CD (like Hiren's or UBCD) to check out the drive before going any further.