What I thought was hd problem was not it. WHAT IS IT???

[ingeborgdot]

I had written in another post about my hard drive going bad or so I thought. This would be the 4th. I know odds are not good that's what it was but the easiest to try and solve. I installed a new hd, installed windows xp pro and after about a day of installing things (I know I should have waited) I got the same message that I got before on the other hds that people said the hd went bad. It said somethings about windows can't start because of a corrupt file and then \windows\system32\config\system. So if it is not the hd, what the heck is it? NO ONE, seems to know. I mean NO ONE. I just got new memory to try, I moved the memory in the slots. I got new IDE cable. WHAT IS IT???????

 

[BrandonOfThe150]

did you download XP or buy it? cause if you stole it then maybe thier anit piracy thing currupted it when you tried t update it? also it could just be XP, haha, i hate XP. also i've heard of power supplies going bad and screwing up drives cause the write heads dont have quite enough power to get the job done. you should test the voltage in the plugs with a miltimeter. other than that i dont know what else it can, be you've kinda narrowed it down to the motherboard wich doesn't make anysence to me, but i'm not the smartest with this crap either. i just thought i'd throw a few ideas at ya.

 

[ingeborgdot]

No, it is bought but I did have a problem with activation. They had to give me a new key. I wonder about the power supply. WHy does the mother board not make sense? What else could it be. Power supply, mother board. What else could it be??????????

 

[Red Fox]

What exactly are the errors you receive? That would help if you could post those up so someone can get a handle on exactly what the problem is. I don't think the issue is on your board if it's telling you files are corrupt. So let's start there, post up those error messages and take it one step at a time.

~Fawks

 

[EricB]

if you had a bad ide controller on your mobo it will keep messing up hard drives

 

[Cappy]

Make it easier on us by listing your complete system specs.Along with your operating system and Service packs.What are the Installation steps your taking from start to finish?

 

[ingeborgdot]

What exactly are the errors you receive? That would help if you could post those up so someone can get a handle on exactly what the problem is.

It said something like this: Windows could not start because the following file is missing or corrupt: \WINDOWS\SYSTEM32\CONFIG\SYSTEM
And then it talks about pushing r for recovery etc. That is about it.

 

[Red Fox]

Something like this? Well, could you actually be specific please. I'd like to try to help you here, and the actual error goes a long way in diagnosing the issue and finding a resolve. Also, I have to align myself with EricB there about the IDe controllers causing issues.
One area to begin with is ensuring we have correct and updated drivers for your motherboard.
So, if you could, please post up some specifications about your system, ie motherboard model, biso version, etc..
Let's start there and see what we can figure out.

~Fawks

 

[ingeborgdot]

Sorry for the wording something like this. That is exactly what it said. Sorry. Also it is not my machine but someone elses that I am trying to fix. I have not been able to check the bios and other things yet. I will do that today if I can. It is a Gateway Model: SELECT K7-950
MSI Athlon Motherboard - 950 MHz
250-Watt 3.3-Volt Power Supply Revision

 

[Red Fox]

Alright, and when it comes to that error message, make sure to note which file it says is corrupt so we can go to google and try and find out why it is corrupt and what we can do about it.

~Fawks