PC will not boot into Vista but will in XP

Discussion in 'General Software' started by Willieboy, Apr 12, 2008.

  1. Willieboy

    Willieboy Newbie

    I'm not sure if this the correct section for this, sorry if it is wrong.
    Well now, I'm slowly going loopy with this one. I can't figure it out at all.
    Here's my story.
    I have been using Vista since it was released with not a problem.

    My family got me a new mobo 2 weeks ago, an ASUS P5K Pro.
    I also got Corsair 2 x 2 gb ram = 4gb. DDR2
    P4 3.4gb CPU

    I use a hard drive caddy, it does not have a tray, the drives simply slide in then I lock the door. It's guaranteed for 10,000 drive swaps.
    One drive is for XP and Vista in the other.
    The hard drives are SATA, they are recognised by the BIOS.
    It was OK untill Wednesday afternoon just past, Vista would not boot from 2 hard drives. When the first would not boot I restored a True Image V11 in another Drive, same result.
    I Phoned the dealer who told me send it back for testing, I sent it off on Thursday.
    I re-installed my previous mobo, an ASUS P5AD2-E Premium,.
    This one also won't now boot into Vista. I put in a harddrive with XP
    already installed in it and it starts up no problem.
    All I changed was the mobo and memory, every thing else is the same.
    And yes, I was very carefull to ensure the cables are connected correctly.
    I use a NVidia 8800GTS graphics card, I kept the previous graphics card, a Radeon 1950XL so I fitted this to eliminate that side of things, the boot problem persisted so it's not the graphics card.
    I let the Vista install DVD check the ram with no problems, but I changed the memory anyway in case Vista missed something, it's the same.

    The hard drives that would not boot I wiped, formatted and re-installed Vista, but when it came to the part of the installation for the hard drive to boot it would not

    Every time ( with Vista ) after the BIOS had kicked in, the boot into safe mode message appeared, it would not go past that. On about 3 boots a blue screen appeared at the top of the screen for less than a second.
    My PSU is a Targan 650 watts.
    All fans are working.

    Surely it cant be drivers because the installation did not get far enough into the installation so I could install them.
    If there was a short circuit with the mobo or elsewhere it shouldn't allow XP to run.

    The drive that works is a WD Raptor, 10,000 rpm 150gb.
    Those that won't are Samsungs, they have not given me any problems. It would be unlikely that 3 would fail.

    I'm now getting one beep shortly after the PC starts and before the BIOS kicks in, this is using XP, it's an AMI bios.
    One beep indicates = Keyboard controller error, or a Refresh Time error or no master drive detected.
    The master drive is detected, and the keyboard is working OK, well, I find no fault with it.
    I do not know what the Refresh Time Error is is or where it is or anything about it.

    Any help very greatly accepted and thanks in advance.
     
    Last edited: Apr 12, 2008
  2. Mac Daddy

    Mac Daddy Pickin' Da Gitfiddle

    Have you installed the most recent chipset drivers for both boards ?

    There are a ton for SATA related updates on my GA-X38-DQ6 on the Gigabite site .. just a thought :)
     
  3. Willieboy

    Willieboy Newbie

    Yes I have.

    thank you.
     
  4. Lacus

    Lacus Newbie

    Ooh yeah, Which copy of Vista are you using? No offence but is it original copy? Cause it actually happen to a friend of mine where Vista is unable to install on certain models of motherboard...U might need a bios update too i think =/. Ooh, maybe u do need to check the jumper setting for your hdd. I assume it's Sata right?
     
  5. Willieboy

    Willieboy Newbie

    Yep, no offence taken, its an original. I have had it working no problem in my P5AD2-E since it was released.

    I'm thinking it might be my PSU, it is the only common denominator in the system. I have swapped all the other items with the same result.
     
  6. Adrian Wong

    Adrian Wong Da Boss Staff Member

    Don't think it's the PSU. The OS is not affected by the PSU.

    Try booting in Safe Mode. If that works, then it's usually a driver problem.

    Oh yeah, you should also update your motherboard BIOS. I myself have experienced odd problems in Windows Vista which were easily fixed with a BIOS update.
     
  7. generalRage1982hrv

    generalRage1982hrv ARP Reviewer

    that mostly happens with bios setup and additional hardware you use
    remove all aditional hardware that is in regular pci and update bios
     
  8. Lacus

    Lacus Newbie

    Glad to hear that. I notice that Vista is sorta sensitive to certain brands of bios and hdd if i'm not mistaken. Maybe you should try flashing the bios to the lastest just like me and Dr Wong just mention. It might be even the jumper setting of the hdd? Since certain brand actually has certain jumper enable for some usage i think.
     
  9. Adrian Wong

    Adrian Wong Da Boss Staff Member

    OT : Generally, new HDDs do not require you to set any jumpers. The jumper settings I've seen are usually to limit them to 1.5Gb/s operation or to enable some power-saving or noise-reduction feature.
     
  10. Lacus

    Lacus Newbie

    well, thats what i mean i think. I though the jumper setting may be the culprit. Thanks for the Information, Dr Wong :D Any updates from so far?
     
  11. Adrian Wong

    Adrian Wong Da Boss Staff Member

    Updates from?
     
  12. Lacus

    Lacus Newbie

    The thread starter =/.
     
  13. Willieboy

    Willieboy Newbie

    OK lads.
    I only got the problem solved yesterday, It was the PSU.

    I had to go "off air" last saturday morning because the PC was unusable.
    I sat and thought about it, as I posted, it was the common denominator,
    I had changed all components except the PSU so it had to be that.
    I got out of bed at 05.30am on Saturday and ordered an Antec and also their PSU tester.

    It's great to be back.
    thanks for the replies.
     
  14. Lacus

    Lacus Newbie

    Good to know that finally something works eh..Turn out to be your psu. Any idea what made it malfunction?
     
  15. Mac Daddy

    Mac Daddy Pickin' Da Gitfiddle

    Good stuff unstable voltages and spikes will do funny things glad ya got it sorted Bro :mrgreen:
     
  16. Willieboy

    Willieboy Newbie

    Nope, I don't know. when I got the PC up and running again I took the faulty PSU apart but there was no visible signs of anything.

    thanks Lacus and Mac Dad.
     

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