One for the "I'll remember that, next time" archive.

[Kat]

Started my machine, Thursday morning, to be greeted with "NTLDR not found". (Or something similar).

Went into the BIOS and the master HD wasn't being found.

Booted into the backup, to be greeted with a BSOD.

Back into BIOS and, now, NO IDE devices were being seen.

Thinking "Eh?", I set it to boot from floppy and bunged a floppy in. Rebooted and...

It booted from the HD. Got a "Your clock's out, please check" message, which I did. The time was OK. The year, though, was showing 1999.

I was thinking "CMOS battery".

However...

Jane, later, just checking her mail and her machine crashed. (I mean the proper definition of "Crashed", here. It locked, solid.

On reboot... guess what?

It wasn't seeing her boot HD.

Went into the BIOS and...

NO IDE devices were found.

Powered off. Left for a couple of minutes and rebooted.

Got to the desktop and the bugger crashed, again.

Took the side off and checked the connections. All seemed OK.

Rebooted.

All is OK.


Coincidence?


Well...

My machine?

Ha!

"ntoskrnl.exe is either missing, or corrupt".

Booted into the backup, via repair, and copied the file over.

Did it work?

Did it heck.

Reinstalled, in the end.



Non-destructive reinstall went OK, until I went to Windoze update.

After it had all installed, it did it's customary reboot and I got that bloody "ntoskrnl.exe is either missing, or corrupt", again.


Not much else to do, so I did a proper reinstall, complete with formatting.

It loaded all the files and got to the first reboot.

Then, I got that same message, again. This is after a bloody format!

XP Home and XP Pro both giving the same message.

I tried installing Vista, but it gets to a bit, just after the start, where it's telling me it needs a driver.

Trouble is, it's not deigning to tell me what driver it actually wants, nor FOR what.

Tried to install W2K and get the same message.

Again, this was after a format.

All I'll say, is this:

I wish I'd thought of shorting the CMOS, before I reinstalled. (I'll remember THAT one, for the future). Probably cause, we think, was a brown-out.

I now have a virgin install and it seems OK, thus far. If truth be known, my machine'll probably benefit, from that, anyway.

If you start getting similar weirdies, try shorting the CMOS.

[Spite]

  At least you got round to it in the end.  I've watched people struggle for months with that one.

[Taf]

CMOS should be bombproof unless nasties get through your PSU... my old PCs all had CMOS shorting (reset CMOS) links, but this new one doesn't 

There are other possibilities, but I wouldn't think them possible on 2 local machines at the same time

http://www.computerhope.com/issues/ch000646.htm

If I get a fault like this I think "I'll just look it up on the internet".... DOH!

[Spite]

CMOS should be bombproof unless nasties get through your PSU... my old PCs all had CMOS shorting (reset CMOS) links, but this new one doesn't 

  No shorting jumpers?  That's a pain.

[Taf]

I suppose I could look-up the pinouts, but one slip and hit the wrong leg and ZAPPPPP.... dead things all over the board...

[Spite]

I suppose I could look-up the pinouts, but one slip and hit the wrong leg and ZAPPPPP.... dead things all over the board...

  Yeah, not something you want to bugger up, is it?

[Taf]

Static-safe handling is A number 1, top hat, best practice with Mobos....

[Spite]

Static-safe handling is A number 1, top hat, best practice with Mobos....

  But so rarely practiced.  Even in PC World.  (Spit)

[Taf]

Sometimes ICs go dead instantly, sometimes some of the internal microwiring gets reduced in size... so it dies a bit later... and PCW then blame it on you...

[Spite]

Sometimes ICs go dead instantly, sometimes some of the internal microwiring gets reduced in size... so it dies a bit later... and PCW then blame it on you...

  PC World always try to blame me for damage to components I've brought from them.  I don't know whether that's because I look a lot dafter than I am, or whether they genuinely don't have a clue, but I do know that I always walk away with a refund, and usually leave one of them with a red face.

[Taf]

...leave one of them with a red face.

Nice match for the red shirts and pimples 

[Spite]

Nice match for the red shirts and pimples 

    They should make them wear badges that read, 'Would you like fries with that', to save time in the Jobcentre.

[Taf]

I am cruel.... if I have spare time in their vicinity I always go in a wind a few of them up....

[Spite]

I am cruel.... if I have spare time in their vicinity I always go in a wind a few of them up....

  Me too, I see it as my civil duty to extract revenge for all those folk who are being robbed of eighty quid an hour by the Tech Guys.  (That's 'Tech' as in 'I went to Technical School')

[Taf]

I thought it stood for "Technically Guys" as in "Technically Guys, but actually still having to learn how electronics and the real world work.... and bashing that hard drive on the edge of the desk will not shake dust out of it".....