When i shut down my computer and boot it back up It says decting ide or something like it then it wont go through at all. When i put in my xp desk i can reformat and reinstall. When i restart it does it again. I MAKE my small LIVING off my computer and really really need help here. Please email any replies or adivce you have to [emailprotected]update:


Now when i try and reinstall windows it gets to the point where its Examining the harddrive and then just keeps doing it. It wont go back or foward. The harddrive has worked fine for 6 months or so. And its still pretty new.update again now it finally picked up my main drive but isnt showing the second drive (where all my data is stored sadly) and is starting to FORMAT...... I could really use some help here....hey starcyxx, i gotta few questions.

1. what is ur operating system?
2. what are the sizes of the hard drives?
3. what is the brand and model of ur motherboard? (be precise)
4. what are the events leading up to this problem?
(such as replacing harddrives, harddrive swapping,etc.)

here are a few REASONS without knowing the full details...

1. hard drive is too big for mother board too handle
2. incorrect jumper placement on harddrive
3. power supply issue (no power)
4. bad IDE or SATA ribbon

*EDIT*
and please dont double post, never mind triple posting. just do as i did here with the big *EDIT* sign next time u have an update

and also, i didnt get what u were saying on ur first post. please be more specific and clear.I apologize for that, i dont normally use boards and arent up to date on it. Im sorry but i dont know my exact board. But its all be working for a while now. The power supply i placed in it, its close to twice what the computer actually needs. One hard drive is a Maxtor 60 gb that was in a DELL i had before the other is 200 GB Maxtor. How would i find out exactly what board that i have.


There was no major changes before this problem started happening at all.hmmm... the power supply may be 2X bigger than needed, but that doesnt mean it cant break down. also, u say u didnt mess with the internals of the computer. leaving 4 solutions i can think of...

1. try switching to differnt power supply jacks
(u should have at least 1 or 2 spare jacks dangling from ur power supply)
2. replace ur IDE or SATA ribbon going into ur harddrives.
3. replace power supply
4. replace the motherboard

i listed them in costly order $$$. 1 being the cheapest to replace and 4 being the most expensive to replace

also, the only way i know of how to check the product code/manufacturer of ur motherboard would be to open ur computer up and look for the sticker or stamp.