On Sat, 19 Aug 2006 10:09:41 +1000, "Rod Speed"
<rod.speed.aaa@gmail.com> wrote:

>kony <spam@spam.com> wrote
>> Rod Speed <rod.speed.aaa@gmail.com> wrote
>>> Echy <echy2007@yahoo.com.au> wrote
>
>>>> I have encountered an "Inaccessible Boot Device" stop error
>>>> 0x0000007B on my desktop computer. The computer (in normal
>>>> & safe mode) will not progress past the blue stop screen.
>
>>>> It is an Acer PIII computer with Windows 2000 and was
>>>> running fine with no warning signs of this impending problem.
>
>> Examine the motherboard for popped capacitors. A very
>> instable system can exhibit seemingly unrelated problems.
>
>> Also check the drive cables.
>
>That wont produce that particular error.

I agree, a damaged one won't, but which message will come up
if a known, previously detected drive were reintroduced as
the OS drive?

>
>>>> I have current data back ups thankfully.I run up-to-date anti virus
>>>> software and Ad-Aware, Spybot, CCleaner, SpywareBlaster.
>
>> Is the drive NTFS or FAT32?
>> You might try pulling up a directory to see if the drive contents are
>> shown. Might also run the HDD manufacturer's diagnostics on it.
>
>Cant be the hard drive, he gets the same result with a different drive.

He gets a similar message, but there may be a known cause
for this with the 2nd drive, not same for the first.


>
>> How'd you run those other windows softwares
>> if the system isn't booting to windows?
>
>He presumably means that those were used before he saw the stop error.

So he was trying lots of things just before this? If so,
why? What leads one to suddenly do this? What was the
prior indication of a problem?



>
>>>> I have not installed anything new in the way of hardware or
>>>> software. I have checked that all cables are tightly connected &
>>>> have used a boot floppy disk to run chkdsk & scandisk. When I run
>>>> scandisk it says all is OK but it cannot be checking anything I
>>>> don't think as it finishes in two seconds. Same for Chkdsk.
>
>> You might start up a repair install and see whether it shows
>> an existing installation... and maybe even let it try to repair it.
>
>Pity that he gets the same stop error with a different drive.

Reread what he posted:

"> I also managed to borrow a working hard disk with an
operating system etc on it, "

To me that reads like the drive he borrowed, already had an
OS on it. The most likely conclusion here is that 2nd OS
config on the 2nd drive was not correct for his system but
rather the system it was installed on. Maybe not, but
that's how it read to me.

Either way, having the 2nd drive he could just plop in the
windows CD and try installing to it. At worst it's an hour
to do, but mostly automated.



>
>>>> I also managed to borrow a working hard disk with an operating
>>>> system etc on it, disconnected my drive and connected this one.
>>>> I get exactly the same error message ??
>
>> Since you have a second drive, you might try
>> temporarily installing Win2k to it, booting it then.
>
>He just said that it has that already.

Not a clean install done on that system? Or if so, this was
not clearly stated.


>
>> Or, boot from the windows CD or a bootable floppy and
>> see what the system can see sitting at DOS prompt or
>> whatever interface you're left at after booting a CD.
>
>Wont help when he gets the same problem with two different drives.
>

Again, we do not know he "gets the same problem".
We know there is the same error message. We also can
speculate that error message is triggered by failure to load
2K, but not that the root cause of failing to load it is the
same.

IF he had done a clean install of Win2k on this 2nd drive,
with it being the only one connected, jumpered as single on
IDE0, we'd be ruling out a lot of variables. So far, we
dont' even know what would happen if he configured the drive
as such and attempted to install. If the attempt was
succeeding past the first reboot, that alone tells us a lot.