kony <spam@spam.com> wrote
> 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?

Still wont be that particular stop error.

>>>>> 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,

He said he gets the same message.

> but there may be a known cause for this
> with the 2nd drive, not same for the first.

Unlikely, MUCH more likely the fault isnt in the drive
or the cable but in the controller or motherboard.

>>> 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?

No, he appears to mean that he ran those routinely before
that stop error showed up, so its unlikely its virus infected.
A virus infection can produce that particular stop error.

> If so, why? What leads one to suddenly do this?

The fault showed up.

> What was the prior indication of a problem?

Unlikely that he wouldnt have said if there had been that.

>>>>> 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:

No need, I read it fine the first time.

> "> 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.

Yes.

> 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.

Yes, its quite possible that that is what he meant, but JUST doing that
with a working system wont produce that particular stop error message.

> Maybe not, but that's how it read to me.

Yes, that is quite likely what he meant.

> 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.

Likely more fruitful to try the hard drive manufacturer's diag on the
original drive. That should show if the drive subsystem, including the
controller etc is viable. Most likely it will howl about a problem.

>>>>> 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?

Yes, he certainly didnt say that.

> Or if so, this was not clearly stated.

Yes, he doesnt appear to have intended to say that he did a clean install.

>>> 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".

Yes, but we do know that he said that he gets the same error.

> We know there is the same error message.

Very unlikely to be two different problems when we know that a
drive which has had the OS installed on a different motherboard
doesnt produce that particular stop error message when the drive
is moved to a different motherboard and you try booting from that.

> 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.

Very unlikely to not be due to a fault in what hasnt been changed.

> 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.

Makes a lot more sense to test what hasnt been changed
when the second drive was tried by running the hard drive
manufacturer's diag to see if it can see the drive fine. Likely
it wont be able to and that is the proof that its the hard drive
controller on the motherboard that has developed a fault,
maybe due to bad caps on the motherboard or something
as basic as the 12V rail being well below specs etc.