Page 1 of 3 123 LastLast
Results 1 to 10 of 22

Thread: Cannot Load OS

  1. #1

    Question Cannot Load OS

    I've gotta troublesome box I'm working on...

    Old Compaq Presario.

    Upon boot, I get "cannot load OS". Swapped out hard drives -- same problem. Removed both memory sticks, didn't help anything.

    Next I'm going to try a clean OS installation from CD *crossing fingers*.

    But if that doesn't work, what should I look for next?

  2. #2
    Senior Member
    Join Date
    Apr 2004
    Posts
    1,130
    pray

    is bios able to see this drive?

    if yes, boot from floppy and see if you can see the drive or even format it.
    Meu sítio

    FORMAT C: Yes ...Yes??? ...Nooooo!!! ^C ^C ^C ^C ^C
    If I die before I sleep, I pray the Lord my soul to encrypt.
    If I die before I wake, I pray the Lord my soul to brake.

  3. #3
    This is odd...

    Just lost visual -- the monitor no longer detects the connecction to the box. It did just a minute ago! Of course, all is connected as it should be...so now on top of everything else, I'm blind as a bat!

  4. #4
    AO Ancient: Team Leader
    Join Date
    Oct 2002
    Posts
    5,197
    Sound like you have more problems than just the HD.

    Put the HD in a different box.... If it boots then you probably have MB issues on the original box.... Is the video card built in?
    Don\'t SYN us.... We\'ll SYN you.....
    \"A nation that draws too broad a difference between its scholars and its warriors will have its thinking done by cowards, and its fighting done by fools.\" - Thucydides

  5. #5
    This is just getting wierder and wieder...

    Doesn't look like it was the video card. When I took the Windows CD out of the drive and tried booting up again, everything was fine. So I put the Win2k CD in the drive, and I lose my monitor?! That's a new one!

    Then, I put both sticks back in, and it tells me I have 164mb -- memory error. So, the memory stick problem looks like a good possibility, though I have a feeling that's not all that's going on here...

    <edit>Nevermind, looks like the CD drive thing was just a coincidence...the monitor problem is occuring off and on.</edit>

    <edit>Or the...monitor cable...sorta came out of it's port...while I was tinkering...heh heh...</edit>

  6. #6
    Ok, now I can give you guys some real detail to work with --

    1) Swapped out memory sticks with two others I have on hand.
    2) Swapped out hard drives
    3) Booted from W2k CD

    So, it starts to load Windows 2000, when lo and behold I get this:

    File \i386\ntkrnlmp.exe could not be loaded.
    The error code is 16

    Setup cannot continue. Press any key to exit.

  7. #7
    AO Ancient: Team Leader
    Join Date
    Oct 2002
    Posts
    5,197
    Looks like something is intermittent... Trial and error is so much fun....
    Don\'t SYN us.... We\'ll SYN you.....
    \"A nation that draws too broad a difference between its scholars and its warriors will have its thinking done by cowards, and its fighting done by fools.\" - Thucydides

  8. #8
    Senior Member
    Join Date
    Apr 2004
    Posts
    1,130
    run a complete memtest86. Maybe the Mobo is gone....
    Meu sítio

    FORMAT C: Yes ...Yes??? ...Nooooo!!! ^C ^C ^C ^C ^C
    If I die before I sleep, I pray the Lord my soul to encrypt.
    If I die before I wake, I pray the Lord my soul to brake.

  9. #9
    AO Decepticon CXGJarrod's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jul 2002
    Posts
    2,038
    You might also want to try resetting the BIOS to the default config as sometimes things in there get changed. (User never knows how it was changed of course)

    Got that from here: (although its not error code 16 it might work before you chuck the computer) http://support.microsoft.com/default...b;en-us;318729

    Also, did you check how hot the CPU is in the bios? A hot CPU has given me wierd Windows setups problems in the past.
    N00b> STFU i r teh 1337 (english: You must be mistaken, good sir or madam. I believe myself to be quite a good player. On an unrelated matter, I also apparently enjoy math.)

  10. #10
    Well, things started to get better, then they got worse. I finally got a hard drive in there that would somewhat work. Got into W2k installation...and it froze during hardware detection.

    Hardware detection? Aha! Some device had to be the culprit!

    This seemed to make sense, as the computer will only come on half the time. The other half the power light comes on, but no HDD light, and nothing on the monitor.

    So, I tried everything, item by item, until eventually I had everything but the hard drive removed. Swapped out memory sticks too. So now, I just have a hard drive and memory....no luck.

    Now I can't get it to even boot up. Nothing on the monitor. Hard drive light is always dead. Swapped hard drives and IDE cables. Nothing.

    Is it done for?

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •