BIOS vs Boot CD and CD Instalation.

[Owmen]

Im gonna start this thread by saying that my patience with windows is running out!
After a 2 month instalation i have to make a new one already, well, ok, it shouldn´t be a problem if it wasn´t the fact that i have to put all my 20Gb data on another Hardrive, re-install windows on this pc by the help of the 6 dos boot disks, and then transfering all the data back, and re-install windows on the other pc. It sucks, cause the other hardrive has alot of problems that i will explain later, for now the first question is this:

- Is there a away to see if my BIOS is compatible with CD-Boot? and, if there´s a away of making it compatible! ( I never made a BIOS Update..i dont know how to do it ) its a VIA Motherboard for a PIII 800hz.

The second question is a bit more complicated, has i mentioned before, i have another PC with some hardrive problems, here´s the deal:

- I putted the hardrive (20Gb) on this PC, made a Scandisk to it, it found 0 problems, ok, i put it back on the other pc, formated it, using the 6 dos boot disks, converted it to NTFS, installed windows XP. After a bit of use, it crashes and when i´m lucky it passes the Windows Logo and goes to the automatic Scandisk, other times, it says: An error ocorred and windows will shut down to prevent more damages, Kernel blábláblá, im not an expert .
Then it reboots, and so offen this appears: System Disk failure, boot disk failure, Ini file damaged etc...
After insisting on it, it sometimes passes the windows logo and if im really lucky goes on to the finnish line or the Blue Screen Appers, and if im lucky enough it goes to the finnish line has i said and i can work with it for a few times after it crashes again...last time it was a week till it crashes, and other times it doesnt last for 2/3 hours or so...
I strored 20Gb of data on it, and i managed to get it back to another hardrive without problems and errors...so, is it the drive damaged fisicly? damaged, just that? or, is there something else that im not following here ?
Cause i can store data and take it back without problems, if it was damaged i couldn´t do that, could i?

I really need experts here, cause i cannot fix this on my own guys!

[MrLinus]

- Is there a away to see if my BIOS is compatible with CD-Boot? and, if there´s a away of making it compatible! ( I never made a BIOS Update..i dont know how to do it ) its a VIA Motherboard for a PIII 800hz.

Given how recent the motherboard is (within the last couple of years) your system should be able to support CDRom booting. You'll need to go into the BIOS (usually on boot up you press Del or F2 or F12 or some key combination to enter it) and find the location to change the boot sequence from it's present setting (usually floppy or hard disk) to CDRom. You shouldn't require an update for this.

it says: An error ocorred and windows will shut down to prevent more damages, Kernel blábláblá, im not an expert

Thing is those errors with the "blábláblá" are important and often carry Error Codes that give more specific details as to the problem that is occurring. If you could get the exact error message and/or code that could help us help you.

In an attempt to eliminate the easy, have you tried an anti-virus bootdisk on this hard drive so as to eliminate the possibility of MBR viruses? Have you also allowed for a full surface scan?

[Owmen]

MBR, hum, im newbie but let me see if i got this right, even if i re-install windows on that drive, formated it twice or more, re-install windows again, still i can have a virus?
If so, i dont have or know how to use a DOS Ant-Virus disk
At this time i have the PC turned of, since i was about to re-install windows, but since u mentioned that i rather try to see that DOS Disk, where can i find one or how can i make one ( since at this moment has i was about to re-install windows on this pc has well, i uninstalled Norton Anti-Virus 2004.

[whatthe]

Most hard drive manufacturers will have a free drive fitness test or similar program on their websites that you can download. You may want to try this before you reinstall your software (no point wasting time if your drive is bad). Some of the programs will do a low level format so you will want to back up your data beforehand.

Are you installing from floppy and then upgrading to XP because of the boot CD issue?

[MrLinus]

For future, after installing and updating your anti-virus, make/update your Antivirus recovery disk. It took a little research to find it (McAfee used to have this as a feature online but they've since removed it). You can download a boot disk from here: http://www.f-prot.com/download/download_fpdos.html

Just create a bootable dos diskette or download one from here and add the f-prot to the diskette. Reboot the system with the diskette in and let it run.

[Nokia]

A surface scan would more than likley be the best first port of call for you, its the cheapest and easiest thing to do to start you off.

Goto my computer and right click on you harddrive select properties and then tools and then error checking.

Tick both of the boxes there and let it run, it may take sometime though so maybe do it before you go to bed or something.

Is your hard drive IDE or SCSI?

[Zonewalker]

if you can I would also recommend that you d/l a copy of the Ultimate boot disk -its free - as you can do some low level surface scans and a shed load of other stuff with it. It also has F-Prot for DOS on it. I would SERIOUSLY recommend that you read the associated help files etc before using the programs contained on the collection some of them will quite easily land you in a world of pain if you don't use them correctly.

Good luck

Z

[Owmen]

Im sorry for the late replay, but i made a research and the drive i have the problems is a Fujitsu MPG3204AT - E, i installed it has a second hardrive on this pc, and formated it, i made also a scandisk to it and found 0 problems, no viruses with a scan has well.
Then i went to the properties of the controler and it says that is a MPG3204AT -E SCSI Microsoft Controler, so...is this 20GB Hardrive SCSI?? cause the main one on this PC is a Seagate 40GB SCSI and i need a ATI Board and controlers to make it work properly...dont i need to install the same thing to the fujitsu?

I can explain a few things has well, to make all this clear.
The actual pc im using ( this one ) has a VIA motherboard and originaly had the fujitsu hardrive. It was a gift.
My old pc ( the one that now has the fujitsu hardrive ) has a old motherboard INTEL BX i guess with a PII 333hz, had the Seagate hardrive with the ATI board.
So has the PC with the VIA is a PIII 800Hz, i tought in putting the 40GB in it, has its the best pc, and the fujitsu on the other.
Now, after all this..i dont know if it was a good idea.
Do u guys think that if i invert things, has they were, the drive will work fine on this pc?
Cause the scandisk, the anti-virus found no problems once so ever, so...the hardrive has the correct disk space avaiable, etc...so, at this first sight, evrything seam ok....

Hum..what u think?