Hello,

My computer was without power for a few days, and when I turned it back on it began to either 1) not detect the two IDE hard drives, or 2) get to where I can see the desktop and then freeze up. I thought it was the BIOS due to the computer going back to November 2000 and the clock being off. I bought a new BIOs battery, got back into the desktop long enough to confirm that the information was still on the hard drives and then it froze again. I rebooted and I tried restoring, but it can't restore due it not detecting the hard drives.

I'm thinking it's 1) either a driver I have to reinstall (but the only floppies I have are for my SATA drives in another computer), or 2) the motherboard is somehow gone. (It is nearly eight years old.)

Anyone have any idea what is going on? Do I need RAID drivers for IDE drives? Do I need a new motherboard?

My computer is custom built (November 2000), XP O/S,
IDE drives are 160GB (bought last year) and the 400 GB (bought this year), 1GB RAM, the BIOs was up to date before being without failure. There weren't any applications installed prior to this issue. Order of bootup IDE-0, CD, Floppy.

Thank you!

Hello, and Welcome to techhelpforum.

If your drives are indeed (E)IDE you do not need RAID drivers.

What motherboard do you have? (Make/model/version)

If you're getting into windows (occasionally), then I doubt the motherboard is cooked. It could be a number of things as the machine is seven years old.

Is there a dust buildup on tne power supply vents/fan, or the CPU fan/heatsink assembly?

Hello,

Thank you for answering. Here's the information on the motherboard from the invoice:

AMD Duron 700/7ZX-1
AMD Duron 700MHz (OEM)
GIGABYTE 7ZX-1 VIA KT133 CHPS

I tried to boot again...it was seeking CDROM first then IDE-0, then Floppy. I changed it back to IDE-0, CD ROM, Floppy. Rebooted, and it says autodetecting

Now the AMIBIOS Date is 11/14/2000

I'm getting

Search for Boot Record from CDROM..Not Found
Search for Boot Record from Floppy..Not Found
Search for Boot Record from SCSI..Not Found

Drive Not Ready
Insert BOOT diskette in A:
Press any key when ready

Inside of tower is clean as a whistle. Fan is working fine, everything sitting secure.

Okay, I just rebooted again and now it's letting me into the desktop. This is very strange. It's like someone is messing with the BIOs every time it shuts off.

Hm. A thought: first time I booted, the tower was not open and seated. Second time I rebooted, the tower is open to the air and away from its seat.

"...first time I booted, the tower was not open and seated. Second time I rebooted, the tower is open to the air and away from its seat."

Can you explain as to what you mean by "seated" and "away from it's seat"?

Yes, certainly:

The tower has been seated in my desk wall unit with an inch and a half breathing room above it to air and an inch and a half on the sides, with at least four inches in the back end with a five-inch hole in the back for air. The left cover on the tower is off, which is the side that exposes most of the interior. I've rebooted twice without any freeze ups.

I've re-inspected the fans, especially on the power supply box...the fan is spinning in there but the air feels so light coming from through the vents (which are clear)...

How powerful is the air supposed to be coming out of the vents?

If your BIOS/CMOS settings are not "holding", it sounds like your CMOS battery needs replacing. They're only a couple of dollars. Most are CR2032, but check yours before you go shopping. It's about the size of a US nickel. (Attached photo) Their average lifespan is approximately four to five years. A new battery may well clear up your problems.

Regarding air flow; The system is designed to work with all side panels etc in place. Many think that removing panels will aid in cooling. With the components clean and all air flow vents unobscurred with dust etc, proper air flow is attained.

Also, if you add a "case" fan, ensure it's air flow works in tandem with the existing air flow directions. (Fans have the direction of blade rotation, and the air flow direction, embossed on one side of the fan housing.) ie; Don't set up a new fan blowing towards one that may be currently blowing towards the new fan mounting area. You want air flows to go like this --> -->, and not this --> <--.

Yes, I already replaced the BIOs battery.

The computer works now when the case is open on the side exposing the innards (which I know should be working with all sides attached -- weird). I think the power supply unit is going because there is hardly any air coming out of the unit. It's a 300W. I didn't think a loss of power for three days could kill a power supply unit.

Thank you for your help, Dan Penny. It's nice to have someone to attain a problem-solving process.

You should have a difinitive air flow through the power supply. If there are no other (case) fans, this is the primary air mover for cooling the machine. If the unit isn't delivering proper power to your drives, data corruption can result.

300W is below the "bottom line" considered for systems today. Some CD/DVD drives and hard drives produce conciderable heat, and consume a good "chunk" of wattage. I'd consider a newer power supply unit of at least 450 or 500 watts.

Okay, I was wondering if I had to stick to the 300W due to the motherboard and case size. I shall look for a 450/500W, then. Thank you for the advice.

You're welcome. If you have a "generic" tower assembly, a standard architecture power supply should fit.