Drive won't boot, clone won't either

['putertutor]

I've got an old XP machine that the customer wanted cleaned and more memory added. It was working when I took it from the shop, and it booted once here on my bench. The password I received was incorrect so I shut it down, but now it won't boot. I get a 7b bsod.

I immediately cloned the drive and am working from that now. I can see the drive and access all the files in linux. In windows, the drive doesn't even show up. When I attempt to boot to the drive I get the 7b bsod, even when it is installed in a different machine. The symptoms are identical whether I use the cloned drive or the original, even when installed in a different computer.

As I have no issues seeing and accessing the data in linux, and the cloned drive is behaving the same way as the original I am assuming this is not a controller board issue. I have run the usual assortment of malware scans, kas rescue disc, and xp recovery disc, all with no luck.

EDIT: Forgot to mention that the hard drive tested out ok.

What now?

 

[ComputerRepairTech]

toggle ahci in bios?

 

['putertutor]

toggle ahci in bios?

AAAARRRGGGGGHHHHH!!!

Just after I hit the post button that hit me like a ton of bricks. I was hoping to post that I worked it out, but now that you beat me to it, no on will ever believe me! Damn you ComputerRepairTech!!!

Anyway, that was it. All is good now. Carry on. Carry on.

 

[NYJimbo]

toggle ahci in bios?

It's a shame there isn't something in the BIOS that does a "Drive not bootable, trying alternate mode...."

Would save a lot of tears.

 

[ComputerRepairTech]

AAAARRRGGGGGHHHHH!!!

Just after I hit the post button that hit me like a ton of bricks. I was hoping to post that I worked it out, but now that you beat me to it, no on will ever believe me! Damn you ComputerRepairTech!!!

Anyway, that was it. All is good now. Carry on. Carry on.

I believe you.....

That being said I see people say that kind of thing often here on technibble...I recommend telling a white lie next time and acknowledge the effort.....not that i personally care im just sharing in case it helps techs with customer service in the future.

 

[FremontPC]

BTW, you shouldn't try to boot the drive in a different computer unless it's the very same model. The drivers would be different and that's pretty much a guaranteed BSOD. Could narf the Windows installation too.

 

[JustInspired]

So.... how did the AHCI switch get flipped in the first place?

 

[drjones]

So.... how did the AHCI switch get flipped in the first place?

Yes I'd love to know that too, but also I thought I've read in many places that if you switch between AHCI & IDE, it will require a reinstall of windows....no?

 

['putertutor]

So.... how did the AHCI switch get flipped in the first place?

Great question. I don't know. I didn't get into bios between the one good boot and the bsod, so I am at a loss. I've seen a few random sites talking about the computer supposedly changing the setting spontaneously, but it sounds pretty suspicious to me. I suppose if there was an intermittent power issue, maybe that could have played with things?? Still sounds pretty weak to me.

 

[ComputerRepairTech]

i never really gave it much thought...i suppose bios reset to defaults which was different from what it was during installation or driver/registry corruption? who knows...normally i care about the why and how but in this case the information doesnt really change anything and its usually pretty easy to identify and fix.

 

[Larry Sabo]

So.... how did the AHCI switch get flipped in the first place?

Dead/low CMOS battery, so when the system got unplugged (or the battery drained in the case of a laptop), the CMOS got reset to default?

 

[kisk]

Dead/low CMOS battery, so when the system got unplugged (or the battery drained in the case of a laptop), the CMOS got reset to default?

Being an older XP machine I would say CMOS battery as well. < 5cents to replace it