Tom's Hardware > Forum > CPU & Components > Other Components > computer won't boot at all...
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roblob   12-19-2007 at 03:12:14 AM

Yesterday my computer basically stopped working. At first it might boot into windows, but within a minute or so, I got a blue screen. Same thing in safe mode. Sometimes when I tried to boot, I wouldnt even get a blue screen. I was running my e4400 overclock to 3.0ghz (10 x 300) for a couple weeks. It had been stable on prime95 for 24 hours. I tried to do a repair using the windows disk, and it told me nothing was wrong. I was about to try to run memtest when the next time I try to boot, I just get a screen that says "Scanning Bios Image in Hard Drive...". This is as soon as I turn on my computer and is the only screen I see now.

my exact specs are:
Intel e4400 @ 3.0ghz
Gigabyte P35-DS3L
4Gb OCZ Platinum rev. 2 (4 x 1GB)
Diamond HD 2900XT
ABS Tagan 700w psu.
Vista 64-bit

any suggestions?

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roadrunner197069   12-19-2007 at 03:44:58 AM
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My guess is memory. Try one stick at a time surely not all are bad. You might need to do a cmos reset as well.

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notherdude   12-19-2007 at 04:22:11 AM
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"Scanning Bios Image in Hard Drive...".



EDIT: Actually it sounds like the BIOS is corrupt and the pre-bios or boot block is searching for an image to use.

Quote :

The Boot Block

The preceding section discusses updating the program code in the system BIOS by flashing it (replacing it under software control). If the flash procedure is done improperly, the BIOS code can become corrupted, which will cause the system to go into an unbootable state. Many newer systems come with a feature where a 4 KB "boot block" program is included as part of the BIOS. This is a tiny piece of code whose job it is to recover from a situation where the BIOS code is incorrect or corrupted.

If your motherboard supports this feature, when the PC tries to boot and finds the BIOS code corrupted, the boot block will try to recover the BIOS code, usually by reading it from a specially-prepared floppy disk. You may have to change a jumper on the motherboard to enable this capability, and you may need to make use of a "plain vanilla" ISA video card. The boot block will load the BIOS code and then when you next reboot, the regular BIOS code should be in place and the problem resolved.



I think at that point you can direct it to a BIOS image on a floppy and flash a new one on your chip. Assuming the BIOS chip itself is not damaged. It could be damaged or maybe it simply got corrupt.

I'm kind of shotting from the hip here.


Message edited by notherdude on 12-19-2007 at 04:53:13 AM
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bob8701   01-10-2008 at 05:37:15 PM
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please set oc back to normal before update or repair the bias.

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g-paw   01-11-2008 at 12:26:38 AM
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I'd suggest to first clear the CMOS, quick and easy, direction in the mobo manual. If that doesn't work, then as suggested, flash the BIOS. Also run the diagnostic/repair software from the mfg website on a floppy.

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