Continual Reboot after Power Loss, Now Won't Enter Setup

Hi all, I'm having some problems. First off, system specs:

Asus A7N8X-E MB
AMD Athlon XP 2400 +
1.5 GB Kingston 184-Pin DIMM (PC3200) (3 524mb chips)
Antec 480 True Blue PS
ATI Radeon 9600 256mb DDR Video Card
Western Digital 250 GB HD
Sony CR-R/RW drive - #CRX22SE
Pioneer DVD R/RW - #DVR-A08XLA

Windows XP Home

Okay, the problems started like this. One day, after a power outage (I do use surge protectors on all incoming cables/power), windows rebooted, and continued to reboot. It would reach the windows loading screen with the bar moving across the bottom, and then just start over. I put in the windows CD, and using repair console, used chkdsk /p which fixed the problem, and windows restarted normally. Since then, any time I have had the computer turned off for any period of time, or when there is a power outage, upon booting up, the computer has experienced the same problem.

Recently, I started having another problem, which I assumed was unrelated. ASUSprobe's temperature monitor started telling me that the Power Fan was below threshhold. I checked the fans in the power supply, and the CPU fan, and everything seemed to be working properly. I checked to make sure the connector from the power supply to the motherboard which allows monitoring was properly attached, and it was. I opened up the case and used an air duster to clean the fan (we do have cats, and sometimes a bit of cat hair will get pulled into the case). Everything seemed to be working properly, and the temperature was remaining normal, so I didn't worry about it, and just disabled the popup on the power fan in Asusprobe.

I awoke Friday morning to find the computer had turned itself off overnight (I generally leave my computers running). I booted the system up, and of course, it began to reboot itself at the windows loading screen. I popped in the Windows disk, began repair console, and CHKDSK was about half way through its run when the system shut itself down again.

When I tried to start the system again, there was no response. Assuming that the power supply had gone bad (a 430w antec), and that this explained both the problems I had been having, I picked up a new 480w Antec. The system started up, but upon reaching the Boot from CD - Press Any Key option, several problems arose.

1. Once, the screen went completely grey.
2. A couple times I have gotten an error message such as :
Trap 000000E Exception, followed by a long string of numbers and words such as : "nocy intdis down trapdis"
3. Several times I received the message:
c0000221 unknown hard error \systemroot\system32.ntdll.dll
4. Several times I received the message:
NTLDR is missing
5. Once, the screen hung with a blinking cursor at the top.

I cannot get into Setup via the Windows CD anymore. I get these error messages before it will load. If I let the system boot, I get the option to enter safe mode, but upon reaching the Windows loading screen, the system reboots.

The Voice on the ASUS boot up tells me that the "CPU fan failed," yet I can clearly see that the CPU fan is running.

I have tried swapping out the sticks of RAM to see if one or more of them are the culprit. It does not appear to have had any effect.

I have 3 copies of WinXP Home for our 3 computers, and I've tried the other CDs, which has not helped.

I cannot seem to get the BIOS to boot from the DVD -- I wanted to see if there was a hardware problem with the CD-ROM.

Any ideas? Most of the solutions I've found via Google / Microsoft presume that you can enter Setup via the WinXp Boot Disk. As I am unable to do so, I am a bit at a loss.

Thanks,

Zep

 

Following a lead I found in this thread, I tried creating a boot disk with NTLDR, ntdetect.com, and boot.ini on it, from one of my other WinXp computers.

Using a Win98 Startup disk, I copied the files using DOS to the C:drive as directed on this site. Upon reboot, I still got the message that NTLDR was missing.

 

I decided to run Western Digital's Lifeguard Diagnostic Tools. The quick test gave me an error/status code of 0007, which their website informs me is very bad news indeed. I'm confused as to how this would be a hard drive issue, but I'm now running the Full Media Scan to see what results.

If it turns out to be a hard drive problem, I am going to be extremely frustrated. I used to have nothing but love for WD drives, but they've been going out on me so regularly recently that my last purchase was a Seagate. Although this one is under limited warranty, still, if I have to replace it, I'd be highly tempted to junk it, at least as my primary drive in that computer, because I can't keep having my main drive crash once a year...

 

After running the Full Media Scan, I received an error code of 0000 -- no errors. I ran the Quick Scan again, and also was told there were no errors.

I rebooted, and again was told that NTLDR could not be found. At the Windows "Safe Mode" prompt, I selected "restore to Last settings that worked." Amazingly, windows started.

I launched ASUS Probe again -- the new power fan is still showing Below Threshhold.

I am going to take the opportunity to backup my files. Any tips on what might be happening would be greatly appreciated.

 

I was working on a word document, and when I stepped out of the room to get a glass of water, I came back and the system had powered down. I am unable to get it to restart.

Could this be a heat issue?

 

When replacing hardware I always reset the BIOS /cmos by moving the RTC RAM jumper (its near the battery on this board) from 1-2 to 2-3 and taking out the battery for 15 seconds (pg. 2-17 [manual]). Then I power up and set the bios, making sure that everything IS recognized, the values are correct, and the clock is set. It a good idea (according to far wiser geeks than me) to do this when powering up a new system on any MB. Also, when in the BIOS, go to the "Hardware Monitor" and disable the Q-FAN Control (pg. 4-29). If the system goes back to normal, enable it and see what happens. I hope this clears up your problem but if not...

NOW FOR THE BAD NEWS
IT SOUNDS LIKE WINDOWS XP has become CORRUPTED. Back up all files and do a complete reinstall. That means delete the partition and reformat, losing all data. IF YOU HAVE A SATA HD YOU MUST USE F6 AND INSTALL THE SILICON IMAGE SATA RAID DRIVERS DURING XP INSTALL

I hope this helps! John

 

Remember to put the RTC jumper back to 1-2 before powering on.

If your worried about heat, take off the Heatsink /fan, clean off the thermal goop, put fresh stuff back on (thin layer only). clean using a paper towell- NO SOLVENTS OR CLEANERS. Make sure the HS/F is seated firmly. AMD units are tricky- get some help if you have never done this. It's easy to snap off that little plastic tit!

 

BTW, I've heard that WD HDs are getting much worse. According to Robert and Barbara Thompson, authors of "Building the Perfect PC", who have built hundreds of PC's,: "We no lionger use WD hard drives because we have experienced multiple premature drive failures with various models". They recommend Seagate and Maxtor, with a 8mb buffer.