PC stuck in a boot loop? Please Help

Hello. So my Win7 PC has refused to boot since last night. The 1st time I tried to boot it would just go through the motions of

checking memory( OK)

listingdevices (OK)

then it would goto the splash screen ( I think thats what its called) then I would get a message

Scan devices please wait
No disk attached????

Then it just reboots and continues ike this on a loop

Now earlier I was messing with my Sound card and I thought I had maybe knocked one of the SATA cables from one of my 2 HD's s when I tried to boot I would get a boot menu like you do when on a dual boot system so I went into MSCONFIG and deleted the boot option that wasnt being used and then I set the boot option that was being used to default. No before you say anything I am sure I deleteted the correct one.

I also tried booting from either one of my 2 HD's but it still wont boot. I also removed my SATA HD's and installed a IDE Drive loaded with XP but I had the same result
After many a reboots I decided to try and repair the boot manager by using my Win 7 Ultimate CD so I pop it in the drive and set the PC to boot from CD. It doesnt want to boot from cd, I have tried multiple times with multiple changes to the bios and it will not boot from cd. I cannot enter Safe mode either?

I also tried creating a bootable USB stick using RMprep and Ultimate boot CD in the hope that this maybe able to repair my boot manager (if thats whats wrong) but my PC refuses to boot from USB also.

I also replaced the CPU but had the same result as aways. Help Please

 

Try win2flash for making a bootable USB and make sure USB is the first bootable device in BIOS. Are the hard drives listed in BIOS?

 

Both HD's are visible in the bios. I cant get the PC to boot from anything including USB.

 

You may have better luck getting Win2flash to boot. If it is a Dell try tapping the F12 button at boot. You should then get a menu asking what you would like to boot.

 

Its a Gigabyte GA-P35-DS3R mobo. I do get to see the boot menu but it just refuses to boot from whatever I select?

 

Is USB at the top of the Boot order in BIOS?

If found this for the L version of your board. It may or may not be valid for yours.

 

Yes I have tried all that mate. OH just as Im typing this I remembered that I was inside the case and while I was moving it about a couple of screws where in there loose:-( Dont know where the buggers came from as there isnt any missing from the mobo or components. Could this have caused a short in the board even though it looks like it is working normally apart from the boot loop obviously?

 

Also just remembered that my GTX 460 mini HDMI socket has been playing up lately, maybe the GPU is shot but then again if it was I wouldnt be getting the post image on screen. I am using the GPU's DVI connector?

 

Loose screws on a motherboard = not good. It could have very well shorted something. But, I would think it would affect more than just a boot loop.

When you set USB to first device, did you try USB-HDD?
For booting the USB, try connecting to a back port if you have not done so.

Doubt this will help but worth a try. Unplug the computer. Push the power button down for 30 seconds. Attach the power and reboot. If not try clearing CMOS.
There is a 2 pin header near the CMOS battery. Short that with a jumper to clear the CMOS. Page 32 of the manual.

 

Already tried the CMOS reset including the jumpers. I have removed my primary HD and put it in another PC and reinstalled windows. I wont have access to my knackered PC until earlier this morning to see if it has worked but I doubt it :-(

 

Well Iv just put the HD back into the knackered PC(Gigabyte P35)after reinstalling Windows and its still the same. Now I also swapped CPUs over but unfortunately the Optiplex 745 that I am using doesnt support the E8400 apparently so I cant test that, but I did put the E6300 in the P35 and I still get the boot loop. At this moment in time its looking like a mobo problem.

 

I saw a gigabyte manual, not yours, that mentioned Raid + scanning for devices. Were your drives set up as RAID. If not, is RAID somehow enabled in BIOS?

 

No raid just SATA. The thing is I never changed ANYTHING in the bios prior to the boot loop.

 

You have pretty much tried everything. You might want to try "Breadboarding" the motherboard but not sure if that would help. Last ditch effort would be to reflash the BIOS but that could lead to a bricked computer. Or take it to a computer shop to verify if the motherboard is indeed bad.

 

If by "breadboarding" you mean build the PC ouside the case then I have tried that. I have aslo reflashed the bios. I think either the CPU or Mobo is dead unfortunately I have no replacement to see if I can find out which :-(

 

Yes, that is what I meant. Sorry you can go no further.