dude_56013
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Continually having to repair the MBR ("no boot device available") Dell Dimension 8400
Well, another "wonderful" Dell in the shop.
This POS is just toying with me right now.
Now, here's what it's doing. I boot it up and it immediately gives two beeps and says "No boot device available". (this all happened after the owner reported that he was getting no internet, in which we didn't know the cause...he tried removing norton files thinking it may have been that...and then got that message.)
So, I figured, well, the MBR's crapped. So I pop in the XP disc to do a repair. It says there's no HDD installed. HA! (this is a SATA drive BTW).
Next thing I figure is, the owner probably REALLY f'd something up. So I decided to format it in PartedMagic and see where it went. Went fine...PM found it instantly and I formatted it. But, I wanted to isolate the issue to make sure the HDD wasn't going out. I ran full short and extended tests with the WD utility on UBCD. No errors. None.
So I reinstall XP thinking we're good to go. Get it up and going. At the desktop. Start installing drivers. Restart. Good. Install some more. Good. Restart. Boom. Same message pops up, no boot device available. So, now I'm pissed. Because I don't understand why. The hard drive has tested out to be fine. So I pop in the XP disc. And this time it let's me repair the MBR. Boots right up. I figure, 'eh, bad driver?'. So I continue install routine things...Win. Updates and such. Then I install Avast and it prompts for the restart. Boom. Same message.
WTF is going on here? Just another Dell POS on my hands? I'm thoroughly confused. If I have time, I'll try an PATA drive tomorrow and see if I get different results. But my bet is on the mobo going kaput. But I don't get why that would affect the MBR/drive. BAHHHHH.
Any advice?
Well, another "wonderful" Dell in the shop.
This POS is just toying with me right now.
Now, here's what it's doing. I boot it up and it immediately gives two beeps and says "No boot device available". (this all happened after the owner reported that he was getting no internet, in which we didn't know the cause...he tried removing norton files thinking it may have been that...and then got that message.)
So, I figured, well, the MBR's crapped. So I pop in the XP disc to do a repair. It says there's no HDD installed. HA! (this is a SATA drive BTW).
Next thing I figure is, the owner probably REALLY f'd something up. So I decided to format it in PartedMagic and see where it went. Went fine...PM found it instantly and I formatted it. But, I wanted to isolate the issue to make sure the HDD wasn't going out. I ran full short and extended tests with the WD utility on UBCD. No errors. None.
So I reinstall XP thinking we're good to go. Get it up and going. At the desktop. Start installing drivers. Restart. Good. Install some more. Good. Restart. Boom. Same message pops up, no boot device available. So, now I'm pissed. Because I don't understand why. The hard drive has tested out to be fine. So I pop in the XP disc. And this time it let's me repair the MBR. Boots right up. I figure, 'eh, bad driver?'. So I continue install routine things...Win. Updates and such. Then I install Avast and it prompts for the restart. Boom. Same message.
WTF is going on here? Just another Dell POS on my hands? I'm thoroughly confused. If I have time, I'll try an PATA drive tomorrow and see if I get different results. But my bet is on the mobo going kaput. But I don't get why that would affect the MBR/drive. BAHHHHH.
Any advice?