I reloaded the O/S on a three month old Compaq (Win XP, AMD 1700+) purchased from Wal-Mart. The on screen message read (missing operating system). The reinstall went without problems. However after about a month the computer booted up with the same message, and required reloading again. The computer showed no signs of problems such as error messages. The electric outlets that power the computer don’t have the round ground prong and are being bypassed with an adaptor. Just wondering if this could be part of the problem. I also noticed that a surge suppresser is not being used.

Thanks
Triplej

This might be of some help:

http://www.computerhope.com/issues/ch000181.htm

Regarding the outlet...Not a best case scenario...Older homes with two prong outlets used metal outlet boxes and metal conduit (in our part of the country we call it "Greenfield" which is a flexible conduit that the electrical wires were pulled through).

In these cases the metal used to connect the boxes to the electrical panel, which in turn was connected to a copper rod inserted into the ground) was the ground...

First would be a disclaimer...if you're not familiar with working with electricity I would call a professional...There are many things that can give you a "curly perm" or as they say "take you out" permanently...so don't mess if you're in unfamiliar territory!!

You can purchase grounding outlets and swap the two prong out. You would connect the green grounding screw to the metal electrical box itself.

They have very inexpensive circuit testers that plug into a three prong and will tell you with LEDs if the circuit is wired properly...

The biggest problem is not knowing what has gone on before you. Homeowners can add things without properly wiring...

A surge suppressor would be wise after getting the ground situation taken care of...

I would also recommend finding the harddrive manufacturer and download their diagnostics and run them...the drive could be headed south...

Thanks WHYZMAN for your response.

I have a circuit tester which reports an open ground. This is not my computer, and the person lives in an older home.

Are you saying that you would suspect the HDD @ fault rather that the ground problem ?

The O/S loaded without problems would/could this be possible with a defective HDD?

Thanks
Triplej

A flaky harddrive can produce all kinds of weird symptoms...

I learned from mjc that there are a couple of easy diagnostic tools (i.e., RAM testers and HDD diagnostics) that can readily narrow the search for a problem...

So easy to use that when I am putting together a new build I consider them both as just part of the building process...;)

If it is true that the master boot record is getting messed with it might also be wise to run on line AV scans...these you can get from mjc's links...

Also, I would consider HiJackThis and Spybot Search & Destroy...