Bootup Problem

[goober2003]

I've been having a problem booting and I need to know if it sounds like a hdd or ide cable problem. Sometimes when I boot the computer it won't detect any drives and I will get a beep code and turning it off and on again usually fixes it. Other times bios will detect the drives but windows won't load cause it shows that some system files are missing and when I put the windows cd in it will say that there is no hdd to install it onto but I can usually temporarily fix theses problems by reinserting the ide cable for my 2 hdd's but after a while the same problem will happen again. Does this problem sound like a defective ide cable and I don't have another cable to test with it right now or does it sound like a failing hdd?

Thanx

[Anubis]

Since your saying drives as in multiple drives I would almost think the IDE cable is suspect, or at least hope that is the case. Best bet is to get all the data you want off the hard drive when it is functioning normally, try to get a replacement cable and start there.

[Budfred]

I agree that this sounds like a cable problem, but you might also want to just make sure that your HDs are not both set to Master. I am not sure what would happen if they were, but it is possible that it could look like what you've got.

Good luck,
Budfred