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BIOS problem with Aspire 5100

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Guys i have a critical situation :
2 Aspire 5100 Notebooks
The first one is mine and has no problems,but the 2nd one wont load neither install any windows system(It freezes on the loading screen) except Vista…
I’ve changed the 2laptops HDDs and mine one worked perfectly but the other one didn’t load windows again so the problem is not in the HDD.
I flashed the laptop with the latest BIOS but nothing changed…
Please tell me what to do…i suppose it is some kind of virus that blocks Windows 9x and NT that stays somewhere out of the Hard Disk.

Topic

Clarifications

In reply to BIOS problem with Aspire 5100

Clarifications

Have you tried Wiping the HDD with a Utility

In reply to BIOS problem with Aspire 5100

Like Boot & Nuke? available here

http://tinyurl.com/4rfur

If you are just relying on the Format Option only 1 in 3 sectors will be written to and this can allow any infections to come back through and reinfect the system.

Just think of it this way I’ve spent all week trying to get a computer to Load and I keep getting Read Errors for Perfectly Good CD’s in drives that work in other computers perfectly. So after changing everything out of desperation I changed the M’Board, CPU & RAM Again with one from a working computer. It loaded and then silly me tried changing the RAM to 2 X 256 MEG sticks from the 2 X 128 MEG sticks. It wouldn’t post so I changed the RAM back and it’s still no longer POSTing.

What’s worse is that this horrible thing belongs to my daughter so I’m not getting paid for my time or parts. 🙁

Col

It is not the HDD

In reply to Have you tried Wiping the HDD with a Utility

Thanks for ur reply man but as i said it’s not the HDD….Anyone having a idea?

So If I understand your question correctly

In reply to It is not the HDD

On one NB you can load both HDD’s with whatever OS you want to and on the other one neither HDD will load. Is that what you are saying?

As I’ve just spent a week with a similar problem and now have almost no hair left this is what I ended up doing. Grab a copy of the Ultimate Boot CD and run Diagnostics to check the hardware. If you don’t have a copy it’s available here for download

http://tinyurl.com/3jnpy

Then out of desperation replaced the RAM and when that did nothing gutted an different computer for known good parts. Just at this point the PS died and took out the Know Good Parts so I’ve had to mess around with just about everything inside the case which has all been changed out and tried with different bits & pieces.

The original M’Board was faulty and that was where the problems started and it’s gone downhill from that point on.

But if you already have identical computers why not load the HDD for the none working unit on your NB and then place it into the other computer, provided that the HDD Controller is still working it should allow you to get the thing working properly. But I’ve even been reduced to matching the RAM to the FSB of the CPU as I’ve found with these M’Boards that the faster RAM causes the system to become unstable and crash at irregular intervals.

Col

Still waiting

In reply to So If I understand your question correctly

so is anyone going to help me guys

I reckon HAL9000’s idea should stand

In reply to Still waiting

Did you try it?

yes

In reply to I reckon HAL9000’s idea should stand

nothing to do….we should try something else

Please restate the problem.

In reply to BIOS problem with Aspire 5100

When you say “load”, do you mean “install” windows or do you mean “boot” windows.

What is the history of the machine? When did the problem start? Was the machine working previously?

ok

In reply to Please restate the problem.

so when i mean load i mean both install and boot.
I found that neither the USB ports work on the broken one

What are you trying to say here that you can install & Boot

In reply to ok

This machine but not have working USB Ports?

If that’s the case the USB Drivers need to be installed or the M’Board is shot and the USB Sockets have been destroyed requiring a new M’Board for the NB.

But for a fast & dirty test load a Live Linux and see if the USB Ports now work. This will be the finial test as it will run off the CD in RAM and will load all of the necessary drivers so you should have a fully working computer that doesn’t have any access to the HDD so it is not affect anything installed there.

Col

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