Hardware·18,997 discussions

Unable to log on to XP on a SATA drive but OK with VISTA on the same drive

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I have a curious issue. I wonder if somebody could give me some clues where to look at.

I have an XP Pro installed in the second partition on a SATA drive after all the drama of getting a driver as I asked in one of my previous questions. I have had Vista Home Basic installed on the first partition previously. The XP partition had been working all right. We only used it when we had to use some old applications. When I tried to access the partition this morning intending to test some hardware I put in, the log-on screen as soon as it came up would continuously to blink and the buzzer beeped continuously. It stopped after I hit the escape key but the window stayed dim and I could do nothing with it so I had to hit the power button and it shut down.

I don’t know if it was a coincident or something had to do with I had done. I tried to install in addition an IDE drive of 20G and a 1.44M floppy drive salvaged from one of my old computers this morning. On one hand I tried to make use of any spare drive and on the other hand I tried to get a floppy drive installed just in case I needed one. I didn’t leave the floppy drive in there because I didn’t manage to get any of my old 1.44M floppy disks formatted. I wasn’t too sure if the floppy disks were too old and worn out or the floppy drive was somehow broken. So I removed the floppy drive. While testing the drives I tried the XP OS when I discovered the problem.

I removed the extra IDE drive, so everything was put back to what it was as I could remembered. The problem remained.

I did not think that was a hardware problem because Vista on the same drive worked all right.

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Clarifications

In reply to Unable to log on to XP on a SATA drive but OK with VISTA on the same drive

Clarifications

Keyboard?

In reply to Unable to log on to XP on a SATA drive but OK with VISTA on the same drive

Could it have been that a key was stuck or being depresses on the keyboard when this occurred, or is this behavior repeatable? It sounds like the Enter key was involved.

I think it is unlikely that the drives are at fault – a problem there would affect booting the system (like trying to boot from IDE before SATA).

It works again! Many thanks!

In reply to Keyboard?

Having read your post I tried the process again. Yes, the problem was still happening and was repeatable every time when I tried to access the XP partition. I did not think there was any key stuck because it always worked fine with the Vista partition on the same drive in the same computer with the same peripherals.

The IDE drive had been taken out already. Having seen the problem with XP installed on the SATA drive I tried to install XP on the IDE drive I put in but the same problem appeared when it came to the log-on screen.

What the heck anyhow I swapped the keyboard and the mouse and tried. Voila! All the problem went away. I swapped the old ones back, the problem didn’t come back. I couldn’t explain. Even though I had suspected the problem before and didn’t take action due to Vista working all right. Your inspiration has led me to try even though I wasn’t quite convinced at the time. Many thanks!

Excellent! I’m glad it works.

In reply to It works again! Many thanks!

Sometimes, keyboard problems can be strangely intermittent. Try holding the thing upside-down and shake it side-to-side. (You may want to wear a dust mask or do this outside.) Even optical mice collect crud in the buttons, so a cleaning a couple times a year can help.

Anyway, it’s good you’re back in business with the XP partition. 🙂

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