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Windows XP Professional loses contact with hard drives

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Windows XP Professional loses contact with the hard drives and hangs or freezes requiring a system restart by powering off the machine and restarting manually. Installed software will also have problems with locating the hard drives as well ie: media players, etc. They can not find the hard drives to retrieve the file(s) requested. I have found that by rebooting the machine daily (sometimes) I can avoid this condition. If I go to My Computer the hard drives (and everything else) is missing and the OS hangs. I am able to access the hard drive by using the Run command line but, a manual restart will eventually be required. I have reinstalled XP on more than one occasion but, to no avail. The problem continues. Apparently Microsoft is aware of the problem but, doesn’t offer any workable solutions. Has anyone any idea on how to repair this?

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In reply to Windows XP Professional loses contact with hard drives

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Corrupted Master Boot Record?

In reply to Windows XP Professional loses contact with hard drives

Microsoft has a knowledge base article on fixing a corrupt MBR:

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/69013

I’m not sure this will solve the problem, but it seems worthwhile investigating.

Rick/Portland, OR

What kind of power supply have you got?

In reply to Windows XP Professional loses contact with hard drives

Up the power supply (psu) to 750 watt.
More memory will be that next step, up the memory to at least 2 gb (my favourite saying).

Please post back if you have any more problems or questions.

See if this helps

In reply to Windows XP Professional loses contact with hard drives

Faulty Fans, Dust and Grime build up on the Heatsink restricting air flow. I would give the inside of the case a blowout with compressed air. When blowing air through the fans make sure that you physically stop them from spinning, as they may generate power and blow something up. Then remove the Heatsink, giving it a thorough clean and reseat the CPU applying new CPU grease. If the Fans spin freely when you give them a spin they are probably OK. If there is resistance replace them.

Clean the golden edge of each memory stick with a soft rubber, remembering not to touch the golden edge of the memory stick. Check with one stick at a time, remembering to disconnect the power from the PC, of the original RAM

Also check Capacitors around the CPU for swelling or bulging.

Video Memory Stress Test 1.4
http://www.majorgeeks.com/Video_Memory_Stress_Test__d5896.html

Check the memory.
Sometimes random lockups can be attributed to the computer memory starting to fail. You can test the memory by running Windows Memory Diagnostic that can be downloaded from http://oca.microsoft.com/en/windiag.asp.

If memory problems are found, try re-seating the RAM. If it doesn’t work, replace the defective RAM.

A faulty PSU can also cause it. Fluctuating power is no good for the motherboard. Try another one if available or replace it.

Download SpeedFan and check the Voltages and Temps.

http://www.almico.com/sfdownload.php

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