Old parts w/ even older parts put together?

[defender0802]

I am building my mom a computer out of my old parts and her even older dell parts.
I am using:
asus 650i board
nvidia 7950gt
patriot viper 2 gb ddr2800

All of which are perfectly working. I just bought a new power supply http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817339012 which i jumped to test and that also works perfectly. The problem im getting is that when its powered on it reaches the boot menu but when i press delete to enter the BIOS it doesnt enter. Im thinking the problem lies with the fact that her old HDD is being used and it still has everything on it from when her old computer died. Is this causing the issue? I figured it would just load up XP and everything would be on there perfectly fine. She didnt want to lose any of her data on the HDD so thats why i didnt reformat it. If i do need to reformat i havent had to do that in forever and i dont remember so what is the process in a few steps to refresh me?

 

[hunter315]

Does it get to the windows loading screen if you dont try to enter bios? If yes, the get yourself a linux cd that you can run it off of and use that to get the data off the hard drive. Why did the old computer die? Did the power supply go out? If it did it may have taken some other bits out with it.

 

[Twoboxer]

If this is accurate: "The problem im getting is that when its powered on it reaches the boot menu but when i press delete to enter the BIOS it doesnt enter."

The problem should have nothing to do with your hard drive. You should be able to get into BIOS with NO hard drive installed.

What keyboard are you using? If its a USB kb, try a PS2 kb instead.

Important: Are you using a DIFFERENT mob than the mobo your mom's HD used to hang with? If so, do NOT boot that up yet. Please provide old mobo make and model, and confirm new mobo make and model. We may not be able to save the OS, but we will be able to save the data.

 

[megamanx00]

If the logic board on your Hard drive is semi-dead then that would cause it to hang on post. It wouldn't want to go into the BIOS screen because it's trying to get the hard drive info. The hard drive then works enough for the board to know that it's there, but not well enough to give the board what it wants so it just keeps asking for it. Disconnect the hard drive and then turn it on and see if you can enter the BIOS screen.

 

[megamanx00]

I just realize the reason I'm so use to that is that I use too many old hard drives in my older Frankenstein computers .

 

[belial2k]

are you sure you need to press the del key and not another? If you are using a Dell bios it might use an f key for bios. Be sure the boot screen says "press x to enter bios/setup"

 

[defender0802]

I have no idea what type of motherboard the old one was but this one is an asus P5N-E. It was in an old dell. Hunter the i know that the power supply dieing can take out parts, Ive had a psu die on me before actually but in this case the motherboard on hers died. The keyboard i was using was ps2 i dont have a USB one to try. I feel i should also add that on first boot it get into the bios (after hitting the delete key) but after that i couldnt go anywhere, after that i rebooted and made it to where windows would normally load but hit a black screen, after another reboot i got a boot error with the sustained beep, 1 more got me to the bios loading screen and no further.

 

[Twoboxer]

Since its not the kb preventing you from entering BIOS:

http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/forum/page-261145_13_0.html

If its not an assembly problem, most of the time this problem resolves to a bad psu, sometimes a memory issue. You can try pulling out all but one stick, increasing memory voltage a tad if you can and have room.

Not a good idea to boot mom's "C" drive with a different mobo unless the chipsets are identical or you've prepared.

 

[defender0802]

I already stated that i tested the psu and the ram is perfectly fine as well. They have both been tested fully.

 

[Twoboxer]

I heard what you stated.

Did you disconnect the HD and try to get into BIOS yet? If you do, then your HD is a problem.

If not, next also pull the memory and boot.

If not, next also remove the vid card and boot.

Until we're down to mobo and psu.

One of these should give you more info.

 

[defender0802]

i just unplugged the hard drive and was able to get into the BIOS. So at this point can i assume the HDD is dead or is damaged and that i cant get the files off it?

 

[ohiou_grad_06]

Other option. If you have another pc, hook her drive up as a slave drive, boot and perhaps the drive will allow you to recover some files though it may be very slow if it does work(possibly hours).

 

[Twoboxer]

You can try ^ but the likelihood is it is dead.

 

[ohiou_grad_06]

One thing you can try before doing what I suggested, put the drive into a plastic ziplock bag, and put it in a freezer for about 20 minutes or so. Don't keep messing with the drive in the system as it is, the more activity the drive tries to do now, the less chance of recovering any data.