Tried to connect new blank HDD as Slave, now it won't Boot!

[NacsMXer]

So I have an older Windows XP Desktop with a single primary Western Digital 500gb IDE hard drive. It was hooked up with the hard drive connected to the end of the IDE ribbon cable connector (master). It originally had no jumpers installed since it was the only internal HDD in the system. The computer was working and restarting just fine as of today.

Well today I tried to hook up a second identical but blank remanufactured HDD as a slave. I had never tested or hooked up this drive to the system before. All I was trying to do was to hook up the second drive as a slave, start the computer, format and partition it, and use it for storage.

Here is what I did:

- Shut the computer down
- Unplug the power cable from the back and wait for the light next to the CMOS battery to turn off
- Install a jumper in my original primary HDD and set it to master (still using the end of the ribbon cable in master position)
- Install new blank drive I wanted to slave in drive bay below, install jumper in slave position, install ribbon cable connector using the same ribbon cable as above, only using the middle slave position
- Install spare Molex power connector to new slave drive
- Reconnect power cables and cables at back of computer and Power the system on

Ever since I did all this my monitor has no display (it is powered on but the power button flashes on and off as if it has no signal) and the computer will not boot. There are no hard drive startup noises or anything. I get no BIOS screens, just nothing since I don't even have a display on my monitor.

I even tried disconnecting the new slave drive and reinstalling everything the way it was before I changed anything (single IDE drive, no jumper, IDE cable connector in master position) and it still won't start.

If anybody could please help me and at least get my computer where it can start again I would GREATLY appreciate it. I'm really sorry I even touched it since it was working just fine earlier today. Thank you very much for your assistance.

 

[NacsMXer]

I stopped into my local computer shop that offers custom builds and they diagnosed the issue I was having with my computer not posting/starting up.

Initially they tested the power supply but that was still good. Then the video card, but that was good as well. After booting up the system with no RAM installed, they installed just one of my RAM sticks and the computer finally started!

The problem ended up being a faulty Kingston RAM stick, what a freak thing.

So now I am typing this reply on my fixed computer. I did have to go back into the BIOS and tweak the settings a bit since we reset the CMOS previously in this thread. I was getting a continual "found new hardware" message for my audio controller on startup but all I had to do was turn the sound to OFF in the BIOS. This is because my MOBO has onboard sound and the default setting was to use the onboard sound rather than my sound card.

So all is good again. However, I am still planning a nice $1500-2000 custom build because this circa 2003 computer just isn't cutting the mustard any more haha. I've held on long enough. Thanks everyone for all the help!