startup problems

Question

i freind of mine has a dell optiplex gx150, he wants me to fix it for him.. first when u start the computer it will show the dell screen, then goto the windows xp screen then thats it it will reboot... i was getting an error saying Diskette drive 1 seek failure, i opend the computer and checked the cable conections on the diskette and stuff, im no longer getting that error, but still it wont startup.. after a few min i got another error saying the problem is caused by IPVNmon.sys,,, then never got that error agian, i put in the dell cd's and they wont run.. i tried to startup in safemode and it just gives me a list of file names stops then just reboots, any help would be great, thanks

xxtimmitxx · Answer

I had this problem with all of my GX150s once I installed Microsoft Hotfix - KB885835 where they were in a permanent loop at the loading screen on Windows 2000.  I never rolled out XP on the GX150s because they seemed too slow, but that patch also applies to XP so I'd go into safe mode, remove it and see if that resolves it.  tim

Mike_3 · Answer

i cant get into safemode,, it just gives a list of files names, i cant do anything with and just reboots by it self,i had an idea , i have old HP pc with windows 98 on it, is it possible to remove the hard drive on the hp and put into the dell and just use the dell startup disk to get windows xp on it?

xxtimmitxx · Answer

If you press F12 to get the boot menu before it starts loading Windows XP, are you saying it won't even attempt to boot from the Dell Windows install disk? tim

Mike_3 · Answer

i hit f12 it takes me to the boot device menu, i go down and hit cd rom, it wont load the install disk, it says strike f1 to retry boot, f2 for setup utility, i hit f1 nothing happens just gives me same thing...

gzio · Answer

1st thing to do is determine that all other drives in the system other than the FDD are jumpered to Cable Select 'CS'.  Then as soon as you see the splash screen hit F2 to get into BIOS and check to see each drive is being reported properly by the system.  Reboot soon as you see the splash screen again hit CTRL+ALT then D key this should bring you to a IDE diagnoistic utility.  If not run the system diagnostics from the utility partition using the F12 option.  Check to see if your dealing with a hardware issue or software issue.  Chances are if it turns out to be a software issue the NTDETECT or other critical boot files maybe corrupt.  However,   I thought I saw you were trying to restore with Dell cd and won't see drive.  Probably issue I stated before drive configurations messed up.  Good luck

Mike_3 · Answer

thanks for the reply, i used the ctrl alt and d key and the ide came up, heres what it says

IDE Drive Diagnostics running, please wait...

Primary IDE

Drive 0: ST340016A - Pass

Drive 1: No IDE device

Secondary IDE

Drive 0: No IDE device

Drive 1: LITE-ON LTR-24102M - Diagnostics not supported

Test Complete, Press to reboot

-------------------------

i hit enter it took me back to the screen that says We apologize for the inconvenience, but Windows did not start successfully. A recent hardware or software change might have caused this.

Safe Mode
Safe Mode withNetworking
Safe Mode with Command Prompt

Last Known Good Configuration (your most recent settings that worked) Start Windows Normally

Use the up and down arrow keys to move the highlight to your choice.

Seconds until Windows starts: 30

after that if just reboots and does it all over again...

gzio · Answer

Hardware looks good as far s the drives go.  It's not made to test the CD so that is the proper response.  I would run the Quick test diags.  F12 then boot utility partition.  If still all good memory  etc.. deemed to be software.  At this point if data is not important boot the dell Operating sysytem cd and restore unit.  any further issues you can chat via AIM my name GZIO.  or email cinellge @umdnj.edu.  I can help though this

xxtimmitxx · Answer

Mike_3@ wrote:

i hit f12 it takes me to the boot device menu, i go down and hit cd rom, it wont load the install disk, it says strike f1 to retry boot, f2 for setup utility, i hit f1 nothing happens just gives me same thing...

Mike_3 · Answer

with the help from gzio i got the diagnostics cd to run.. now heres the error im getting    system error , this system is not recognized as a supported dell pc. these diagnostics may not be run on unsuported systems

jjbuckaroo · Answer

dude, look again at your diagnostics....it says your cdrom is a slave device with no master!

Secondary IDE

Drive 0: No IDE device

Drive 1: LITE-ON LTR-24102M - Diagnostics not supported

Details, details. Ok, change the jumper on your cdrom to cable select and it should set it to master. Not sure how you got it to boot to the diags cd like that. In fact your cdrom is completely screwy like that and may even be why windows is rebooting. If I were you, I would do a complete desktop rebuild on the system and do the reset jumper on the board and check all your other connections and make sure they're all good. You already said the floppy cable was loose and now this. It really looks like someone who had no clue took the system apart or something.

As far as it being the wrong diagnostics...You can download the correct ones for your system from support.dell.com. You'll need 5 floppies. Also, what operating system are you using anyway?

Message Edited by jjbuckaroo on 03-17-2005 07:53 PM

Mike_3 · Answer

im going to download the right diagnostics,, i never had to do one of those jumper reset on the board, how exactly do i do that? i found the jumper reset but what do i do? just take it out for a few min and put back in or do i pull it out and leave it out?

jjbuckaroo · Answer

I mean the jumper on the back of the cdrom drive. There should be 3 positions marked CA (cable select) MA (master), and SL (slave). Change it to cable select.   Looks like there is not reset jumper on a gx150. You can just go into the bios and light up num lock, caps lock, and scroll lock. Then hit alt-e alt-f alt-b.   You could also remove the cmos battery for a few minutes. Message Edited by jjbuckaroo on 03-21-2005 08:10 AM

Mike_3 · Answer

i download the diagnostics with the 5 floppy disk,, i got it to run in the dell and the test came out good with no errors, i did the alt-e alt-f alt-b. thing and made sure the cd rom is as cable select, the computer still gives me a dell screen goes to the windows xp load screen then just reboots itself, anyone know whats wrong with it?

speedstep · Answer

REFORMAT, REINSTALL,

There is a point where its not productive to keep messing with it.

The CDROM Showing up as secondary means it is NOT Set for cable select but it is set as SLAVE.

You need to be working with WIN98 startup floppy and format fat32 c: with format c: /s

Then you can install XP and have dual boot dos and XP.
That way if theres a problem needing a re-install or a driver or file you can boot dos and copy over.

If you need the data on the drive then get a new one and make the current drive secondary AFTER install and setup.

Mike_3 · Answer

i dont have any WIN98 startup floppy , can they be download? and i dont think the dell cds i have has win xp on em, and i never bought a copy of xp...

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startup problems

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