HELP - I can't boot.

Drunkenmassacre

Drunkenmassacre

Drunkenmassacre

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Joined
9 Jul 2009
Posts
1,023
Location
Moray, Scotland
Hi Guys,

I always seem to be coming in here for help... sorry about that.
I have a computer thats been boxed up for a while, come to use it today and can't get it to boot. I tried safe mode and booting from my windows 7 disk, but neither worked.
The spec is:

Case - Silverstone grandia gd05 3 x120mm & 2 x 80mm fans, runs nice and quite. Takes full size expansion cards
CPU - AMD Athlon II x4 630 2.8ghz quad core with Phenom II heatpipe cooler
Board - Asus M4A78LT-M 760G (Socket AM3) DDR3 Motherboard (No backplate)
MEM - 4GB DDR3 1333mhz
GPU - XFX AMD HD 6450 1GB fanless with HDMi, DVi, VGA & 3D support
HDD - 60GB 2.5" sata system drive & 1TB Sata Media Drive
PSU - Corsair 430W
DVD - Samsung 22x sata DVD R/W
Software - Windows 7 Home premium & XBMC installed Fully featured media centre software

I have no ideas what to do. The message I keep getting tells me there isn't enough memory to create a ramdisc device... wth that is i dont know.

Anyone with an ounce of brain could probably sort this out - hence where I am lacking.
 
OK, no-one seems to know. Next question is: Is something fubar'd that I need to replace, and if so, what?

Like I said, its a computer thats been sat in a box, gone from working to not. Can't anyone help?
 
I've tried all variations of RAM in the machine, to no avail. I had also read that it could be a faulty sata cable, so changed that but again no effect. I'm getting really annoyed at this now, I can't get into windows at all
 
it starts with 'Windows recovery error' giving me the message-
'Windows has failed to start. A recent hardware or software change could be the cause.' It then gives me the option to Launch Startup Repair or start windows normally.
Choosing Startup Repair takes you to Windows Boot Manager, it tells ame again windows has failed to start and to fix the problem:
Insert your windows instaation disc and restart your computer.
Choose language settings and click next
Click repair your computer.

Status: 0xc0000017
Info: Ramdisk device creation failed due to insufficient memory


Also, when trying to load in safe mode, it loads Classpnp.sys file, but will then restart
 
sorry for the thread revival but i haven't been around to sort this out. So far i have tried booting with seperate sticks of RAM but that didn't work. I've used the windows memory test and memtest to see if that was the issue but nothing. i've added another hard drive with xp on it to see if that would load, but that has the same issues. i can boot into safe mode on the xp drive but not as a normal boot- does this point to anything? i would reinstall windows 7, but the ramdisk error keeps appearing so i can't yet.

anyone got any ideas?
 
Bios is set to defaults, 1 stick of ram is in.
When i try and boot from the dvd, that's when i get the ramdisk error. i'm going to try and put the windows 7 hdd in another computer and wipe it on there and try installing windows again. can you see any issues with that?
 
Ok so.I've rebuilt the machine and formatted the drive. I've connected just one stick of ram and removed the graphics card. the bios is set to default and its been told to boot from dvd to reinstall windows. However, the 'windows failed to start' error is still occurring and I can't install. Memtest says the ram passed, as did the windows memory test. Where can i go from here?
 
ok, hard drive tools have shown up no errors. I've even gone so far as to use a different dvd drive, but that (not surprisingly) didnt help. Is there any way to test the motherboard without buying a new one?
 
i've reset the bios using the jumpers, also taken the battery out. I'll try flashing the mobo tomorrow as I have little else I can try. What's the worst it will do? I can't use it now anyways lol
 
It would seem that the bios was fubar'd as i am now installing windows. i'll let you know how it goes from here on in.

Edit:

All is good. Windows has fully installed and the computer is working as per. Just updating drivers etc now :)
 
Last edited:
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