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nodnerb2 · June 30th, 2003, 05:31 PM

Hi,

A buddy of mine has the following PC which is used mainly by his daughter.

Packard Bell Pulsar 30/1
300 MHz
20GB Disc
64MB memory
56K modem
BIOS Phoenix 4.0 Release 6
4A4LL0X0.11A.00004.P02 08/26/97( this is the No I added it at 11:16 GMT on 07/01/03))

OS WIN 98SE

He started having probs with it where she got a few BSOD'S about 6 weeks ago. One day it just wouldn't go.

I was asked about what to do and suggested that if he could wait for me to get home I would sort it out for him. Teenage pressure tactics got to him so he took it to a local PC Repair shop. Diagnosis - Dead Mobo, the guy gave him a good price to build a new one.

While he was thinking about what to do another PC Repair man was consulted and has a look says IDE Cables are backwards, changes them around and sends the guy away with it. PC plugged in at home and guess what- No Go

He was telling someone else about who who referred him to PC Repair man no 3. This guy diagnosed the problem as being the HDD and fitted a new one. The PC now runs but it takes an eternity to get going.

From power on to getting going is like 4 mins

It moves smoothly enough but sssslowly through the Memory testing etc down past the Keyboard and then Mouse until then it just sits for 40 secs until the HDD shows up and a further 30 secs until the CD Rom appears then there is a bit of grinding and wirring and 90 secs later Windows appears.

Once Bills best is up and away it goes as one would expect from a machine of this spec and it is certainly a lot quieter than I remember it being from a HDD point of view. Sadly the old HDD was thrown so I can't see if in fact was a duffer or not.

Can anyone shed any light as to why this thing should take such an inordinate time to get flashed up?

In the Setup there is a statement HDD Pre Delay 12 secs. What does this mean/do? Would this have any bearing on it's slow get go?

Is it possible that this old PC was never setup to run such a big HDD and the BIOS was played with( flashed) to accommodate the new HDD?

Cheers

Nodnerb2

June 30th, 2003, 05:31 PM	#1 (permalink)
nodnerb2 Ultimate Member Join Date: Oct 2001 Location: Antibe.Fr+Vegesak.De Posts: 1,360	Packard Bell Problems Hi, A buddy of mine has the following PC which is used mainly by his daughter. Packard Bell Pulsar 30/1 300 MHz 20GB Disc 64MB memory 56K modem BIOS Phoenix 4.0 Release 6 4A4LL0X0.11A.00004.P02 08/26/97( this is the No I added it at 11:16 GMT on 07/01/03)) OS WIN 98SE He started having probs with it where she got a few BSOD'S about 6 weeks ago. One day it just wouldn't go. I was asked about what to do and suggested that if he could wait for me to get home I would sort it out for him. Teenage pressure tactics got to him so he took it to a local PC Repair shop. Diagnosis - Dead Mobo, the guy gave him a good price to build a new one. While he was thinking about what to do another PC Repair man was consulted and has a look says IDE Cables are backwards, changes them around and sends the guy away with it. PC plugged in at home and guess what- No Go He was telling someone else about who who referred him to PC Repair man no 3. This guy diagnosed the problem as being the HDD and fitted a new one. The PC now runs but it takes an eternity to get going. From power on to getting going is like 4 mins It moves smoothly enough but sssslowly through the Memory testing etc down past the Keyboard and then Mouse until then it just sits for 40 secs until the HDD shows up and a further 30 secs until the CD Rom appears then there is a bit of grinding and wirring and 90 secs later Windows appears. Once Bills best is up and away it goes as one would expect from a machine of this spec and it is certainly a lot quieter than I remember it being from a HDD point of view. Sadly the old HDD was thrown so I can't see if in fact was a duffer or not. Can anyone shed any light as to why this thing should take such an inordinate time to get flashed up? In the Setup there is a statement HDD Pre Delay 12 secs. What does this mean/do? Would this have any bearing on it's slow get go? Is it possible that this old PC was never setup to run such a big HDD and the BIOS was played with( flashed) to accommodate the new HDD? Cheers Nodnerb2 __________________ Cheers Nodnerb2:D Last edited by nodnerb2 : July 1st, 2003 at 08:18 AM.