HP computer will not boot from hard drive

[DoctorP62]

I hope I'm posting this in the right place. I have a problem that I think is BIOS related.
I have a Compaq Presario SR1617CL, with an AMD Athlon 64 3000+ processor (It came with semperon 3200+ but I had to replace it a few years ago) on a ASUS A8AE-LE (HP) motherboard. I had 512 KB of memory. My BIOS is Phoenix award bios Core v6.00 PG Revision3.08 09/13/2005. The computer came with Windows XP home installed on a 160 GB hard drive with 2 partitions (C: OS and D: Restore). It did not come with any restore disks. I blew out the OS, and tried to restore with the restore partition, but it didn’t work. So I increased the memory to 3.25 GB and installed Windows 7 Ultimate. Everything worked fine. I was running out of disk space, so I formatted the restore partition, and used it for my page file. After I formatted the restore partition, I started getting an error during boot, but if I pressed any key, the computer would boot. I ran out of disk space, and bought a 320 GB hard drive. Installed the new drive, installed Windows 7 Ultimate on it, and used the original 160 GB drive for user files (still leaving 2 partitions). Still had the boot error, but press any key and boot would continue. I tried to backup my system using Acronis True Image home, but got an error when trying to image the 160 GB drive (the one that came with the computer). So I copied all the data to another drive, deleted both partitions (the user data, and the old restore partition), reformatted the drive, and made 1 partition. I rebooted the computer; it did the POST, and then froze with strange symbols in the upper left corner of the screen. I put the Windows 7 Ultimate DVD in, and booted from it, and tried to repair Windows, but it said there was no problem with Windows. I removed the DVD and rebooted, it did the POST, and froze with the same strange symbols in the upper left corner of the screen.
I think the BIOS (HP) is looking for the restore partition on the old hard drive, and when it doesn't find it, it freezes. I think this because the last thing I did before the problem started was to delete the restore partition. Does anyone know where I can get a Non-HP BIOS that will work with this processor and motherboard? Or is there another solution?

[TheWiz]

Hi DoctorP62,

I do not know why this would be the case, but it seems like the symbols is a possible sign that your computer's CMOS data is somehow corrupt. I would reccomend resetting the CMOS first to see if that resolves the issue. To do so, look at the jumper pins on your motherboard and mve them, or just remove the battery and power for an our or so on the board. If you need help with that, you can post a picture of your setup and I can point it out.


Also note that there was an updated BIOS for this board released from HP that resovled system stability issues.
http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/softwareDownloadIndex?softwareitem=pv-39428-1&lc=en&dlc=en&cc=us&os=228&product=1144705&sw_lang=

Additionally, it seems your computer has an MSI OEM branded motherboard MS-7093/MS-7184, which we have had research done on in the past and may be able to customzie a BIOS for you in the event the first two options do not workout.

Thanks,
TheWiz

[DoctorP62]

Hi DoctorP62,

I do not know why this would be the case, but it seems like the symbols is a possible sign that your computer's CMOS data is somehow corrupt. I would reccomend resetting the CMOS first to see if that resolves the issue. To do so, look at the jumper pins on your motherboard and mve them, or just remove the battery and power for an our or so on the board. If you need help with that, you can post a picture of your setup and I can point it out.


Also note that there was an updated BIOS for this board released from HP that resovled system stability issues.
http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/softwareDownloadIndex?softwareitem=pv-39428-1&lc=en&dlc=en&cc=us&os=228&product=1144705&sw_lang=

Additionally, it seems your computer has an MSI OEM branded motherboard MS-7093/MS-7184, which we have had research done on in the past and may be able to customzie a BIOS for you in the event the first two options do not workout.

Thanks,
TheWiz

Thanks for the link for the Bios update link, but I don't have that sound card. I have been looking on the web, and I was wondering where you found those numbers for my motherboard? Also, I am getting ready to upgrade my processor, I'm getting an AMD Athlon 64 X2 3800+. My current bios has no USB support. As for the booting problem, Once I realized I had been running 32 bit windows on a 64 bit processor, I decided to install 64 bit windows 7 ultimate. It worked, My computer is working again, but would still like to upgrade the bios. I store my backup images on an external USB hard drive, and when the computer wouldn't boot, I tried to restore from an image, but since the bios had no USB support, It couldn't find my external drive, so my image did no good.

[TheWiz]

Even though you do not have that soundcard that is still the latest BIOS available for your system and does improve system stability. As for your CPU upgrade choice, this will give you much more performance and power efficiency for a good price:

http://www.amazon.com/Processor-Athlon-E...B001C25672

TheWiz

[DoctorP62]

That is a great processor at a great price, but unfortunately is is for a AM2 slot, and my board has a 939 slot. And I've already bought the processor, just need to get some thermal couple to attach the fan and heat sink.

The Bios update from your earlier post, is it for the AM2 board or the 939 board?