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Lately I've run into a string of frustrating computer problems that I think relate to a new hard drive that I bought; any help on this would be greatly appreciated!
Before I bought the new HD I had my primary HD on IDE1, and a DVD (master) and DVDR (slave) on IDE2. I set the new HD as a slave on IDE1, partitioned it, and thought all was well. But later on after I got some computer crashes I started losing the partitions--and the data--on the slave HD. The primary HD was fine, but each time a crash happened the slave HD always lost its partitions and data.
A co-worker suggested that I change the lineup on my IDE channels. He said for me to try IDE1: Primary HD (master) and DVDR (slave), IDE2: New HD (master) and DVD (slave). I bought new IDE cables and setup the BIOS, but then my computer started resetting a few seconds after I loaded Windows. Sometimes it reset a few minutes after I enter Windows, and once it made it to about 30 mins before resetting. These resets were odd; I'd had crashes or freezes before, but never anything like these constant resets.
I tried to rearrange my IDE configurations back to how they were originally, and this time the computer stopped working entirely. When I turn it on I don't get any BIOS information or anything else. Windows of course never gets to the loading stage. The screen remains black, but the HD light and the floppy drive light turn on and flash as if they were looking for data. The two DVD drive lights don't turn on.
So I guess my issues are,
1. How do I get my computer to go thru the BIOS/Windows loading again?
2. Why are the partitions getting deleted and how do I prevent it? I've probably become a master at recovering data from this...
3. Does arranging the drives in different order (IDE 1/2, master/slave) matter?
4. What does the constant Windows resetting mean?
Thanks for any help you can give,
PS: I am using Windows XP Professional SP1. The old HD is a Maxtor 80gb that's about 2 years old, and the Mobo is an Abit that's about 3 years old. Hopefully the computer is not dying of old age?
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