i just newly bought a desktop, already built (last time i tried to build one it didn't work out), but 3 days later it crashed on me.

i'm not sure wats in it, i know its an amd athlon 64 dual core 4000+, 1 gig ram, asus motherboard m2n-e sli, HIS X 1650 pro, 400gig sata hard disk drive, dlink wireless 108g pci adapter, running XP professional.

it won't get pass the windows loading screen, it doesn't restart, it just keeps loading for hours. when i restart it again, i have the option to go thru safe mode, last good configuration or start normally. none work. safe mode ends as it checks thru Drivers folder.

i've tried checking thru bios, it looks fine, nothing out of the ordinary, i tried reinstalling windows but every time i try to recover or reinstall it always stops at "searching for previous installed version of windows".

i can't run recovery console either, it keeps telling me to put in disk, i don't have a floppy drive. it didn't read from windows xp disc. is there one in windows xp disc? the disc is authentic.

my brother told me he accidentally tipped the cpu over then it happened. i'm not really sure if tats the caused, since my brother is only 15.

sumone please help. i bought it from a store 3 hours away from me. i don't want to make the trip on the train back there.

(I lost my license. speeding.)

Just do a clean install. You can't start installing xp without sata raid driver (you will be asked to press F6 if you need to install any third-party or RAID drivers). Buy or borrow floppy drive and put the raid driver on it.

To back up your important files, try to remove the hard drive from your computer and connect it to the second computer through an external USB HDD controller.

are all raid drivers the same or do they vary from motherboard to motherboard?

i have the Intel® 82801FR SATA RAID Controller but i'm using an asus motherboard. is it okay? or do i need another one?

No, not the same. Each raid controller has provided with its own driver.

Your model has an onboard NVidia raid controller. You can find its driver in your motherboard support CD and you will have to copy the contents of the driver in the floppy disk.

1. Place your motherboard support cd into a cdrom drive.
2. Drivers menu will appear then select the Raid driver disk.
3. Click "Make NVidia Raid driver".
4. Insert floppy disk in floppy drive.
5. Follow the on screen instructions.

Now you will have a floppy disk raid driver.

During XP installation, you will be asked to press F6 if you need to install any third-party or RAID drivers and wait for the instructions for the raid driver.


If you are not willing to format and install a new OS in your computer. Try this.

Go to Recovery Console.

When you are prompted, type the administrator password, and then press ENTER (if none was set, leave it blank and press ENTER).

At the command prompt, type bootcfg /list, and then press ENTER. The entries in your current Boot.ini file appear on the screen.

At the command prompt, type bootcfg /rebuild, and then press ENTER. This command scans the hard disks of your computer then displays the results. Follow the instructions that appear on the screen to add the Windows installations to the Boot.ini file. For example, follow these steps to add a Windows XP installation to the Boot.ini file:

a. When you receive a message that is similar to the following message:
Total Identified Windows Installs: 1
[1] C:\Windows
Add installation to boot list? (Yes/No/All)
Press Y hit ENTER.

b. When, you receive a message that is similar to the following message:
Enter Load Identifier
This is the name of the operating system. Type the name of your operating system, and then press ENTER. The name is either Microsoft Windows XP Professional or Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition.

c. When you receive a message that is similar to the following:
Enter OS Load options
Type /fastdetect, and then press ENTER.

Take the CD out of the drive.

Type exit then press ENTER.

Note: The instructions that appear on your screen may be different, depending on the configuration of your computer.

If it did not work, I would recommend a clean install.

Be a part of the DaniWeb community

We're a friendly, industry-focused community of developers, IT pros, digital marketers, and technology enthusiasts meeting, networking, learning, and sharing knowledge.