Major problem....Unmountable boot volume

chaddy7uschaddy7us
edited February 2005 in Hardware
I had just built my computer tpday. Everything looked nice...great case with the sweet lights and everything. I turned it on with my new flat pannel monitor and it looked great. I then started to install windows xp. I went to the setup process...but then right after it loads a bunch of files (where itr says setup is starting windows) it cuts out and gives me the blue screen of unmountabke bot volume. So this happens bfore I cna get to the point of repairing it the do the chkdisk...I have searched all over the internet all night and found no one with this problem. I have tried a cheap hard drive i ahve on ahnd and still the same thing happended. I have no idea what to do and i need this to work fast. I have built 4 computers and have never had thsi rpoblerm. Please help!

Comp specs: amd athlon 64 3400+ 512mb ram pc3200 200bg maxtor hdd crappy 32mb video card that i pulled from the fam comp (im plannin on buying a nice one soon)

Id really appreciate all the help i can get

thanks

Comments

  • chaddy7uschaddy7us
    edited February 2005
    Please i need as much help as I can get...I have ran out of any ideas and i dont know what to try. I woulkd really apreciate someones response.
    Thanks
  • rykoryko new york
    edited February 2005
    what power supply are you using? If it is a cheap one that came with the case, then it is most likely the problem. You need to spend a little money and get a quality psu like antec, ocz, enermax, fortron source, etc....
  • chaddy7uschaddy7us
    edited February 2005
    yes, it came with the case.
    it is a 450W and it is thje x-blade case..

    http://www.xoxide.com/xblade2.html

    it should be good enough for this...i do have an additional power supply on hand...that came with my other comp case but works fine with it...which is actually the comp im using right now

    thanks for your response
  • rykoryko new york
    edited February 2005
    After checking out your link, it seems your case cost $60 plus $30 for the 450w psu. Sorry to tell you, but you are not getting a 450w psu for $30, no way, no how. I can't even find ratings for the +3.3v, +5v, +12v lines which can't be a good thing.

    To me it sounds like the new hardware that you have draws too much power from your generic psu. Might work fine on older hardware though. What motherboard are you using exactly?

    The thing is that a cheap psu might work fine for a few months, but IMO opinion it is not worth it in the long run. Also look for trusted brands that have been around for some time. Any of the ones in my previous post are very good.

    When you buy a cheap power supply, you're putting everything inside your computer at risk. Does it makes sense to save $50 on a PSU to only have it blow up in the future and take the rest of your PC with it?
  • chaddy7uschaddy7us
    edited February 2005
    I see what you mean. But would the power supply be causing the problem of an unmountable boot volume? I se what you mean about the power supply and I will upgrade but I jsut want to ake sure that notheing else could be causing this problem in my computer.
    Thanks
  • rykoryko new york
    edited February 2005
    Yes, a bad psu could cause an unmountable boot volume. Bad memory can do the same thing too, but it doesn't sound like you will be able to run memtest+ if you are getting the BSOD so quickly.

    What motherboard? Is the hdd PATA or SATA? If SATA you need to load the 3rd party drivers during initial XP install---you need to hold down F6 when it tells you to do so and have the manufacturer's floppy ready with the SATA drivers.
  • chaddy7uschaddy7us
    edited February 2005
    ryko wrote:
    Yes, a bad psu could cause an unmountable boot volume. Bad memory can do the same thing too, but it doesn't sound like you will be able to run memtest+ if you are getting the BSOD so quickly.

    What motherboard? Is the hdd PATA or SATA? If SATA you need to load the 3rd party drivers during initial XP install---you need to hold down F6 when it tells you to do so and have the manufacturer's floppy ready with the SATA drivers.


    Abit AV8 VIA Socket 939 ATX Motherboard VIA K8T800

    http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/searchtools/item-Details.asp?EdpNo=1047015&sku=A458-2102

    My hard drive is jsut a regualr IDE 200GB 7200RPM hard drive...no additional drivers should be needed.
  • rykoryko new york
    edited February 2005
    Well, the av8 definitely needs a good clean stable power source since it is fairly new hardware. And the rest of your system is too, so that is why i suggested the psu first. However it looks like it only needs a 20 pin psu....most of the new s939 boards with pci-e require a 24 pin psu.

    And yes your hdd is PATA so no extra drivers required......although you will need to install sp1 to see anything over 160gb, but if you have an xp disc with at least sp1 pre-loaded you should see the whole 200gb when formatting.
  • chaddy7uschaddy7us
    edited February 2005
    So you think i should get a new power supply?
  • rykoryko new york
    edited February 2005
    absolutely....here is what i have in my rig and i love it.

    http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=17-103-920&depa=1

    here is another good one too....

    http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=17-103-456&depa=1

    I know $75-80 might seem like a lot initially, but i really wouldn't want to spend much less since everything inside your case depends on the psu.... consider it it a wise investment in the pro-longed stability and livelihood of your PC. :)
  • chaddy7uschaddy7us
    edited February 2005
    Well io tried an extra OKIA 450w PSu i had on ahnd and the same thing happended. I really do not feel that the power supply is the problem.
  • rykoryko new york
    edited February 2005
    Fyi, there is no guarantee that a new psu will solve your problems. In my first post i said that is is the "most likely" culprit.

    It could be a faulty mobo, ram, psu, hdd, or other hardware causing conflicts like a faulty cpu (not-likely), or video card. Was your old video card working fine in the computer you pulled it from? If so we can scratch that off of the list. I am assuming that the cpu, mobo, ram, and hdd are all brand new? So i would think they will all be ok. However i have occasionally seen things that don't work that are brand spanking new right out of the box. The weak link in your system is the psu, so that is where i would start.

    What type of ram do you have? You really need to run memtest+ on it to be sure it is ok. Check the SM download section if you need it. Can you test the ram in another system? A friend's maybe? Try upping the ram voltage +.1-.2 to 2.6/7v in the BIOS for stability if needed.

    Is the hdd making any clicking noises like it is about to die? You can download a disk utility from the hdd manufacturer's website to test your hdd. You should probably test that in another system.

    Take your time and rule out each component. If you get a quality psu and you still have problems, then at least you know the psu is not at fault so you can move on the the next component. In your case, I would troubleshoot in the following order....psu, ram, hdd, mobo. If you buy a new quality psu, and if your ram passes memtest+, and your hdd passes the manufacturer utility, then i would look to the mobo. RMA time.

    Good luck and keep us informed. :thumbsup:
  • rykoryko new york
    edited February 2005
    notice i said "quality" psu...OKIA does not fit into this category...

    EDIT:// really there are only 4-5 psu manufacturers worth a damn...antec, enermax, ocz, pc power & cooling, fortron source...somebody else jump in if i have left any out.
  • flyriceflyrice
    edited February 2005
    Hey, I have the exact same case (X-blade) with that POS 450W PSU. That was my problem when I first put together my computer. I replaced it with an Antec PSU and I haven't had a problem since.

    Here's my thread: It may help

    http://www.short-media.com/forum/showthread.php?t=24653
  • chaddy7uschaddy7us
    edited February 2005
    Thanks everyoine for your help, but i found my problem. It wasnt reading some files from my win xp disc so i had to get win xx boot floppys and it worked great, although its wroking im still planning on upgrading the pwer supply.
  • BoogleBoogle
    edited February 2005
    Not exactly on topic, but not completely off topic I suppose.

    What type of reputation does "Ultra" have in the way of PSUs?
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