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Can't get Windows to Start

n0ah1897
By n0ah1897
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So I have this old computer, that I still use frequently, and it has gone completely buggers. It's a Dell Dimension E520 with a Intel Cor 2 Duo 2.13 GHz, 2GB DDR2 543MHz RAM, and a GeForce 7300 LT(I know, I know, it's like 7 years old). I've been using it to run a private Minecraft server for my friends and family (for about 2 years now). It was working just fine 3 days ago, but one day I went to go use it and the screen was completely grey. The computer was on, the monitor was receiving a valid signal, and everything seemed to be normal except that the screen was grey and I couldn't do anything with it. So naturally I restarted a few times, Ctrl-Alt-Delete'd the shit out of it, but to no avail. I received the same grey screen every frickin' time. I figured I'd go into the BIOS to see if anything was out of whack. And of course, everything was, or at least seemed, normal. So I popped in the Windows Vista disc and ran it. That worked fine, and I got to the point where I could "repair" my copy of Windows. So I let it run the repair process overnight and when I woke up in the morning and checked on it, it had blue-screened. I decided to take the HDD out and put it into my current PC to see if anything was wrong with it. I opened it up and everything looked normal, but I wiped the drive anyways because there really wasn't anything of importance on it. After wiping it I put it back into the Dell, inserted the Windows Vista basic disc and tried to install it. Over and over again, the install process would freeze at various points. I took the HDD back out of the Dell, and put it back into my Computer. I installed Windows Vista to the HDD using my computer and everything ran fine. I then took the drive and put it back into the Dell to start it up. This time when it starts up, I can actually see the loading bar with the copyright Microsoft logo at the bottom, but that only displays for a brief second before I get a blue screen. I cannot read anything on the blue screen though because it is only displayed for like a 100th of a second -_-   So right now it's in an endless loop of trying to start, blue-screening, and restarting. I have tried everything I know to do under the sun, but nothing has yielded any results. If anybody could help me, I'd be extremely appreciative. 

"You can try to play chess with a pigeon. But even if you win, it'll shit on the board and strut around."

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If all you use it for is running a minecraft server. Install a linux distro, it'll run faster.

[spoiler=»--((¯`·._.·¤~●oO му яιg Oo●~¤·._.·´¯))--«] ☃ Case: Corsair 600T White       ☃ CPU: Core i7 3930k @ 4.3GHz                     ☃ SSD: Crucial M500 480GB

☃ MB:    Asus P9X79 LE         ☃ GPU: Nvidia GTX 780 Reference             ☃ HDD: WD Caviar Green 3TB

☃ PSU:   Seasonic X-1050     ☃ RAM: G.Skill Trident X 32GB @ 2.4GHz   ☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃ There are 10 types of people in this world. Those who understand binary and those who don't.

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If all you use it for is running a minecraft server. Install a linux distro, it'll run faster.

Yeah, I tried that too. Didn't work either -_-. Plus my parents ONLY want windows.

"You can try to play chess with a pigeon. But even if you win, it'll shit on the board and strut around."

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Did you try re-installing windows?

EDIT: Yes you did.

[spoiler=»--((¯`·._.·¤~●oO му яιg Oo●~¤·._.·´¯))--«] ☃ Case: Corsair 600T White       ☃ CPU: Core i7 3930k @ 4.3GHz                     ☃ SSD: Crucial M500 480GB

☃ MB:    Asus P9X79 LE         ☃ GPU: Nvidia GTX 780 Reference             ☃ HDD: WD Caviar Green 3TB

☃ PSU:   Seasonic X-1050     ☃ RAM: G.Skill Trident X 32GB @ 2.4GHz   ☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃ There are 10 types of people in this world. Those who understand binary and those who don't.

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Did you try re-installing windows?

Yes, like 15 times on the Dell. Then I took out the HDD and put it into my computer and installed it. Vista ran fine so I put the HDD back in the Dell and now I'm in this Endless loop :/

"You can try to play chess with a pigeon. But even if you win, it'll shit on the board and strut around."

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You should only install Windows using the system that it is going to be running on because most of the time it will freak out and BSOD.

Ok, guess that's good to know. I can try reinstalling windows one more time on the Dell. So far it has frozen everytime :/

"You can try to play chess with a pigeon. But even if you win, it'll shit on the board and strut around."

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It could be a driver issue with Vista, since you're running older hardware.

So try Windows XP if you have it

Personally, I think the harddrive is dying.
Can you run linux off a live CD for a few hours?
If yes, then it's most likely the HDD going bad.

Also, when re-installing, make sure you don't have any external devices connected,
only a mouse and keyboard, nothing else like printers or external HDDs.

[spoiler=»--((¯`·._.·¤~●oO му яιg Oo●~¤·._.·´¯))--«] ☃ Case: Corsair 600T White       ☃ CPU: Core i7 3930k @ 4.3GHz                     ☃ SSD: Crucial M500 480GB

☃ MB:    Asus P9X79 LE         ☃ GPU: Nvidia GTX 780 Reference             ☃ HDD: WD Caviar Green 3TB

☃ PSU:   Seasonic X-1050     ☃ RAM: G.Skill Trident X 32GB @ 2.4GHz   ☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃ There are 10 types of people in this world. Those who understand binary and those who don't.

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It could be a driver issue with Vista, since you're running older hardware.

So try Windows XP if you have it

Personally, I think the harddrive is dying.

Can you run linux off a live CD for a few hours?

If yes, then it's most likely the HDD going bad.

Also, when re-installing, make sure you don't have any external devices connected,

only a mouse and keyboard, nothing else like printers or external HDDs.

 

No linux would try to install, but it didn't work. Most likely due to my lack of knowledge with linux tbh. I don't think the HardDrive is failing because it was working fine while in my computer, and I spent about 10 hours transferring files from it 5 days ago without it failing.

"You can try to play chess with a pigeon. But even if you win, it'll shit on the board and strut around."

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No linux would try to install, but it didn't work. Most likely due to my lack of knowledge with linux tbh. I don't think the HardDrive is failing because it was working fine while in my computer, and I spent about 10 hours transferring files from it 5 days ago without it failing.

 

Don't install linux, just run a live session. See how long that lasts.

Also, did you try plugging the SATA cable into another port?

Maybe it is the SATA cable, try replacing it.

[spoiler=»--((¯`·._.·¤~●oO му яιg Oo●~¤·._.·´¯))--«] ☃ Case: Corsair 600T White       ☃ CPU: Core i7 3930k @ 4.3GHz                     ☃ SSD: Crucial M500 480GB

☃ MB:    Asus P9X79 LE         ☃ GPU: Nvidia GTX 780 Reference             ☃ HDD: WD Caviar Green 3TB

☃ PSU:   Seasonic X-1050     ☃ RAM: G.Skill Trident X 32GB @ 2.4GHz   ☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃ There are 10 types of people in this world. Those who understand binary and those who don't.

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Don't install linux, just run a live session. See how long that lasts.

Also, did you try plugging the SATA cable into another port?

Maybe it is the SATA cable, try replacing it.

No it's not the sata cable, tried multiple different ones with the same result.

"You can try to play chess with a pigeon. But even if you win, it'll shit on the board and strut around."

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I would plug it into your computer and check the bsod error by navigating to DiskDrive\Windows\Minidump http://www.nirsoft.net/utils/blue_screen_view.html to see if it created one.

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Ok, I'm pretty sure the HDD is failing now. I got Vista to work for a few hours then it restarted and it won't load windows again. I don't really think that getting a new HDD would be overly beneficial. If I absolutely end up needing this computer, I'll just get a new one.

"You can try to play chess with a pigeon. But even if you win, it'll shit on the board and strut around."

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It's unlikely to be a driver problem you're experiencing. I've installed Vista on a Dimension 3000 before which is even older.

"It pays to keep an open mind, but not so open your brain falls out." - Carl Sagan.

"I can explain it to you, but I can't understand it for you" - Edward I. Koch

"I didn't die! I performed a tactical reset!" - Apollolol

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Well it might be. The computer crashed before I had a chance to install any drivers. It did eventually restart. Once I get home I'll try to install the drivers and see if it crashes again.

"You can try to play chess with a pigeon. But even if you win, it'll shit on the board and strut around."

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