Shoutbox

If you can't boot from a bootable Windows CD, then it is unlikely the problem is your hard drive.  If you would like, you can temporarily disconnect the hard drive and see if you can boot from a CD then.

You are also not getting anywhere close to the point where issues with software you might have installed would start to make any difference.

It sounds a lot more like a general hardware failure (one or some combination of power supply, motherboard, CPU, RAM) and those are difficult to diagnose without known good components to try swapping with. 

I'd suggest you take it to a properly equipped shop and let them figure out what's wrong.

Yeah adeptus I was planning to take it to the computer shop where I bought the equipment, but thought it may be woth it to ask here.

Here is another way you can check to see if your CD drive is working correctly since you say it doesnt boot cds.  If you have an extra one you could replace it and see if that makes a difference.  You might want to make sure all the IDE cables and power cables are tightly plugged in. 

I also had that same problem with my old computer...

What happens:

1. turn on computer
2. mouse & keyboard switch on
3. computer runs start up but then says faliure
4. screen goes black
5. no bleeping or making deliberate noises
5. computer, mouse, keyboard and moniter stay on
6. ocasionally after resetting computer boots but after 2-5 minutes goes black
7. insides are clean
8. all fans, lights ect. inside computer work fine
9. quite humming like when hibernating
10. cannot boot in safe mode, from disk or last succsefull boot

Posible problems:

1. Loose connection
2. Hard drive faliure
3. Prosessor faliure
4. Chip damaged
5. over heating

Identifing the problem:

1. the hard drive should be softly vibrating - if not you need a new hard drive
2. the prosessor should be softly vibrating - if not you need a new prosessor
3. the prosessor should not be hot - if it is then you need a new prosessor fan
4. take apart and re assemble computer tightening all conections and looking out for damaged wires - replace any damaged wires
5. remove the chip, test your computer with the chip from a working computer.

testing the part:

remove the part that you think is the problem and replace it with the same part from a working computer - if the computer now works buy a new one of the faulty part and replace the old one with it - put the part you used for testing back where it came from - if the computer still dosent work - take it to an expert or buy a new computer.

... sadly it looks like you have a serious problem

I took the PC in and they told me that it's a file structure error with Windows XP.  They said the Hardware is fine and nothing wrong what's so ever.  Can I do a repair to corect this with the xp cd or I have to reinstall everything froms cratch?

quote:

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Can I do a repair to corect this with the xp cd or I have to reinstall everything froms cratch?

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You can do a repair install if you can boot from the XP CD, which you told us earlier you could not.

Assuming you can do it now (why now and not before, if the hardware and your CD were both fine?), follow the instructions under "Method 2" here.

Problem resolved.  Thanks everyone...Apparently my hard drive died so I had to buy a new one.  that just pisses me off, because I lost 1 month worth of e-mails.

Did you still have the old HDD?

If yes, then you can probably try HDD Regenerator or SpinRite which say that they can recover files from your failed HDD.
None of the above programs are free, but you can always "buy" them...

I was thinking to hook it up as a slave and see if my pc can read them then just copy the files over.  The only thing I'm not sure is how to recover outlook 2003 e-mails

quote:

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Originally posted by YourNeibour
The only thing I'm not sure is how to recover outlook 2003 e-mails

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wouldnt they be saved on your email server?