NTLDR Missing

[folkboat]

My aging Compaq Athlon2000xp (6410NX) is exhibiting intermittent problems.

NTLDR Missing message when powering up. OTOH if the box is left powered up for a while, than power is toggled Windows starts......... (as though the box needs to warm up).

It should be noted the box has been upgraded with:
- additional 256mb mem stick
- wireless NIC card
- PVR-150
- 80mb disk drive
- ATI 7000 video card

The box will run for days/weeks if left unattended.

Coupla theories.........aging power supply (200 watts)disk drive, cable........
Gremlins.

I plan to reload Windows/GBPVR drivers etc........however if the system has problems I'd like to fix them first.

Any Ideas???

[elite]

This might help although if it is intermittent I would suspect imminent faliure (back up now!)

[HtV]

- 80mb disk drive

What OS are you running, "VeryTinyXP" ?

[rowle1jt]

Yup, I'd back up the drive ASAP. At the very least, you have a flaky IDE cable, and at the worst, your about to lose an IDE channel, or the drive is about to blow up.

[daphatty]

I've had this issue before. After replacing every damned piece imaginable I ended up tossing the mobo and voila, problem solved! Good luck!

[SniperDude]

80mb is a pretty small drive

... I am sure you meant 80Gb .. but anyhow that system is probally reaching 3 years or more in age... so the drive is most likely failing... figure you have at most 1-2 weeks to get a new drive up and running...
Highly recommend TrueImage software to create a clone or backup your existing.. (in my experience its far better than Ghost)

from what you are describing your bout to lose motor control on the drive... happens alot to WD drives.. not sure what you have in there...

[folkboat]

Yupper, everything backed up!!

80gb + (40gb OS/GBPVR drive).

This problem has been going on for over a year.....
Saw the "Computerhope" page on NTLDR missing - done most of what was suggested.

Finally spent most of yesterday looking at options to upgrade the motherboard & power supply + memory. Looked at barebones kits from Newegg/Tigerdirect............any suggestions??

"If it ain't broke don't fix it" theory applies as long as the system is up and running................OTOH it is broke - sorta.

[rowle1jt]

Are you looking for anything particular?

Let me know kind of what direction you want to go, and I 'll point you at the stuff that I would go for.

ATX or mATX
Intel or AMD
High end/middle of the road/I want to save some money
preference of scratch build or bare bones?

[folkboat]

If all things were equal, my preference would be to upgrade the Compaq 6410nx's motherboard, power supply, memory and a new AGP ATI video card.
The box sits nicely next to our Onkyo subwoofer - front to back ventilation.

That having been said the main purpose of the system is to distribute MP3 audio throughout the house using hardwired MVP's. We currently have two and will be buying an additional MVP soon.

We do not watch TV through GBPVR, we occassionally record OTA broadcasts and watch them on the MVP.

This entire PVR hobby was started because we wanted to play MYST.....

Any system upgrade MUST be quiet, actually the Compaq box is very quiet.

Soooooooooo any upgrade should be below $300 and closer to $250.

Thanks

[rowle1jt]

I am going to guess that the motherboard is a mATX and not ATX correct? I will look around and see what I can find in that price range, may take a day or so.