PC Problem

It sounds like the BIOS settings have got corrupted, and it might now be trying to boot from the wrong drive (hence the RAID prompt) A flat battery could do that, especially if you have also powered the machine off totally from the plug.

Try going into the BOIS and telling it to load the defaults, save and exit

If still no luck you need to go back in and check the boot order to the hard disk you want it to boot from

Dave Plowman (News) expressed precisely :

Replace the battery and reconfigure the BIOS settings back to default.

No - it's only powered off via software.

Tried that.

That all appears correct.

The BIOS battery is usually a type 2032 lithium coin cell. Replace that and try again.

or it might be accessing the right disk with the wrong CHS settings, which would also explain why it can't find NTLDR (NT loader). Check that the settings for the disk look correct (normally AUTO or LBA on modern systems, but you might have had it set to some CHS values).

Also check that you can see the right number of disks in the BIOS, and one hasn't dropped out, possibly causing the remaining ones to get reassigned in the BIOS primary disk table.

An old PC of mine used to flatten the CR2032 every few weeks causing checksum errors and failure to find the RAID set up I had.

I got instructions from the mnfrs on what to do in the BIOS to sort it out after fitting a new battery and just left it plugged in all the time after that. No more problems. 2032s are common as muck. Even our bathroom scales use a couple.

Checked the battery which is a CR 2032 and it was exhausted. Had a spare and fitted that. Set the configuration as I remember it but it still gives the RAID message. According to the settings, RAID is disabled. However, it will now boot. XP now says found new hardware - something about RAID. ;-)

Your computer has detected that he is back. Rabid And Idiotic Drivel.

I'd set the RAID on in BIOS then set it off again, saving each time. It sounds like it's got a stuck bit.

If you've got SATA HDs, then some controllers, even with a single HD attached appear as a RAID. You may need to update your HD drivers.

That machine uses IDE only. But it's given a clue - perhaps the SATA side needs disabling, as it's not used for anything.

I think when I originally built it IDE was the norm. It had a replacement MB after something went wrong with the CPU temp sensing which I couldn't fix, and the later MB has both IDE and SATA.

With the benefit (?) of 20:20 hindsight I now find it well worth spending a minute or 2 going through the BIOS screens with a digital camera when a PC *is* working properly. And then of course not storing them only on that PC :))

Changing the battery will have set the BIOS back to the default settings in which RAID is probably enabled.

At boot the error comes up which leads to the RAID page. But everything is disabled there. On the main setup menu, I can't find any reference to it.

I have found that the techies on alt.comp.hardware are very helpful when these kind of problems occur. Might be worth popping over there.

Tell you what,, after D40, car body filler, angle grinder and a pressure washer, a digital camera is pretty much top on the list of things you need.

I had to replace a power supply in a printer..lots of cables and wires and other things had to be removed fist. That was easy. Remembering where to put them all back was not, and the pictures proved a godsend.

Thats the most useful tool I carry around with me;)....

well most of your work involves wiring..and thats where it is the MOST use.

Now that you've changed the battery reset the CMOS by moving the jumpers when the power is off. Details are in the motherboard manual, which you can download if you don't have the original. (The model is A8N-SLI, BTW, not A8N-SL1.)