Temporary Apothecary

[Tocca]

About the computer freezing while loading XP.

I bought a new PC two months ago, and when i was deciding what hardware to get i read about some people having problems with S-ATA HDs.
I also heard the same thing from my brother, he actually ended up buying a second HD (old fashioned IDE) and installed XP on that one and used the S-ATA disc as a second HD to install programs on.

I finally decided to go the S-ATA way anyway, and at first there were no problems at all.
But the last couple of weeks i've had the same problem that i read about, mostly when rebooting the PC. It stops before loading XP and just sits there.
Seems that it doesn't detect the S-ATA disc in the loading sequence.

I spoke with the store where i bought the PC and they said that they hadn't heard of that problem, but i've read of lots of people with the same problem!?

Ah well, doesn't bother me much. If i power off the PC completely and then restart it always fire up.
Maybe i should send it back and ask them to check the PC, but not right now with the new RTW patch just out!

Do you have a S-ATA disc, Teleklos?

[Red Harvest]

Interesting info on the S-ATA problem. Never believe a store/vendor when they say they've never heard of a problem. I've had vendors tell me that when I called them...a week after having talked with them about it before. They have VERY short and CONVENIENT memories. I've also seen it happen when I had some rough statistics that showed a third or more of purchasers were experiencing the same problems I was...

Detection type problems are not uncommon with motherboards. Graphics cards often get the short end of the stick, but sometimes it is specific models of memory (not infrequently some high end stuff!) S-ATA still seems to be working out a few kinks. I remembe when USB was rife with trouble.

Word of mouth is the best way to find out what is happening with specific hardware. Without internet forums we would be back in the dark ages of hardware (and software) troubleshooting.

[Ja'chyra]

Thanks K and dgb the card gets delivered tonight and I'll fit it tomorrow.

Looks like I'll not be needing my trusty old hammer this time, I'll pack it away for the next time my central heating stops working

[Ja'chyra]

Got it installed at the weekend, with a hangover and without the hammer, and it even works so the wife was wrong, I'm not totally useless.