Vista Home Premium can't/won't boot

[ijg3]

New pc 2.8.07, vista preloaded - no problem until yesterday then I switched on at 3pm to hear a loud ticking noise which continues whilst the pc is on, then it flashed through the initial start up to 'Boot from CD' then a screen headed 'Phoenix Award BIOS Set up utility screen' appeared with a small red flashing window in the centre saying 'Quit without saving (Y/N) N'.
It didn't react to any key, the only way out was to switch off with the main (front) button.
Various attempts were made to get it going, F1, F8, etc etc. Then I put the recovery disc in which started when I pressed a key when the start up got to' Boot from CD'. BUT nothing happened and it went back to the red window. Pressing some keys on trying to start merely recycles the attempted start up rather than go to the Phoenix etc window.

I checked every mortal thing and again this morning but all is in place and functioning. I had installed Dragon Naturally Speaking 9.5 (the latest version in the morning) and did the tuition program without any problem then switched off.
I am writing this from my second PC.

Any help appreciated

 

[evolution400]

Sounds like your hard drive is on its way out, the ticking is probably from your hard drive this occurs when it can't boot, early signs are from cold it will load windows perfectly then once the hdd gets even a little bit warn it goes offline I would recomend you downloading Western digital tools then running some tests on the HDD these tools can be used for any hard drive and will advise if there are any faults if you can keep the pc running long enough if not plug it intp 2nd pc as additional drive.

 

[ijg3]

Much appreciate your comments and have found out (I took the precaution of printing off the pc's details last week) that the HD is a Seagate ST3320820AS 320GB 3.5th 7200RPM SATA ll HDD. Didn't have any, even slight problems, until it just went

Went to web site and downloaded the program but unfortunately there is no way I can get it on to the PC. However perhaps the second alternative you suggest may work BUT "if not plug it into 2nd pc as additional drive" not sure how you would do this - could you clarify please, thanks.


Ian

 

[evolution400]

Well you open up your second PC plug in the SATA data cable to the motherboard, then power cable to HDD and away you go it will show up in windows as an extra hdd when you boot into windows on the other machine or alternativly buy one of these adaptors which are always handy for situations such as this:-
do a search on ebay for SATA > USB you should find a few sellers which have them its basically a SATA hdd to USB adaptor which means you can plug into any PC USB port and run the tests etc or extract data.
Oh yes and I am not one of those sellers and am not promoting anything I was just suggesting where and what to look for I dont want to break any forum rules

 

[ijg3]

Many thanks for coming back to help. I have had to order one from Hong Kong which will take a few days to come but at least if nothing else happens especially with the manufacturer, I have another avenue to go to.

Can't see how you've broken any rules, you've merely suggested a help route and I am most grateful for you taking your time to assist.

Cheers

 

[ijg3]

Just to update you with some good news. I used my second pc this morning to print off some docs and to do so disconnected the printer from the disabled pc and reconnected to no 2 (XP Pro). No problem and left it connected.

This pm having received an email from the manufacturers that they wished to speak, I rang them and powered up the new pc so I could describe the problems. Lo and behold the pc fired up as normal, no noises or hiccups. Stopped call to investigate - ran diagnostics particularly on the HD but everything came up roses. So rang the manufacturers and spoke to the tech rep. He said he had heard of this happening a couple of times and said it was the drivers/usb and perhaps other things which had had indigestion and suggested I update other item such as routers, both printers etc etc which I have done and have rebooted several times without any hint of malfunction (fingers crossed).

A happy chappy thanks you for your help and hopes that this may halp others in a similar predicament.