My Computer is not booting up, Help?

Question

My PC was working fine until a couple of days ago when I started getting this message:
Intel ® Boot Agent
PXE-E61
Media test Failure, check cable
PXE-MOF Exiting Intel Boot Agent
No bootable device, Insert bootable disk and press any key

After doing some research I found out that my PC was trying to boot from the Ethernet port, even though my BIOS settings were the following:
1.
2.
3.
4.

The next I did was disabled the Ethernet option from the BIOS and now I wasn’t getting the Media test… message but instead the only thing I was getting was a blinking underscore on the top left corner of the complete black screen.
I already tried to fix my Hard Drive using a couple of Rescue Cds without any success and when I boot the PC with a Ubuntu Live CD, the Ubuntu OS doesn’t show my HD, even though the BIOS shows the Hard Disk as normal.

The next thing I did was trying to fix my Hard Drive with the System Recovery CD that came with my PC, but I got this message:
Gateway System Recovery, No operating system installed or partition corrupted, Press “R” to perform a system recovery
When I hit the “R” key the CD tries to load all the files, but doesn’t do anything at all and eventually the PC restarts itself.

I tried to install Ubuntu in my Hard Drive but I got an error, Windows Vista-error.

Is it my hard Drive dead, corrupted or what?
Is there a way to fix it or do I have to replace it?.
I am almost sure the problem is with the HD, because sometimes it makes some loud noises and also I wasn’t able to access to it when I booted with the Ubuntu OS.

My other question is if I have to replace my HD, can I install Windows in the new HD with the System Recovery CD that came with my PC, does that CD only works with HD that is now not working?.

Sorry for making question too long

PC Info:
Gateway 842GM (4yrs old)
Intel Pentium 4 3.00
1024mb memory
200gb HD (not working)

Answer 1

Troubleshooting Tips:



Before trying these steps, make sure your jumper is set to MASTER or SINGLE. Do not try these steps with a slave drive attached.



1) Remove the HD from your tower and try it in a completely different tower. This will tell you if it is really dead.



2)If it is recognized and tries to boot windows, power down the tower and insert it back into your original tower. Then try using a different IDE/SATA cable. If it boots to Windows then you're good to go.



3)Remove the HD from your tower and put it into a new tower that works and set the Jumper of the HD already in that tower to Master w/ Slave present and your HD jumper set to Slave. When the computer boots into Windows wait a couple of minutes for Windows to try and install the driver for your HD. If it does, try and navigate the HD. If you are able, try running any program like Scan Disk or something like it. Any such program will tell you if there are bad sectors. Some ever tell you if the MBR(Master Boot Record) is corrupt. If the MBR is corrupt, you will need to reformat the drive and do a fresh install of your OS. Backup all files while it is set as a slave.



Good Luck.

Answer 2

No problem for your long question, unfortunately it's leads to a rather short answer.



The Hard Drive is dead.



Replace it and yes, you should be able to use the Restore disk that came with your pc to put Windows back on it.



Hope it helps.

Answer 3

if you are using XP and you have a sata drive xp often loses the drive because it doesn't have drivers for it, there are instructions on the microsoft website on how to get round this. make sure the cables are fully pushed in first, 80 conductor cables have a propensity for pulling out of the connector or pulling out of the motherboard socket