When I boot my other PC it won't get past the POST stage of booting.It starts to POST then when it gets to "Detecting IDE drives..." it stops.
This pc is running an AMD Sempron 2600+, 512mb RAM on a Foxconn motherboard. It's not had any hardware changes, so I'm Stumped...Any Ideas anyone?
Thanks
Ian

Hi and welcome

things to check:
Cables seated properly in both drive and mobo-- also grunge can cause poor signal-- cables do fail, also
IDE controller settings in BIOS
Perhaps a new CMOS battery-- or just remove the current one and see if there are directions to reset your CMOS (bios customizations) if any.
Improper shutdown/power surge/brownout can cause bios issues.
Power supply-- try a spare connector-- if available.
Make sure the drive is actually spinning up. If it is--leave it-- if you open the case you should be able to hear/feel it.

Sometimes --for reasons known only to the computer gremlins-- just the act of removing the cable-plugs/re-inserting them can do the trick

Are you hearing any tiny "beep codes" when you start up ?

let us know

Hi ih8bills and thanks for the welcome.
I gave the pc a good cleanout to remove any dust from the case, checked all the cables,
cleared the CMOS ( I even removed the battery and gave that a clean) It made no difference. I 've changed the ribbon cable and the power supply. The HDD appeared to spin up but I still have my problem, so I thought I'll plug In my spare HDD to try that and It ran through it's POST. So now I will try the original HDD in my Enclosure to see if I can access it from this PC...
As for Beep codes I'm getting the regulation single beep on startup
regards
Ian

Have now tried the offending HDD in my enclosure and cannot access it, so I'm presuming that it's given up. I'm now going to replace it and see if it's demise has caused any other damage.
thanks
Ian

If you have a lot of valluable stuff on it -- there are ways to save it -- but none are cheap.

When is Data Recovery cheap?!..I don't think there's anything on the drive so Important that it can't be replaced....
Thanks to ih8bills for the help
Ian

Finally I've got it sorted...new HDD fresh Install of XP Pro and away we go.There appears to be no other damage so it's onwards and upwards....

Thanks

Ian