I have a bit of a problem with my PC. Sometimes when I switch it on, it goes through the usual bootup process. When it finishes loading xp, and is supposed to go to the blue screen where you choose your user, it just hangs. I have to switch my PC off and try again.

It used to do this about once a week, but recently it has been happening more often.
I'm not sure if this is related, but when I first switch my computer on, you get that Bios bit. The bit where it finds what HDD you have, and cdrom etc. In that bit I get this message: Primary IDE channel no 80 conductor cable installed

Anyone know what that means? :confused:

'no 80 conductor cable'

my first bet would be that your pc demands a new cable. beforehands you may try to reset your bios to standard setting to make sure nothing's wrong with this.
should a cable exchange not solve the problem you might have trouble with your hd or your mobo.

and to your boot-freezing problem : go for a boot-up in safe mode. if this works steadily it's not a hardware but rather a driver-problem, maybe some damaged system files.

Boot-Freezing. Did you install new hard/software? New drivers, etc.? The new part should be your first concern when it comes to search for any error.

If you haven't installed anything new: bad. Something may be damaged then. Try nightwoods approach, boot in safe-mode, check whether hardware or software may cause the problem. If it is hardware related, try to single out the broken bit by starting with a minimum system (i.e. no soundcard, no burner, etc.) and adding components one at a time. Tedious, I know.

'no 80 conductor cable' is not a warning but rather a hint. It means you have one device (hard disc) that is UDMA66 or 100 - those need a conductor cable with 80 poles (not the 40 poles used in former times). Either you have a 40-pole cable or your 80-pole cable is plugged in the wrong way. One end of the cable is the "system" end, the other one is "master". System has to go into your motherboard, master to your HD. Check it out, yo! Because without correcting it, your HD will only run UDMA33 mode.

Takara, this may be a long shot, but a friend had a similar issue with her Hewlett Packard PC. After trial and error we discovered that if there was a CD in the CD-drive when the PC was booting, it would freeze, even if the default boot drive was C.

Removing the disc would make the PC to continue booting as normal from where it froze. :confused:

As for the 80 connector, thanks guys. I took my case's cover off, and switched the cable I had in my HDD with the one I had in my cd-rom. (the HDD one was older) Since doing that, that message has gone away. Cheers! :thumb:

As for the boot problems... I dont really understand what you are suggesting. I'm not that clued in to computers. However, Colthrun has made me think. The problem isnt due to a cd being in there, as I have successfully booted with one in many times. But I do notice that when I get to the point where it hangs, the HDD normally spins up, at which point boot continues. The times where it hangs, I dont hear the HDD spinning up.

So that hasn't affected the main problem? I suggest a new HDD then. http://www.seagate.com/products/index.html are the leading company IMHO. Look at it this way, at least a hardware problem means that it can be fixed..