Boot error codes

This is the closest forum topic I could come up with to post my problem. Please forgive me if I'm off and move it to where it is more suited if necessary. I booted my computer this morning and got the following three error codes… PXE-EA0 PXE-M0F PXE-E53 I have done nothing to alter my system (well, I recently got a streaming media box that accesses my SMB shares but that's all but nothing to the system itself.) I've looked up the errors but can't seem to make any sense of what exactly the problem is with my system. I've read possibilities ranging from my main hard drive dying to the motherboard starting to carp** out to a loose cable. There are no loose cables and my hard drive appears to be fine. I turned off the computer for 2 hours and turned it on again and it started back up again, but I have to know what happened. I work from my computer. If anyone can direct some knowledge my way, I'd appreciate it. Or even a link to something that might help. Thanks.

Hi, sorry to hear of the problems with your machine.
The error codes you quote indicate that you are trying to boot from a network…… for a home machine this is unusual ( but not unknown)
If you usually boot from the hard drive that is inside your computer then you will need to consider following these steps:

1 Enter the BIOS ( sometimes called set up) see your owners handbook for the exact key combination, but usually pressing Esc or Del or F2 immediately after pressing the power on button and before Windows starts to load should take you into the BIOS

2 Ensure that the Boot priority is set to Harddrive as first priority with Optical drive (CD/DVD) as second and USB and Network as 3rd and 4th (The boot priority settings may be in the advanced settings area.) It is often possible to disable booting from the LAN, if you can find the settings to do this, then disable the boot from LAN

3 Before exiting the BIOS you must save the changes….. your machine then should automatically reboot into Windows.

4 If it doesn't and you have set the boot priority correctly then it often indicates one of the following problems

• Hard drive cable/connector fault
• Hard drive fault ( failure)
• Master Boot Record (MBR problem)

Try the steps listed in 1 2 and 3 above and let us know how things go
Regards
paws

Fantastic! Thanks so much for the assistance!! I'll do what you suggested and report back. I just don't understand though, because I didn't do anything to rearrange the boot order. Because it appeared to be a boot order issue, a few days ago I went into the BIOS and reordered everything and am now running fine, but I've been afraid to reboot. I will do so now and if it all goes badly, I'll simply use my laptop to report back. I work from home, so I really need to resolve this soon. Any help you can offer is awesome. THANKS!!

Weird, the computer seems fine now… So, what happened?

Weird, the computer seems fine now…
So, what happened?

The oldest computer fix in the world.

"turn it off, turn it on again"

could be a sign of an imminent failure of something, shrugs, but now would be a good time to make sure you have everything important backed up, if you haven't already, just in case.

Is there a really good program that creates an all around image file of your computer to limit re-install time later?

3 i can think of, acronis true image being the one most people seem to use..

1:- acronis :- not free :- http://www.acronis.com/homecomputing/produ…mage/index.html
2:- paragon :- free :- http://www.paragon-software.com/home/br-free/
3:- clonezilla :- free :- http://clonezilla.org/

Hi tinpanalley,
In addition to Terry's usual excellent information, here's a site that may interest you….
http://www.thefreecountry.com/utilities/backupandimage.shtml
You should be able to find what you are looking for…
Don't forget that Win 7 and some of the Vista versions have native support for disc imaging. built in….
Regards
paws

I highly recommend Macrium Reflect Free. I use it at the shop and it works perfectly every time.

I use Acronis True Image at home though as I like it's additional features like scheduling and Acronis Recovery Manager (gives you a F11 prompt at boot you can restore from if needed).

Hey guys, Thanks for all the suggestions. I seem to be having the problem again… EDIT: Looks like the C: drive was dead. The fan had been kicking into high gear the night before. Got a new computer.