Hey everyone, Well i got all my bits today, so i put my new system togther, being very careful, all went together fine, bootd her up, flashed bios to newest version, then checked the BIOS and everything wasbeing displayed properly, everything was recognized correctly. So i set CD-ROM to the 1st on the boot sequence, and got ready to install XP PRO, got to where you choose to format etc, and the pc died. So i started her back up (she wouldnt reboot straight away) and she keeps dieing at around the same point, Checked all Temps and they seem fine, nothing is over heating. (obviously im going from touching heat sinks and bios temps) Cpu was idling at 40c which does sound kinda high.... just hope the Temp is being read correctly, and im not burning up the cpu. The full specs are.... AMD XP2400 Asus A7VX8-X Kingston 512mb PC2700 Radeon 9800 pro 40gb HDD CD-RW 2 case fans Cooler master Aero 7 Generic 450w PSU As you can see from the list above you can see what i think the problem is, Crappy PSU that i got a with a case. So any ideas?
Check all connectors, especially power connectors. Try a different Molex connector on your drives. Seems odd that it bails out as soon as it tries to format. I can't see why a 450 watt PSU should not power that system, but it wouldn't hurt to try another PSU if you can get your hands on one. Does the PC reset when this happens, or just hang? Does it actually power off? 40 degrees is not a problem.
disable all extraneous peripherals, usb, lan, sound etc.. and set the ram timings to relaxed. See if that helps.
Hey Guys, Well i swapped the PSU with a decent 300w on that i have powered this system, and it did exaclty the same thing. Pookey Head : The system powers down, and wont let me turn it back on until i have flipped the switch on the PSU. Tried, diff Molex's, Rounded and Ribbon IDE cables, but still th same problem. Yoda : Only got this 1 stick of ram! Ive tried everything that i can, and still does it at more or less the exact same point, just before or after the user agreement comes up on the XP install. Im out of ideas. Edit : I had it in the Bios screen for 10-15 mins, and it was fine. Iv also re seated the HS, and tried another ram slot, still the same probs.
Sorry to change the subject. I am not sure about your problem. I had a question about loading XP. So you are saying if i go into Bios and set it so it boots the cd rom first, then i can do a full install of XP off the disk? I have been having to put 98 on and then upgrade to XP. It gives me the option for a full install, but when i do it it leaves 98 on the system. It doesn't wipe it out. So if i format the HD, and go in BIOS and disable the floppy for boot up, it will load right off the cd and pull up to install windows without a boot disk? Again sorry to change subject, just this question hit me when i was reading this, and it was kinda like a duh question, cause it has been bugging me for a while trying to figure out how to load XP without having to install 98 first. By the way i have a Memorex copy of XP .... Just in case you were wondering..... Thanks Paul
Could it be a dodgy XP cd? Do you have another you can try, or a different OS just to test it installs....?
/me agrees, still think its the RAM. Had the same problem before, had to use a different stick of RAM to do the install.
I have to agree, it's looking like a memory problem. What are your RAM timings in BIOS? Set them as slow as you can just to see if you can get it to boot, and windows installed. Then you can start upping them a litle at a time. If your BIOS has an auto setting for RAM timings, use it. If not, then set them really slow, like 3-5-5-8 or somehing crap like that. If still no go... then just borrow another DIMM from someone just to test.
Hey, Thanks for the replys, i havnet got another Dimm to test with, so im kinda stuck, got a mate dropping off win2000, to see if that wiill install. If it doesnt then it looks like it proberly is the ram. If it was the PSU, it wouldnt be powering down at the exact same point each time, as it does it on both PSU's ive tried. If win2000, doesnt work looks like i need a dimm, Guessing its just the installer, that doesnt like the ram? not the fact the ram is buggered? Once again cheers for all your help.
Could well be, Ive had it before where I had to use another dimm for the windows install, and was able to change back over when the install was complete without problems...
Sounds like ram to me as well but I recently had a very simular problem with a duff p3, switched the chip and it was fine. Also Had a dvd rom that just would not install windows XP and blue screened in that same place every time, would install every other OS just fine tho.
Download Ultimate Boot CD ftp://ftp.sweclockers.com/pub/Felsökning/Ultimate Boot CD/ubcd221.zip burn the ISO to a CD and boot from it. When booted you get a menu, go to memory utilities(F3), run Memtest86 and Windows Memory Diagnostic. Give each test a day to run. If you get any errors, it is faulty RAM. If not, it _could_ still be the ram, but the RAM sticks is probably fine.
I know that the Xp disc ive got, wont install on this system with my GF3 in, it hangs when it says setting up windows, so i have to put in my old voodoo, for it to install on this system. If win2000 installs later, then at least i know the pc is running.
Im posting this from my new rig! Win2000, Installed perfectly! Only now, im only getting 12,000 in 3dMark 01, all on default settings. Do you think i should be getting higher?
