Strange Stuff

[ruhroh]

Hello all,this question is for a friend of mine.He has been having lockup and reboot problems.Hes running xppro on an amd based machine.Pc motherboard,amd 800mhz,256mb ram....his hard drive was just replaced,we also replaced fan and heat sinks on processor.Was working great...but now it will just lockup sometimes....or it will lockup during reboot.....or will reboot several times during reboot.Im at aloss...anyone help?

[Kunal]

turn of automatic restart, cant remember wher it is though :blink:

[Virtualbody1234]

To turn off automatic restart.

On your keyboard press hold Windows symbol key and then Pause/Break key. System Properties window will popup. Now click Advanced>Startup an Recovery - Settings>Remove the checkmark from 'System failure' [ ] Automatically restart then click ok.

[ruhroh]

Thanks for the tip,not sure if that was really the problem so I used the disk to run a fixboot repair...so far so good,we'll see!

[_John_Lennon_]

Originally posted by ruhroh@29 October 2003 - 18:02
Thanks for the tip,not sure if that was really the problem so I used the disk to run a fixboot repair...so far so good,we'll see!
Its not that its the problem, its just that it lets you see the error code screen to see if it tells you the problem.

[sparsely]

now that it's not restarting automatcally, by doing what VB1234 said, you can check for errors in the Event Viewer.
right-click 'My Computer' > Manage > Event Viewer > System

you mentioned that you installed a processor & heatsink....are you sure it's not overheating?

[ruhroh]

[UPDATE] Well,it didnt work.Total system crash..Reformatted,reinstalled,now locking up before installation complete.Jeez,what a pain.I dont know if cpu is going or bad ram or what...Im open for suggestions on what to do next.

[boyzeee]

you probably got a hardware conflict. before you restart take out anything that is non essential ie modem, network card, tv card, as these kinda things are known to cause issues on setup (especially modems ;) ) you can put them back in 1 by 1 after boot. also if you fitting a sound card or graphics card make sure that you disable the onboard graphics or sound (if they fitted ;) )as they will conflict. make sure the date is correct in ya bios and if it still dont boot look in ya bios for failsafe settings and select it, this will turn off any advanced features, again once you have got it to boot you can turn enhanced/optimal settings back on. ;)

[Virtualbody1234]

Test your ram. Get DocMemory tester here. (http://downloads-zdnet.com.com/3001-2094-1534814.html) You will need a blank diskette.

If you pass the memory test...

Then restart the installation with only the minimum components installed in your PC. Keep only motherboard, CPU, RAM, HD and graphics card. If you still have problems while installing that way then at least you have now narrow it down to those few things. If you successfully install without problems then the cause is one of the other (not installed) components.

[Lamsey]

Originally posted by Virtualbody1234@30 October 2003 - 14:56
Test your ram. Get DocMemory tester here. (http://downloads-zdnet.com.com/3001-2094-1534814.html) You will need a blank diskette.
If you have a CD burner, try MemTest86 instead ( http://www.memtest86.com ). It is a much more thorough tester.

I would guess that it is your RAM that is faulty - I have had similar problems before.

[nanotek]

try to get more ram xp pro works real smooth on 512 mb

[ruhroh]

Well...new update...I took most of ya'll's suggestions and put them to work[aside from my own theories].......got a new video card,as fan was frozen...didnt realize it.Just a simple gf64mbcard.Then after testing ram..got all sp1 updates and then some ...froze again.I had tested all hardware to this point,so I removed heat sink and fan from cpu...guess what?...The chip[an 850mhz athlon/socket A],had been damaged by the fan wearing out......little metal flakes present-and obvious wear.I called a friend...lo and behold got a duron processor/slot A 850mhz for 20$U.S......cleared all of the probs.......was a process of elimination,and a pain in the ass.Thanks for all of the feedback guys and gals :).

[Virtualbody1234]

Well it's a good thing that you have it fixed.

Thanks for reporting back to us.It's nice to close loose ends. http://www.mcbriens.net/liam/img/smilies/thmbup.gif