A7N8X Deluxe - Win XP Boot issue

[Martyhead]

Hey folks need some advice. I was doing my annual upgrade of components (except for HDs) and I am having issues with getting WinXP to boot. I have no problem booting up and running thru the startup menu, however the split second the Windows XP Professional logo screen pops up, it quickly goes to a blue screen and then a reboot occurs. This whole Windows spash screen and blue screen things happens real fast. The mobo posts correctly, memory is fine and passes the memory check on boot up. I have a hypothesis below, but before I tell you what I think, here is a run down of what I have versus what I am replacing it with:

OLD:
Abit KR7A-RAID (VIA chipset)
Athlon XP 2100+
Samsung PC2100 2x512MB
Antec PS 400W

NEW:
Asus A7N8X Deluxe (Nvidia chipset)
Athlon XP 2800+
OCZ Technologies PC3200 2x512
Enermax 430W PS

Here is what I have dont to try to fix the problem:

Flashed BIOS from 1001G to 1002
Confirmed low CPU temp (40 degrees celcius)
Recheck all connections to the mobo
Replaced IDE cable to hard drive to see if it was bad
Check Master and slave jumper settings
Confirmed that the IDE cable is ATA133


My hard drive we swapped from my older rig and it was working fine. I had on a ESD strap and took all the precautions that anyone else would have done. I have done many of swap outs so I do feel that I know what I am doing (or so I hope). I think that since my hard drive was installed on the Abit board (which used a VIA chipset), the hard drive controller for the Asus (Nvidia) wont let me boot the the hard drive. So I am thinking that I will need to do a fresh OS install on my old HD. Oh BTW. my HDs are WD 80GM 7200RPM with 8MB cache just in case you were wondering. Nay help would be appreciated. Thanks.

Marty from Richmond, VA

"I got over 100 Gig stacked on my rig"

 

[Martyhead]

I think that I have found my problem. I will post later tonight to let you know if this was definately it:

When I went from a VIA to Nvidia chip there are controller conflicts. Basically here is the skinny stright from Microsoft:

This error can occur if the registry entries and drivers for the mass storage controller hardware in the backup computer are not installed in Windows.

For integrated device electronics (IDE) controllers, there are several different chip sets available, such as Intel, VIA, and Promise. Each chip set has a different Plug-n-Play identifier (PnP-ID).

The PnP-ID information of mass storage controllers for the backup computer must be in the registry before startup so that Windows can initialize the correct drivers.

http://support.microsoft.com/defaul...kb;EN-US;31408

"My prenupt says I get the damn computer"

 

[Teq]

Hi Martyhead,

I've done the "new motherboard" thing several times with win2k, and everytime I ended up reinstalling the OS.

It appears that it cannot dynamically compensate for changes in IDE devices, as the article from MS seems to indicate.

Looks like you're going to have to reinstall.

 

[jolle]

You cannot just swap in your new hardware from the old system and start it up. It has to do with XP being registered based on hardware serial codes. It won't boot because it sees that you have changed all of your hardware. All you need to do is run the XP install and use the repair option. It basically reinstalls the OS but leaves all settings, files, etc. intact. You will have to reregister the OS and do all the Windows update stuff again. So I don't think it is a hardware problem, try this and if it doesn't work then you will know that it is hardware.

 

[paulj]

You should also clear the CMOS on this board once.

<font color=red>The solution may be obvious, but I can't see it for the smoke coming off my processor.</font color=red>

 

[Martyhead]

Here is the update:

I booted from the WinXP disk and did a repair install. didnt clear the CMOS as I didnt see the need to. Everything works beautifully and no data was lost.

PaulJ - MS said in most cases you never need to clear the CMOS in this case. But thanks for the advice...

So you must be wondering how fast is the new Barton 2800+. Sgnificantly faster that my 2100+. But the OCZ memory is the shoit! $350 well spent.

"My prenupt says I get the damn computer"

 

[tRiXtA]

Hi PaulJ

Why do you say you should clear the cmos once on these boards? Are you supposed to do that when you first get it no matter if you are having booting or posting issues or not? So the first thing you should do with the board is clear the cmos?

<b><font color=red>Nothin like a Pentium II furiously churning out a blistering 0.8 FPS on 3D Mark 2001!!!</font color=red></b>

 

[RCPilot]

I wouldn't put a band-aid on like that, myslef. But if it pleases you ---.

If it ain't broke, take it apart & see why not!

 

[tRiXtA]

ha ha ha ha what do u mean rcpilot?

<b><font color=red>Nothin like a Pentium II furiously churning out a blistering 0.8 FPS on 3D Mark 2001!!!</font color=red></b>

 

[RCPilot]

I'd never do a repair. Load clean is the only way. A lot of people are just plain scared to load clean. There will be problems down the road & you'll chase it around & around, but still won't do a clean install. Just bad practice to me.

I've got a friend of mine that is hard headed. He got a granitbay board & a P4 2.5 or 2.53 CPU & DDR 333 RAM, that's all. Using his old 2 different HDD's a 10 gig & a 30 gig & a Geforce 2 Ultra. His OS is so screwed it isn't funny. Started out & upgraded 98SE about 6 months after XP came out. Didn't do a clean install. Then he upgraded it to SP1. Without a clean install. Now he took all of that into a new machine. Still with no clean install. He tried for a week to do a repair with XP & it wouldn't do it. Then he poked around & found the Catastrophic Failure in XP & finally did get it to go. Called me up bragging He'd got it, without doing a clean install. He is running a whopping 15 FPS in NASCAR over his old 900, he's tickled. That much more CPU & 15 FPS? LOL!! Trouble it BSOD's a lot & doesn't like the drivers he tries to install. I tell him he's never going to get the speed or stability out of his new system without a clean install. He still refuses to do it, I think he's just plane scared to do it, I don't know. He's calls once or twice a day with problem & I say the same thing, Do a clean install. Oh well it's his money & time he's wasting, not mine. I do a clean install if I change a vid card, it's just a good practice to avoid any trouble. He'll never know if it's hardware or software with his problems. He still refuses to do a clean install. So I let just let him chase his tail around as I game on my machine. Oh BTW he blames all his problems on XP! ROTFLMAO. A lot of people are just that way, putting Band-Aids on OS's. That's just the way I see it. You'll never catch me doing that!

If it ain't broke, take it apart & see why not!

 

[paulj]

It seems that everyone has had to clear the CMOS. It seems to solve some problems. It doesn't make sense if you have the same settings in the BIOS but it seems to work. Also it's relatively easy to do.

<font color=red>The solution may be obvious, but I can't see it for the smoke coming off my processor.</font color=red>

 

[tRiXtA]

Most certainly agreed Rcpilot, I laugh my ass off a these guys who come on here and go "I recently swapped just my mobo out of my machine and kept the same os and hdd and everythnig, how come i am having instability problems??!@"
Like think about it!! Geezzz... I , like you, do full clean installs all the time, your certainly right alot of people are scared of it, but if they would just realize that its not gonna kill them, they would run sooooo muchfaster and better if they just did it. Anyways, I dont see how that ties in with Paulj saying to clear the cmos first thing right off the bat. Maybe I am missing something?

<b><font color=red>Nothin like a Pentium II furiously churning out a blistering 0.8 FPS on 3D Mark 2001!!!</font color=red></b>

 

[RCPilot]

I'm not sure of clearing the CMOS. I do respect PaulJ's opinion though. The only time I had to clear a CMOS on a A7N8X it was my fault. I always start the MOBO on a phone book before it ever goes in a case. I put in the vid card, RAM & CPU & cooler on the board. Then I put a PSU & monitor to it & use a pencil on the posts to start it up. I go into BIOS right then & set the multiplier & such. That way I know it's fine. Then & only then do I put it in the case. Well the last one I built while I had it running like that I jiggled the vid card & lost the video. Shut it down & no video when I tried to start it again. Cleared the CMOS fired it again & reset the multipliers & such. It was fine. Loaded it into the case & it went to the customer. End of story. I wouldn't have cleared the CMOS, but I had to get it back up.

If it ain't broke, take it apart & see why not!

 

[FingerDemon]

rcpilot,

I understand what you are saying about clean installs and just had to do my first one recently myself to fix unsolveable problems. But I still see it as a kind of last resort since I don't want to have to reinstall all the software I have. I mean, I don't care about going through the Windows setup and tweaking, but reinstalling every game and piece of software is a hassle. Is there some way around this, I don't know about. I thought each install routine put entries in the Windows registry that get blown away with a new install so previously installed software would need to be fully reinstalled.
Since you said you do it so often, I thought I'd ask if you have some shortcuts.

Just a curious newbie.

FingerDemon

 

[CompSci]

Ya, Clean install sets em right to last awhile...
For a new mobo definitely!!!

Check out the new mobo, work out what it likes and doesnt, which drivers, devices that all work well together, then come back now that ya got every thing in hand or on the desk and,
Load er up new clean and swift for its workin life...
Ya wont have any stub devices/drivers, hardware checks, regestry entries and unecessaries hangin around.

 

[RCPilot]

I use Nero to keep all my current drivers & game patches & saves that are up to date. All my photography files & video files are managed with Nero as well. So all I do is run Nero on the 4 main folders that I use & it will add all the latest files without me having to even think about it. I use System Downloads, Gaming Downloads, Camera Pictures & Movies. Everything is on my disks I need then.

So then I just format the drive & load Windows & MOBO drivers. Then I load the programs & patches or latest drivers. I don't believe I use any of the drivers that came on CD's because I've got latter ones, usually. Then I load all the programs & games with only latest patches, one at a time. It probably doesn't take over 2 hours I'd say. Now I've got a squeaky clean system. That's how I do it with my working computer. With XP I don't need to do it oh maybe once a year, maybe twice? Not very often. With 98SE it was at least once a month, or every other month.

When I build it's boot, Format HDD & load Windows. Then MOBO drivers. I always load new Bare Bones & add one device at a time with it's drivers after that. After everything is loaded that's in the computer, then I load programs., 1 at a time. I won't build without a clean install because if there are problems you can get to the bottom of it right away & know the our dear friend Windows isn't the problem!

I use a few programs myself & lots of games. I don't mind it at all because it's always better than before. I've usually flipped this switch or that property along the way that was actually holding up things. So when I go into the programs & set them up they are all fresh & are not patched or upgraded several times. They seem to run better.

If you wanted to use Ghost or another program, you could copy the setup at that point before you start adding files & you could use that to do a reinstall. I don't do that myself because of the way I do it & the image would be out of date when I went to do it again.

If it ain't broke, take it apart & see why not!