Setting up OS, more questions :(

[Nysze]

First dose anyone have a quide on setting up the bios and operating system, the manual is VERY limited in what it has on the matter. Also I think I did something wrong becuase I can't even get the OS disk to load all the way.

Ok so I went into the bios to make sure all the settings looked right (I didn't really know what I was doing but I just went off what makes since). Here is where my first problem was, the defualt auto detect setting for the procesor speed was 200, I have a AMD 64 x2 3800+ so I asumed this meant 2.0ghz, I checked all the other spets like the ram timings, and the voltages, and they matched up with the specs on their respective sites. Now when the comp boots up it says CPU clock speed: 200mhz...

uhmmm....

Ok so this might be part of my problem, or it could be fine and thats not the number I'm thinking it is.

Also I think I have to update the bois, I put in the CD that came with the motherboard and it didn't boot up using the cd, dose the same thing without the CD so I asume this isn't what I'm looking for. Is the bois already updated, or what?

Ok, so I just continued on, I put in the OS disk (Windows server 2003 64bit trial). Now this is where it gets weird, sometimes it gets stuck while reading the disk, and I leave it for 10 minutes and it's still on the same step. Once it got to this point where it says I did something wrong, and I need to reboot, if it happens again...do stuff... I forgot what that stuff was though ><.


What did I do?


And while I'm asking, how do you set up a partition? I want to set up a few. Also someone recomended putting the virtual memory on a partition at the front of the disk, making it much faster than if it was at some random spot, is the speed increase worth it to go through the bother of setting this up? I think I will end up using virtual memory alot, I have 1 gig, but I end up running ALOT of programs at one time =P.


edit...
Another thing I forgot was that the dvd drive is set to slave, I forgot to change the jumper and now I'm to lazy to open the whole thing back up just to get that 1 thing, if it makes any difference I guess I'll have to change it though.

 

[Nysze]

Ok, I've done it about 10 times now, none succesful and another I got to the error page. The error page says "pfn_list_corrupt" don't know if this is whats causing it though. 70% of the times it just freezes on "Setup is starting Windows" after it has loaded everything from the disk.


CPU and system tempatures normal, no weird noises.

 

[llama_man]

The 200Mhz will be the FSB (Front Side Bus) speed, not the CPU frequency (which is FSB x multiplier). Search the forums for more details on that.

Your DVD drive should be fine as a slave drive. If you only have one IDE hard disk and one optical, it's usually best to put each as the master on the two channels, but it doesn't make a huge difference. Since people have started using SATA it matters even less

I've sometimes had Windows lock-up on installing. For me, though, I found that just restarting the process a few times eventually fixed the problem. Can't help you any further, sorry.

 

[Nysze]

I've rebooted several times, is there any thing I am supposed to do besides just check the settings and change the boot record to boot from the cdrom first? Like update bios (which I can't figure out how to do without getting to windows ><), or instal drivers?

 

[htpcgb]

It sounds like your DVD drive might be craping out on you. Do you have any other bootable disks to try? Could you burn something like <a href="http://www.damnsmalllinux.org/">Damn Small Linux</a> and see if it can boot off that?

 

[Nysze]

The dvd drive might be the problem, I bought it OEM (by mistake ><). I'll try linux but don't really know what thats going to tell me, seems like what the drive decides to do is kind of random ><.

 

[Nysze]

Actualy I'm starting to doubt that it could be the dvd drive, I ejected the disk, put it back in, and it dosen't seem to be trying to read it at this point. Is there anything I can do to update the bios, I don't have a floppy drive on my current comp (the one I'm typing on), so I don't have a way to write the update on there.

Right now I'm just going to see how long it stays at "Setup is Starting windows" I got no idea what to do, I took the drive out and jiggled the connectors to make sure it's all the way in.

 

[Mondoman]

*Before* you mess around with trying to install Windows, you need to make sure your system is stable. Make a memtest86+ boot disk or boot CD or even a boot image on a USB flash drive, then run memtest86+ overnight to make sure you don't have any memory errors. Errors could be due to bad RAM, incompatibilities between your RAM and MB, or wrong settings for the RAM. In any case, the setup needs to be fixed to the point of no errors *before* you go on to install an OS.
The CD that came with your MB contains drivers and utilities; since it sounds like you are very inexperienced at setting up an OS, I would highly recommend that you stick to a "consumer-oriented" OS like Win XP Home instead of a "corporate IT-oriented" OS like Win Server 64-bit 2003. Remember that each driver is only written for certain operating systems and won't work on others. Win XP is very different from the Win 64-bit OSs; the drivers on the CD are 100% likely to work for XP, but unlikely to include versions for a Win 64-bit OS. If you stay with the 64-bit OS, you will need to become (or borrow/hire) someone who is a bit of a driver guru.

 

[Nysze]

alright I'll try the memtest, I don't really want to use the server OS, but I didn't have another one. I didn't think it made that much of a diference, but if it's harder then I could go ahead and get XP. Alright thanks I'ma work on memtest now.


So I started memtest, it dosen't look good though, theres a huge block of red with some numbers in it...and it has 4 errors.

 

[Nysze]

Does restarting a computer during a memtest screw it up? I realized I burnt memtest86, instead of memtest86+, so I just figured I'd restart, put the new disk in, now it's not sending any picture to the monitor, and the dvd keeps trying to read the disk (there isn't one in there right now, I tried placing the memtest disk back in, and the memtest86+ disk in, it still dose the same thing.


Ugh, please don't say I just screwed up a whole bunch of money.


Also it seemed frozen when I restarted it, it said something about unexpected error : halt in the top corner, didn't quite know what that was, but none of the percentages was moving, and I wanted to try memtest86+ instead anyways.

 

[Mondoman]

Nope, shouldn't cause any problems. Just shut off the power, including the rocker switch on the PS, and let it sit for a couple of minutes to get *fully* turned off. Then turn the power on, etc.

 

[440bx]

alright I'll try the memtest, I don't really want to use the server OS, but I didn't have another one. I didn't think it made that much of a diference, but if it's harder then I could go ahead and get XP. Alright thanks I'ma work on memtest now.


So I started memtest, it dosen't look good though, theres a huge block of red with some numbers in it...and it has 4 errors.

I have to say, it's a bit difficult to figure out what's going on in your system with the descriptions you give.

If you see errors in memtest then, it is most likely because you have bad memory.

Before you buy/exchange memory. I suggest you post what motherboard brand and model you got and, same for the memory.

Having more information about the hardware you're dealing with will make it easier for everyone to help you.

As Mondoman pointed out, given your level of experience you shouldn't be dealing with server versions of XP nor with 64 bit versions. Learn using a simpler to install version such as home edition or professional edition. Personally, I'd recommend the Pro edition. You might be able to get the academic version at a fair price if you are a student. Check Newegg, I know they've carried the academic versions in the past and probably still do.

HTH.

 

[nikolokolus]

This kind of sounds like a problem I had with a trial version of winXP 64 bit that I downloaded, burned and tried to install.

If the install BSOD's (Blue screen of death) or gets part way through then repeatedly craps out on you then I would hazard a guess that you are trying to install the OS using your DVD-RW (or CD-RW as the case may be)? I found that when I moved the disk to my DVD-ROM I had much better luck.

Then again it sounds like you've got more problems on your hand than an optical drive issue.

As someone above mentioned, we can't do a very good job of helping you if we don't know what kind of hardware you have.

 

[Nysze]

Motherboard:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813128321
CPU:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16819103735
RAM:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16820231064



Right now it's REALLY messed up, I have no clue exactly whats going on but I'll try to explain it as best as possible.

It started out I was running memtest86, it seemed like it wasen't doing anything, and it said "unexpected error" somewhere on the screen, so I turned it off and proceded to download memtest86+, when I turned the comp on the display didn't come on, also the dvd drive keeps trying to read a disk (I took out the disk and it still kept ocming to dvd drive, I also put in the windows XP disk, and both memtest disks). My first thought was that the hard drive wasen't responding, but it is connected fine, and the hard disk LED up front is blinking as normal.

So right now I need to get my display back up, then I can worry about running memtest, then I can worry about getting the operating system up. I'll try to find an extra copy of home laying around somewhere tomarow, but first I need to figure out this other stuff. I'm praying that I dind't screw something up though .

Edit: After I ran memtest I didn't open the comp until it started doing this weird crap, so unless a connection slid loose I don't see how a peice of hardware could have screwed up.


Edit:
Also here is exactly what happens when I cut it on right now. Everything powers up like normal, but then the DVD drive light comes on and makes a scratch noise, waits for a second and then the harddrive LED blinks 3 times, then it repeats over and over, the whole time I get no picture.

It was working perfectly before the restart after the memtest, there was no scrathing noise by the DVD (it dosen't sound too abnormal though, I wouldne't be surprised if there was a dvd in there and it was making the noise, but since it keeps doing it so periodicly it just seems weird).


Edit:
Also when the hard drive light comes on the hard drive makes no noise that I can tell, but I've checked the connection over 5 times, both power and SATA. I'm so lost, it was working perfect earlier, but now .

 

[nikolokolus]

try turning everything off (power supply set to off, monitor power cable unplugged or use power button) , unplug the vga/dvi cable from the video card wait about thirty seconds, reattach it, turn the monitor's power back on, try to resstart your computer and see if you get any signal to the monitor. If the power LED stays yellow you're still not getting any signal from the video card and you may need to unseat the video card and reseat it (power turned off again!).

Secondly, you could also try to reset the motherboard's CMOS jumper and start from a factory default state.

After looking at the RAM you listed I noticed it runs at 2.0 volts min. I strongly suspect that your Gigabyte motherboard is undervolting that memory (or they could just be bad RAM modules too).

improper BIOS settings can cause a lot of problems, I strongly urge you to read the motherboard manual carefully before adjusting any settings, or try to get some tech support from gigabyte (good luck :roll: ), or borrow a friend that knows a few things about computers to help you set things up.

 

[Nysze]

I can't find any info on how to return CMOS to factory default without turning it on, how would I go about doing this?

I'm about to power everything down, it's been off all night.


Also somethign about the video card is bothering me, whenever the case is on it's side for a long time (like last night) or it gets jossled the card turns diagonal, but it still stays in the pci slot. It seems like this bending might be seriously hurting something. It's not hard to just put back in place. To get an ideo on how diagonal it is getting it has an s-video cable on the right and about 1/4th of that gets covered up by the metal on the case.


Edit: I found where to clear the bios, it isn't a jumper but two wires which I have to short, (Kept putting "jumper" in my search, made itimpossible ><).

Also I'm hoping that it's just that the system was sending a little less voltage to the RAM. If so should I just add the minimum volts, start memtest again, add minimuim volts, start memtest again, is there any faster way though, becuase someone mentioned running memtest overnight, and if it takes that long I'd really rather not wait for each one to run.

 

[Nysze]

Alright, I unpluged everything for 10 minutes, reset the CMOS, it still does the exact same thing. now if I had a floppy that would be helpful becuase I could tell if the CMOS was reset (I changed it to boot from CD first).


Also when it's on I can't cut it off by the reset button, and I have to hold the power button for 3 seconds before it cuts off, before it was working at the tap of each button.

 

[Nysze]

Uhmmmm, ok I got impatiant so I unplugged everything, and then repluged it, took out the ram and switched it to the other sockets. Now it works, and now I'm going to add some more volts to the ram but I don't know how many I should add.

 

[llama_man]

If it works, I wouldn't do anything! If it ain't broke, don't fix it!

 

[Mondoman]

...
Also somethign about the video card is bothering me, whenever the case is on it's side for a long time (like last night) or it gets jossled the card turns diagonal, but it still stays in the pci slot. It seems like this bending might be seriously hurting something. It's not hard to just put back in place. To get an ideo on how diagonal it is getting it has an s-video cable on the right and about 1/4th of that gets covered up by the metal on the case....

OK, this means you have not installed the video card properly. The metal bracket on the back of the video card is L-shaped. The short top section of the L should have a small slot in in. When you install the card, the slot in the top should match up with a screw hole on the metal ledge of the case. Screw a screw (comes with the case) through the slot into this hole to physically hold the card in place.

I don't mean to offend you, but this is a very basic installation aspect that should be covered in either the video card manual or the case manual. Since you don't have the experience from having done this before, you really need to sit down and spend a few hours thoroughly reading all the manuals before continuing. If you won't do that, get a friend with some experience to watch everything you do, or hire someone to do the same, or take the parts to a local computer store and pay them to set everything up.