Help!!!! Hardware Or Software issue?

You did a clean install of windows I assume. If this is brand new and Windows installed correctly the first time, it could be a memory problem. Try making an ISO of memtest86 and letting that run through a few times.

Make a note of the error codes on the error messages within Windows itself. You can either do it when they pop up or go through the event viewer (start -> programs -> administrative tools -> event viewer OR controls panel -> administrative tools -> event viewer) and look up the system events that have errors by them. Make sure all the drivers are correct and up to date, too. Make sure the Crossfire and RAID drivers are up to date and correct. It could be a number of things.

When does this happen, are you doing anything specific or does it just start up and go "I'm sorry, Windows hates you, try again later."

Honestly if it were my brand new system acting that way, I'd blow it away and reinstall everything since there isn't much on it anyway.

Post some of the error codes here. Hope I helped give you some direction.

Cube gave you really good suggestions, I believe his last one is the one you should try now.

What I would add to his suggestion above is, do an install with a "bare" system. That is, install with only one video card and one hard drive, see if the system is stable that way. If it isn't, it will be easier to figure out the reason on the simpler setup. If it is stable, then you can proceed step by step to add the other pieces.

I would pay particular attention to the drivers installed (motherboard and video specially) and, I would test the hard drives to make sure that neither has any bad sectors.

HTH.

Edited to correct misspellings.

do ur best to get a copy of Ultimate Boot Cd and scan ur hardware with this cd. it contains many diagnostic tools


link : Ultimate Boot Cd

0.1 Go into the BIOS of your motherboard and ensure that HDD S.M.A.R.T is enabled.

1. I am guessing that you installed Windows from scratch on that spare hard drive you had, is this correct ?

2. If the answer to 1. above is "yes" then do you get any errors at all during the Windows installation ?

3. I know you said you tested the memory, now that the system is giving you all kinds of headaches again, I suggest you re-test it now using memtest. Let us know the result.

It sounds like a hardware problem but, if it were, you should have problems during the Windows installation yet, it doesn't seem you experience any at that time (at least you didn't mention any).

HTH

a. Since you've been running Memtest for several hours without errors it is reasonable to presume that the memory is working.

b. Since SMART didn't give you any errors, it is reasonable to presume your hard drive is working. However, did you do a full format when you installed Windows ? if not, the problems could be caused by bad sectors.

If your hard drive and memory are working properly and you get all the problems after a clean/full Windows install, that doesn't leave very many possibilities.

What's left is,

1. Your power supply does not provide clean consistent power.

2. CPU or motherboard are flaky (they become unstable as their temperature rises)

3. Your CD/DVD unit isn't reading the Windows CD properly. This can explain the error message you got during installation (0x21a - a process required by Windows terminated unexpectedly).

I would try this next,

Replace the IDE cable on your CD/DVD unit and try installing Windows again. The next thing I'd try is a different power supply.

Also, strange as this may sound, on your motherboard there is likely a SATA port that is black (this is usually port 1). If you have a black SATA port, make sure one and only one of your raptors is connected to that port before you attempt reinstalling Windows.

Try the above.

It is almost certain that the source of the problems is in the hardware. Now it is a matter of going thru a process of elimination.

HTH.