So heres the deal... I promise, it is motherboard/bios related (or at least I think):
Fresh install of WinXP SP2 and installed a wireless network driver. Updated SP2 via win update (many, many updates - also updated chipset drivers). I needed to get rid of the wireless network driver because it was conflicting with an internal wireless N adapter driver that I just bought. Tried deleting the old driver, wouldn't work. Decided to do a system restore to before I installed the original network driver. Thought of the win update consequences, but I made the mistake of once again trusting MS (or trusting my common sense is more like it).
Anyways, now my PC gets stuck at the splash screen every time I boot. Starts to boot, but stops after it identifies the processor. I believe the next line in the boot print sequence is the memory frequency test (+ the memory size test), but it NEVER gets that far. If I hit delete real fast while its booting, it will start to enter bios setup but freezes at same spot (memory test).
Already tried:
1. taking out lithium battery to reset CMOS
2. changing bios reset jumper to reset CMOS
3. taking out and putting RAM back in (after turning on/off)
Nothing worked. Any other ideas? Any tricks? Ah, maybe its time to upgrade my motherboard anyways?
Take out all the RAM except for one stick, disconnect everything you don't need to POST such as HDD, CD-ROMs, Floppy, etc, and try again. Process of elimination.
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"He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose" -- Jim Elliott
hit F* and do a logged boot, it will tell you the last successfully loaded driver, and the one after that is usually the culprit, a lot of times it is the network cards/adapters. They don't always plat nice, reset your cmos configuration. Clear it.
"Now if the 4870x2 was actually notably faster than the 280 for about the same price, then I might even take a chance on it. However, that won't be the case."-robx46
@royalcrown... it won't even let me get that far in the boot sequence... hitting F8 does nothing.
It literally looks like this each time I boot:
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Phoenix AwardBIOS v6.00PG
"Something unrelated about the bios"
Processor: AMD Athlon XP 1250MHz
(nothing here in b/w top & bottom)
Hit DEL to enter setup.
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