Noob question: debugging my once-working new rig

[chriswarner]

[I originally posted this in the 'Overclocking' forum, but it's probably more appropriate here.]

I successfully built my first computer last month (specs below). It booted on the 1st try and has worked well for the last 3 weeks until...last night I was playing a game, and it rebooted right in the middle. I saw the usual boot sequence http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/booting (BIOS http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BIOS , IRQ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interrupt_request , 'Verifying Pool Data'), then a black screen. Now it seems to be stuck in this cycle boot-to-black-screen cycle. It never gets to any Windows boot message.

Here's what I've done so far (with no luck):

1. BIOS: Reset.
2. Memory:
a. I've run memory tests.
b. I've tried booting with a single mem board.
c. The boards are Ballistix Tracers that have LEDs on them and the LEDs seem to be active, even after the boot sequence is done.
3. Windows: I tried booting from the Windows XP CD.

Regardless, I still get the black screen after the BIOS/IRQ/Pool boot sequence. I am still kind new to this, so I am at a loss as to what to try next. Any help would be appreciated.

Please help me save face with the wife. She thought I was a genius for building it. Now she's wondering if I really was all that smart!

(For what it's worth, the game was Age of Conan.)

 

[Onus]

I don't see the specs...

 

[santanamadamon]

When you try to boot off the XP CD, I'm going to assume you get the message Press any key to boot off cd....... message? If not then make sure the boot sequence is set correctly in the bios. The bios settings for boot device priority might have been "reset". I've seen this on a few boards and it makes it so the PC wont boot. Have you also tried pressing F8 right before the system should boot to windows to see if you get the xp boot menu? If you can try to get in though Safe Mode and look at the event logs.

If all else fails replace the HDD and see if you can get XP to install on it. Then you can rule out all other hardware issues. Otherwise can you see your HDD / DVD-R etc. in the bios?

 

[chriswarner]

'When you try to boot off the XP CD, I'm going to assume you get the message Press any key to boot off cd message?' I do see that. I hit a key and very briefly see a message that starts with 'Setup is inspecting your...', and then end up with the same black screen I get when booting from the HDD.

'Have you also tried pressing F8 right before the system should boot to windows to see if you get the xp boot menu? 'I gave the F8 thing a try. Same result.

'can you see your HDD / DVD-R etc. in the bios?'. Yes, all 3 HDDs and the DVD/CD appear in the BIOS and during the BIOS boot sequence.

Since I have 3 identical HDDs, maybe I'll just swap in the one that has nothing on it and try installing XP to that. Is that a good idea?

 

[chriswarner]

I thought I'd close this thread out by saying I have resolved my issue. The blow-by-blow recap is in this thread: http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/f...rint=0&numreponse=0&quote_only=0&new=0&nojs=0. Many thanks to the feedback, santanamadamon and jtt283!