Can't get computer to boot - Windows 7 64bit

[ostrichboy92]

Hey,

My friend recently gave me his HP desktop to take a look at. It came with phenom II quad core processor, 8gb of ddr3 ram, a 1.0 TB WD sata hdd, an integrated geforce nvidia 9100 graphics card, and a 300W psu. When i first turned it on, it booted up to the HP logo and froze there not allowing me to enter the BIOS. After resetting the BIOS i was able to get a slight way into the Windows 7 installation. I tried hooking up the hdd as an external to another desktop and it seemed to be working fine. I deleted all partitions and reformatted it and tried again, same issue. I've tried with a second hard drive, which i know works, and it also gave the same freezing problem. I've also tried using a different psu which got me a little further into the installation but eventually froze and gave me 0x00000e9 hardware error. With no hard drive at all, it can boot a few times but will eventually freeze up at the logo screen, which led me to believe it might be an overheating problem. I applied thermal paste to both the cpu and gpu heatsinks and on the first boot it froze during installation with the next few resulting in the same logo screen freeze. I've also realized the gpu heatsink is extremely hot to the touch and at one point, after numerous reboots, the display wouldn't even show. I don't wanna jump to the conclusion that the gpu is fried and buy a new motherboard without consulting anyone. Anyone have any ideas?

Thank you.

 

[Spoony]

that GPU is VERY boarder line for not working with 64bit and a 300w psu isnt worth using for any pc.

main roblem i can see is it could be 3 things making this happen.

cpu fan is not cooling the cpu enough so its crashing out.
motherboard and its onboard gpu isnt good enough and wont work with win 7
psu is laking enough power to fully engage windows and its hardware and once its gets to peak powers its just turningoff or bsod.

but for me i would go witht he middle on and also the psu.

but i would spend 250/300 quid and upgrade the lot with mobo cpu fan psu and cheap gpu card

 

[ebola28]

what's the model on the HP desktop. im surprised to see the phenom and 8gb ram paired with a nvidia 9100

 

[ostrichboy92]

Thanks for the reply,

your 1st solution is definitely a possibility however i've already cleaned off he stock thermal paste and applied arctic silver, and the cpu heatsink hasn't run hot.

The 2nd solution also makes sense but more than half the time i boot it up i can't even get into the BIOS setup with or without the windows 7 disk in the tray.

I considered your 3rd solution and swapped in my 730 watt psu trying out windows xp this time, but it froze up before installation began and on the next reboot i couldn't even get into BIOS setup.

As for upgrading, the computer is only used in a medical office where there isn't a need for high performance, so either a cheap new mobo, gpu card, or cpu fan would be fine.. i just wish i knew the cause of the problem.

 

[ebola28]

i find it strange that an nvidia gpu is intergrated on an amd cpu/mobo, and a newer proc with such a dated gpu. do you get error beeps when you pull out the ram?

 

[ostrichboy92]

The model is HP Pavillion p6404y
here is a link - http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/document?docname=c02053862&tmp_task=prodinfoCategory&cc=us&dlc=en&lc=en&product=4176379

 

[ostrichboy92]

wow, i never considered how strange that mix was ..but yes i get error beeps when all the ram is removed

 

[ebola28]

try just using one stick and see if it posts, and if it doesn't, try a different stick

 

[ostrichboy92]

i forgot to mention i already removed 3/4 2gb sticks and all pci cards/usb's besides mouse and keyboard.. had no effect whatsoever

 

[ostrichboy92]

also, if i let the computer sit for awhile it will get far into loading install files off the disk, otherwise it freezes up right at the hp splash.. leading me to believe its an overheating issue

 

[ebola28]

only have two more ideas. one is to try a new ram stick to see by dumb luck the one still in is bad. second one is to pull out mobo and put on cardboard box with only one stick of ram and cpu/cpu fan installed to see if it posts

 

[ebola28]

that sounds right for overheating issue, but normally it won't affect post as it doesn't have enough time to ramp up temps to cause a shutdown

 

[ostrichboy92]

changing the sticks didn't solve the issue.. i will try the second idea as soon as i can, and without a hdd plugged in it'll post for the first few boots but eventually freeze up early... with the hard drive in it will only post on the first boot.

 

[ostrichboy92]

Some more information...

After waiting a few hours and starting the computer up with just the dvd drive connected the post read the following boot order: 1-None(where hdd would be), 2-Windows Install, 3-None, 4-None. It then froze up while unloading windows files and i shut down. Rebooted and post read: 1-None,2-None,3-None,4-None. Shut down, connected hdd and rebooted, froze before post could get to boot priority... im not sure why the BIOS wouldn't recognize the dvd drive the 2nd time around