CPU / Motherboard Diagnostic Software

jjmiller1980

Honorable
Aug 22, 2012
1
0
10,510
I was wondering if there’s any bootable software I can use to troubleshoot problems with a motherboard and CPU. Short story is that my computer won’t boot into Windows, so I need software that I can burn onto a bootable CD. Here’s the long story:

I have an AMD Phenom II x2 550 Black Edition, which is a dual core that has pretty high success rates of being able to unlock the 3rd and 4th cores. I tried to unlock the other two cores, and that’s when the problem started. Upon reboot it wouldn’t even get to the BIOS splash screen to let me set it back. I would boot it up, and just get a black screen. I pulled the CMOS battery and unplugged the power, hoping it would lose it’s settings and revert to default BIOS setup. It worked, and I made it past the BIOS splash screen, but then I started getting a GRUB error 17. Everything I found says this is a problem when the Linux bootloader. Problem is, I have 2 hard drives in my computer, and NEITHER ONE has EVER had Linux installed on it. Ever. I spent some time trying to fix it, but decided I didn’t have anything I was worried about losing on the PC, so I just reinstalled Windows 7. I got Windows installed and working.

Then I rebooted, and it wouldn’t come back up. I reinstalled again, and this time it seemed to take. I used it the rest of Sunday, and on Monday without issue. I come home yesterday and try to start my PC, and not it just freezes at the “Starting Windows”. At this point, I feel like there has to be a hardware problem. 3 separate Windows installs have gone bad.
 

alsass

Honorable
Nov 29, 2012
1
0
10,510


I have the name problem- Did you solve it?