New Computer Crashing

[Guest]

Hi!

I recently purchased a set of new components (Motherboard Gigabyte GA-7VRXP; Processor Athlon XP 2100+; 2 256 MB sticks of Corsair PC2700 memory). After a couple of days I had to send all this back since I could not install windows (it would hang right near the very start). A new motherboard was returned, and this time I get further, but am having tons of blue screens and windows error messages. I have formatted and tried to install WinME and Win98 about 8 times so far with all varying combinations of hardware. I am at the bare bones with a video card (Voodoo5 55500 - I also tried a GeForce4 Ti 4400), one hard-drive, and one cd-drive. I also tried these combinations with each stick of memory separatly.

Most of the time I get blue screens near the end of the windows installation when it is setting up system components etc. This normally freezes the system, and it is all over. Twice I have managed to get all the way through the installation (albeit with errors) and into windows. However, once there, the errors continue, especially when trying to open programs. I will get lots of errors like "explorer has caused an error in MSHTML.DLL", "Runonce has caused an error in KERNEL32.DLL", "Rundll32 has caused an error in URLMON.exe" and so on... errors in tons of other .DLL files. I believe that I have tried almost everything that it is reasonable to try. The motherboard recognises the processor and reports the correct speed. All drives seem to be working fine, and are just fine with my old stuff in the comp. I also updated the bios to the latest version which is supposed to support the 2100+.

I just wonder if anyone has any suggestions before I send it all back again? I am going to try an install of WinXP just on the offchance that it somehow recognises things better then 98 and ME. Then there are two other things I wonder about. Firstly, my CPU temperature is about 50-51 degrees C. I don't think it becomes a prob until it gets to more like 55 degrees or so, but could this be causing problems? Also, I have a new 300W power supply. It works absolutely fine with my old mobo/proc etc, but could it possibly be not enough for the new system?

Very much appreciated

Mrukk

 

[Zlash]

Was it the same memory both times? That's wierd unless they only switched the mobo for you, or your cd is scratched up or something.

<font color=red>:</font color=red> <font color=white>:</font color=white> <font color=blue>:</font color=blue>

 

[AndrewT]

Try a bigger power supply

<font color=red>We born naked and screaming, then it gets worse.</font color=red>

 

[btvillarin]

Can you list the hardware you've got? If you have that 300W power supply, it might not be enough. What brand is it? Quality matters. Good/decent brands are: Enermax, Sparkle, PC Power & Cooling, and Antec (add more if I missed some)

Before installing Windows, test your memory overnight with <A HREF="http://www.teresaudio.com/memtest86/" target="_new">Memtest86</A>.

Make sure your heatsink is seated correctly, in case the processor is heating up. Even with the motherboard sensor, 55°C isn't too bad. It's when you get to 60°C when you should consider better cooling. What heatsink are you using? Is it the retail Athlon XP2100+?

I'm not sure that Windows 98 should be any different in recognizing devices than Windows XP. Just install all your devices when trying to install. The only reason why I'd try Windows 98 before XP is because Windows 98 installs quicker. But, check that memory if it's screwed up before doing this. That's what I'd do. If that memory isn't bad, then I'd try a different power supply (if you have a cheezy cheap one). Again, don't skimp on that PSU.

Good luck,
Bryan

<font color=red><A HREF="http://www.btvillarin.com" target="_new">btvillarin.com</A> - My Windows XP-based Website</font color=red>

 

[4Ryan6]

I ran into a similar situation once and my problem was my CDROM drive was intermitently failing and not sending all the information to the harddrive, very difficult to find out after numerous load attempts, If you've got someone you could borrow one you know is good and swap it out and try reloading, if it loads you've found the problem.

 

[Guest]

Thanks guys,

Sorry I didn't respond faster... my comp has been down most of the past day. Anyhow, here is my hardware:

Video Cards: Voodoo5 5500, Geforece4 Ti 4400, and some other old Matrox thing for testing purposes.

Hard Drives: 27 Gig Western Digital 7200, 20 Gig Quantum 5400.

CD-Drives: HP Burner thingy, and some generic one, plus another generic old one I used as an extra test.

Monitor: Sony HMD-A440 19"

New Computer: Gigabyte GA-7VRXP mobo, Athlon XP 2100+ CPU, 2 256 Meg sticks of Corsair PC2700 ram.

Old Computer: ASUS CUSL2 Mobo, PIII-933, 512 megs standard ram.

I have tried basically all combinations possible... three video cards, three cd-drives, memory sticks one at a time, three operating systems etc. The only things I have not tried are a higher wattage power supply, and another hard-drive. I am basically 100% confident in my HD though, since it works absolutely fine on my other system.

I went ahead and tested the PC2700 memory sticks last night. I couldn't seem to get the extended tests running without freezing the program, but I did run the simple tests on both memory sticks, and with each stick in all three slots.

With both sticks in I got one error in test 4, and 3562 errors in test 5. With the first stick on its own I had 542 errors and 56 errors on slots 1 and three respectively (test 5). I also had many errors in slot 2, but I forgot to write the number down. With stick one I had 8 and 18 errors with test 5 in slots 1 and 2, and no errors in slot 3.

I am not 100% sure how much to take out of this. It would appear at first that there is something wrong with the mem because of all the errors. However, the fact that the numbers change is interesting. Is this normal? If not, I guess I'd have to assume there was something wrong with the mobo? I went ahead and tried to install WinXP with the second stick in slot 3 (no mem errors), but it crashed on me as well. So now I am back with my old system which works just fine.

Any more ideas? I guess I will ring up the company (googlegear) tomorrow and say I need to send something back, but I'd be keen on knowing what you guys think is the most likely problem based on the memory tests. Does the memtest prog read PC2700 properly? Just wondering

Thanks a ton!
Mrukk

 

[btvillarin]

Okay, not the hard drive. The only think you haven't tried is a higher wattage power supply? Perhaps you can try that, or just send the stuff back. For testing the memory, test only one stick at a time so you know there's less doubt if it reports errors.

Make sure that in the BIOS, you're not overclocking any settings.

I'm not sure what else to suggest, but hopefully other do. If I were you, I'd run some more tests. If errors show up, return the memory and go with Crucial or something. That and get a better power supply (so you don't have to worry about that).

<font color=red><A HREF="http://www.btvillarin.com" target="_new">btvillarin.com</A> - My Windows XP-based Website</font color=red>

 

[4Ryan6]

Unless you're going to Overclock try the PC 2100 ECC memory