Is this my motherboard's fault?

[McNutt]

I'm building a computer from scratch and am having major problems. When I first got it booted up there were a couple of times when the computer just went black and automatically rebooted. I tried to install the Windows XP service pack, but the installation failed and after rebooting I could not load Windows. I performed a clean install of Windows XP again, but the installation would freeze at the blue Windows Setup screen. Occasionally it would give me the blue screen of death, but most of the time it would just freeze at the setup screen.

Microsoft has told me that it is a hardware problem. So far I have replaced my RAM, CPU, and hard drive with no change. The only thing left that I can think of is my motherboard. Here is what I have.

Antec Tower case with 350wt power supply
Gigabyte 7VAXP KT400 motherboard
AMD Athlon 2100
512MB PC2700 RAM from Crucial
Maxtor 120GB 7200RPM HD
Radeon 8500 Video Card
Sound Blater Audigy Platinum

Could it be my power? I'm not powering any lights or anything like that, just the normal stuff. Could my motherboard be frying everything, or is my motherboard just fried. My last resort it to buy another motherboard, but I don't want to do that unless I know that is the problem. I really appreciate any help. Thank you.

 

[edpsx]

I have the same mobo and case/psu with no probs.. sounds like the XP isnt installing right or your HD might be going bad.. check the XP cd and make sure it isnt scratched.. I know I would get that on Win98 all the time, the cd would be scratched and it wouldnt install just perfect. I would just reinstall and after a few tries it would work. So no, Microshaft isnt always right. If all else fail install linux..

<P ID="edit"><FONT SIZE=-1><EM>Edited by edpsx on 01/17/03 11:31 AM.</EM></FONT></P>

 

[McNutt]

I've tried another copy of the OS, a different version of the OS, and another hard drive, so I've ruled that out. The only thing I can think of is it's either a bad motherboard or the motherboard is somehow shorting out my RAM and or CPU. Thanks for the help though.

 

[edpsx]

Yeah.. then Id just reseat everything including the mobo.. you ground out the mobo and it will do crap like that. You should install with minimal stuff one step at a time to rule out and narrow down the prob.