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Help me from the Hell of Microsoft Win XP
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Posted by: Jestner
Have a computer which started acting funny and finally stopped starting (Athlon XP 1600, 256MB DDR 266Mhz, 40 Gig HD, running Windows XP). Replaced the motherboard, now it starts, but when trying to load Windows, I get a ton of various windows errors (listed below). It makes no difference if I go for safemode or not, I either end up with an error message or the system restarts itself. As such, I tried to run the WinXP Boot CD to utilize the Repair function. However, when doing this or most anything else, another BSOD will pop up.
As such, I took out all PCI cards other than video card. The only things connected are the CDRom drive, Hard Drive, Video Card, USB Mouse & Keyboard. I have swapped, with no success, the Memory and the Hard Drive.
The alternate harddrive that I put in I formatted with Maxblast (doesnt appear to me to really actually format the whole thing as it takes 10 seconds but I have no other option in the program) and attempted to run a clean install of WinXP on it, but that has resulted in BSOD errors.
My question is - can this really be a Windows issue? And, if so, how would I ever correct it, given that Ive tried another hard drive. Or could it be a bad processor - which I doubt but currently, anything, even remotely possible, is getting my attention.
Here are some of the errors Ive gotten
0x00000050
0x00000017
0x0000007E (this seems to be the most popular)
0x00000026
0x00000050
0x000000D1
Im at the end of the rope and about to unleash a Louisville Slugger at this thing. Any alternate suggestions? I appreciate it very much
Posted by: uh...ok
You probably want to do a full NTFS reformat on your drive before reinstalling Windows. You can do that from Windows setup.
Posted by: redwench
a motherboard change usually necessitates a format, and its probably less work than trying to get it to run on the current install.
Posted by: deshana
Jestner ,
have you run a diagnostics on your RAM and hard drive yet? Really the first step when checking out hardware.
Posted by: uh...ok
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Originally Posted by deshana
Jestner ,
have you run a diagnostics on your RAM and hard drive yet? Really the first step when checking out hardware.
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No, the first step is to do things correctly in the software, and then if things don't work, then you check the hardware. 
Always debug from the highest level possible and then move your way down. That way, the size of your problem will narrow itself down as you go.
Posted by: Jestner
Thanks for the replies!! Much appreciated. I tried to run Memtest but the program didnt work for me. Alternatively though - using a substitute (known to be good) memory stick, along with multiple motherboards, gave me comfort it wasnt memory. I also used a substitute hard drive which function perfectly on another system - hence the comfort there. I am 95% sold that I need to hook up the hard drive to another system, format it, and then start over from scratch. I just wanted to run this issue by you guys to ensure I wasnt overlooking something obvious.
Thanks again!
Posted by: uh...ok
Quote:
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Originally Posted by Jestner
Thanks for the replies!! Much appreciated. I tried to run Memtest but the program didnt work for me. Alternatively though - using a substitute (known to be good) memory stick, along with multiple motherboards, gave me comfort it wasnt memory. I also used a substitute hard drive which function perfectly on another system - hence the comfort there. I am 95% sold that I need to hook up the hard drive to another system, format it, and then start over from scratch. I just wanted to run this issue by you guys to ensure I wasnt overlooking something obvious.
Thanks again!
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Hi, if you haven't read our posts yet, it does seem like you're overlooking something obvious - which is failing to do a full NTFS format (that does NOT take just 10 seconds) before reinstalling Windows.
Posted by: Jestner
Quote:
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Originally Posted by uh...ok
Hi, if you haven't read our posts yet, it does seem like you're overlooking something obvious - which is failing to do a full NTFS format (that does NOT take just 10 seconds) before reinstalling Windows.
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Reading everything perfectly clearly. If you read the original message - I talked about formatting it in the busted computer (whereby I had to use Maxblast). I commented then that it didnt appear to be a full format, hence my comment in my last post that I had to format it by placing it in a working computer. Thanks for the lookout.
Posted by: uh...ok
Quote:
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Originally Posted by Jestner
Reading everything perfectly clearly. If you read the original message - I talked about formatting it in the busted computer (whereby I had to use Maxblast). I commented then that it didnt appear to be a full format, hence my comment in my last post that I had to format it by placing it in a working computer. Thanks for the lookout.
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You should be able to do a *full format* without moving the disk to another computer in Windows setup. The partitioning and formatting utilities in Windows setup is the only thing you want to be using. The reason why you didn't see a full format is because you probably didn't select the right option.
It really makes no difference what machine you do this on.
Posted by: Jestner
Just an update here:
Remember - I cannot boot up into Windows, I get BSOD errors before that point.
Anyways - I formatted the hard drive in another computer, put it back into this problem child, and started up. Booted from the XP CD, started the install. However, around the part about partitions, I got another BSOD. No matter what I do, an error comes up around this point (sometimes near the "Press F8 to Agree", sometimes around the partition, sometimes around the "Press Enter to Install XP, R to Repair..", etc.. So I gave up on XP and tried 2K. During the 4th bootup disk, I got a BSOD. Im suppossing files written to the hard drive from the CDs/Floppies is interacting with something and driving windows crazy. Any ideas given the story above?
Talk about a doozy.
Posted by: redwench
youre getting errors while attempting to install the os, and youve tried more than 1, right?
hardware problem. that you couldnt run memtest points to that as well, that should run on any computer built this century.
Posted by: Jestner
Finally successfully ran Memtest - found errors on Test 7. However, this doesnt explain why the other memory didnt work. So I concluded maybe, because both memory is Crucial from the same era, that maybe MB and RAM didnt get along. As such, ordered some Kingston and tried, unsuccessfully, in both slots.
So, now that memory is ruled out, what else should I go for?
Could it be a defective MB off the jump? Bad PSU? Bad CPU?
What should I shoot for next?
Thanks so much for the thoughts
Posted by: uh...ok
If you've already tried using a different hard drive with the same results, then it's most likely the motherboard. You don't happen to have the stop codes from the BSODs (from install) lying around, do you? Or are they the same as the ones in your initial post?
Posted by: Jestner
Same as those posted above. Mostly I am getting the 7E though.
Since the MB is new, do you think I just got a defective unit?
Is there any chance it could be the CPU or PSU?
Posted by: uh...ok
It's always possible that the CPU is somehow messed up, but very unlikely in most cases.
You would be seeing very different symptoms if it was your PSU.
What's confusing is that the stop code very much looks like a software error...
Posted by: Jestner
This is what I did on the hard drives. I plugged them into another Windows XP system and formatted them in Windows, NTFS. Should I have done something differently?
I can try formatting again and seeing what the deal is.
I ran Memtest for about 12 hrs and the computer didnt have any issues. I would figure that a processor or PSU wouldnt know the difference between that and windows (unless windows was giving the CPU special commands which it couldnt handle). In any case, Id think the PSU is fine.
What happens during pre-install? Does WinXP load key files onto the hard drive and then try to execute those? Is it possible that the CDRom drive isnt functioning properly causing errant files to be written and then executed off the hard drive? I know its a stretch, Im just trying to come up with solutions based on process flow.
Posted by: chainlink
If all the components (CPU, memory, HD, CD-ROM, etc.) work on other machines it's almost certainly the MOBO. As all elements of your computer contain microchips it's entirely possible any one (or more) of them has 'passed on'. Looks like you're going to have to test them individually to determine the problem, however it's also possible there's a hardware conflict without a duff component which would be extremely difficult to pin down.
Posted by: Jestner
It is not known that the CPU or PSU are in perfect working order - hence my questions about what to look at next. Any thoughts about my previous post?
Thanks for the help
Posted by: Jestner
BSOD Error is:
0x0000007E (0xC0000005, 0x808429D8, 0xF89895D0, 0xF89892D0)
Sidenote: When I transferred the harddrive over to another computer and ran the XP Installation/Boot CD, I did not get any Windows error. As such, wouldnt this exonerate the hard disk?
Posted by: Jestner
Here is the conclusion (as I hate threads like this that never conclude):
After a million things, I changed the jumper setting on the MB from 166mhz to 100mhz and moved the video card to a different PCI slot. I am going to try jacking it back to 166 (or at least 133) after install to see what occurs.
One of these changes allowed me to fix the issue and install windows (Im guessing the change in frequency did it).
Thanks so very much for the time and thoughts.
Posted by: chainlink
The XP1600 should run at 133 (x2 = 266) which will enable 1:1 operation with the PC2100 memory you have. It's likely to hang if you try to run it at 166. Modern MOBO's generally auto detect the FSB of the CPU but quite a lot have a 100 FSB jumper just in case you screw up and make it unbootable.
Posted by: Jestner
Thanks. Shortly after successful install of XP, I moved the jumper to 133 and it works fine. I was tipped off yesterday when I saw the CPU was booting at 1750 or so instead of 1600.
Thanks again
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