I put a new build together and cannot FORMAT a hdd (tried 80 ide, 250 sata 1) Computer formatted to 8% RESTARTED, So i installed formated hdd and installed xp on my other comp without my other mobo drivers and installed it to the biostar mobo and it completed 6 cycles on the loading icon on the xp screen and BSOD whinging about viruses, disconnect any new hdd ect.. How can i run xp without a hdd??? DUH! brought a 750gb samsung (hj753l i think) and it failed to format it after 2 attempt it done it, and tried to install xp on it, got to the bit where you tell xp what country ya in and it RESTARTED, took me right back to the same bit i had to type in where i was and it RESTARTED next time it started it was corrupted, so i looked at possible errors elsewhere. i think i went wrong with my selection of parts not sure though. the specs are: Biostar GF7050v-m7 samsung ddr2 800 (2 sticks of 2gb) intel cpu SL7Z5 775 660 3.6ghz PENTIUM 4 golden orb 2 fan q-tec big fan 550w i did notice my cpu model wasnt on the gf7050v-m7 compatible list for some reason it jumps that model but they may have forgotten to put it in there (human error) BIOS DOES SEE THE CPU THOUGH, & THE MEMORY had board replaced with new one and same thing happens, em, played about with settings this is my second build and its a headache had to learn about mem timings and such still dont understand it completely memory ppl says memory is compatible with single core 3.6 chip tried biostar board with my other psu only 20 pin and same happens i brought a mem tester and tested it on my working computer psu (at home) and all lights came on, tested it on the 550 big fan 24 pin and one light did not come on, that was why i tried the biostar board with my littler psu and same happens? tested memory one went 100% the other not so good, so im not using that one. any help please

http://www.biostar-usa.com/app/en-u... Pentium 4 is listed as compatible on the Biostar site. Could the mother board be defective?

It's too bad you didn't ask questions about your build in advance. Why did you get a single core P4 Prescott when you could have gotten a dual core Allendale? And if you factor in what you paid for the Golden Orb, you probably could have gotten a Core 2 Duo. The board is OK for what it is, but the PSU is a low end cheapie. When it comes to power supplies, you get what you pay for. If you bought a PSU tester, you just wasted more money that would have been better spent elsewhere. Testers are virtually useless...does it display actual voltages? I doubt it, probably just flashes some lights. You would have been better off getting a voltmeter or multimeter, but even they can't determine amperage. Start by manually configuring your BIOS settings for optimal performance. While you're in the BIOS, check the CPU temp...since it's a P4, it's probably gonna run hot but hopefully it's in the 40's at idle. Test your RAM with memtest86 or memtest86+: http://www.memtest86.com/download.html http://www.memtest.org/ "If my answers frighten you then you should cease asking scary questions" - Jules Winnfield (Samuel L. Jackson) in Pulp Fiction

What are you using to format the hard drives? If a WinXP CD then is it a full version or a restore OEM? All points in #2 are valid. Additionally, when the computer reboots you are not required to press any key to boot to CD. Doing that will start the installation over again. When prompted to remove any disks you need to do that too. If you bought RAM that requires a different voltage than the BIOS defaults you can get errors. If you computer can't even format a drive you shouldn't proceed further until you figure out why.