I was playing UT3 yesterday and getting some crashing, but others have reported the same issues so I was assuming it wasn't anything to do with my system. Crashing was ranging from freezes and then going back to desktop to full on blue screen of death stop messages. Anyway, I got fed up with it and uninstalled UT3. Carried on using the computer, then I got another BSOD. Firefox 3 also started to crash, but I put this down to system instability due to UT3 crashing and restarting the computer. Then to top it off I had a power cut yesterday while I was surfing the net. After that I though I'd try and play UT3 one more time thinking reinstalling it might work, it didn't... It was just as bad crashing and stop BSODs so I did a clean install of windows. Well, i tried to at least. Now I can't even install windows! It boots from the cd, loads setup, i accepted the EULA, wipe the HDD using NTFS, it loads the setup files and reboots. Windows then starts to load the main installer ande I end up with either a stop error, a complete freeze with no error or it restarts the computer. Did that power cut kill my bios or something?

STOP errors are generated by the operating system, not the mboard bios. Only 2000 and above does that. Tell is what the stop error was - the first part of it. If it was STOP 0X00000.........IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL You can get the IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL error from many causes, but sometimes it can be just because the ram module contacts are not getting a good connection - this worked for me when I got that error: A common thing that can happen with ram, even ram that worked fine previously, is the ram has, or has developed, a poor connection in it's slot(s). This usually happens a long time after the ram was installed, but it can happen with new ram, or after moving the computer case from one place to another, and I've had even new modules that needed to have their contacts cleaned. See response 2 in this - try cleaning the contacts on the ram modules, and making sure the modules are properly seated: http://www.computing.net/hardware/w... .... Windows Setup is very sensitive to ram errors, even minor ones you may have not previously pinned down to be causing a problem. If that is the cause of your problems, curing that would probably have made re-installing Windows completely un-necessary. ..... Win XP is set by default to automatically reboot when it encounters an unrecoverable error. To have XP possibly display an error message you can investigate instead of the computer rebooting: 1. Click Start, and then right-click My Computer. 2. Click Properties. 3. Click the Advanced tab, and then click Settings under Startup and Recovery. 4. Under System failure, click on the small box beside Automatically restart to remove the checkmark. 5. Click OK, and then click OK. If you then get an error message, look at all of it's details. ...... Games are often leading edge software, they usually have more bugs in them than most other programs, and it is well known they do not work properly on all possible systems that meet the game's minimum system requirements. If you have no problems with Windows other than in a game, there is nothing wrong with your computer. You could look on the game manufacturer's web site for troubleshooting suggestions or updates, or on the maker of the video chipset's web site for troubleshooting suggestions or for newer drivers or special purpose drivers that are known to work better with your game, but there may be nothing you can do that will cure the problem, and you either have to put up with the problems or stop using that game. ..... Could your problems have been caused by the power outage damaging something? Maybe, but probably not. You were having problems before that. It MAY have caused the ram to develop a poor connection, but that problem may have already been there. If you have your computer, and everything connected to it that plugs into AC, AND the cable that connects you to the internet, plugged into something decent that protects against power surges and spikes, a power outage will usually not damage anything, unless it was caused by a lightning strike on the power grid fairly close to you, which can damage something in any case. It could also be you have a cpu overheating problem. Check the temp of your cpu in your bios Setup.

I've had all sorts of weird stop errors. DRIVER_IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL Was getting that playing UT3 and have got it one or twice trying to install windows but those occasions I didn't note down the stop error code, and I haven't had it since. "A thread tried to release a resource it did not own" Stop 0x000000E3 (0x89BC00E0 0x89B974D0 0x00000000 0x00000002) Also an error that didn't have anything other than the help text and the stop code; Stop: 0x0000007E Under that it said: "acpi.sys - Address F7367FA3 base at F7352000. Datestamp 45D69997" And I've had this error "The bios in this sysetm is not fully ACPI compliant... etc etc" Stop: 0x000000A5 Something's seriously gone wrong along the lines if its chucking out all these kinds of errors. I just don't know what exactly. Can't test for sure either, since I have no spare components. Only thing I can think of is either the CPU is fried, the mobo or BIOS is fried, or the PSU is fried. I'm not sure about the RAM. could be cooked I suppose but, I have taken the computer apart piece by piece, cleaned it all, and put it back together again nd I still got these errors when trying to install. I've also tried using one stick of RAm at a time and putting it in different slots but that didn't make any difference either. When i have the bios set to do a full boot instead of a quick boot it tests the memory anyway and doesn't report any errors either. Other than that i can't do anything else because I can't install windows to get into it and try anything else.

The BIOS memory test is no substitute for a *real* memory test. Try Memtest86, Memtest86+ or Windows Memory Diagnostic. If any errors are found, replace the RAM. Most RAM comes with a lifetime warranty so if it's found to be defective, go to the manufacturer's website & look into geting an RMA.

OK then, you were getting the DRIVER_IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL error before the power outage. Someone who makes notes! I have no idea what UTC is - I'm assuming it's a game. If you got that error ONLY when using UTC, it's probably it's software that is the problem That is different from the IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL error You should not get that DRIVER_IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL error while running Setup - in fact as far as I know you can't get that error while running Setup. The most likely cause of your Setup problem is the IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL error , or a similar error caused by problems reading the ram. "Stop 0x000000E3 (0x89BC00E0 0x89B974D0 0x00000000 0x00000002)" When you get an error, the first part of it, Stop 0x000000E3 in that case, is what we need quoted. If there is a text string similar to DRIVER_IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL or whatever, quote that too. If you don't see that, what the error is can be found on the web by using the exact Stop code, e.g. STOP 0x000000E3 in that case. This part of the Stop error, or most of it, is usually useless to us, although sometimes the first part of the code finds more specific info about what might have caused it e.g. 0x89BC00E0. (0x89BC00E0 0x89B974D0 0x00000000 0x00000002) ..... "acpi.sys - Address F7367FA3 base at F7352000. Datestamp 45D69997" We don't need anything in that after the name of the file. "The bios in this sysetm is not fully ACPI compliant... etc etc" You should not be getting an error of either of those if this is the system in your specs - you may get that if the mboard is older. The most likely cause of that problem, other than corrupted files in Windows to do with ACPI, is Windows does not have the proper ACPI info about your mboard. If you have not loaded the drivers for your mboard, or if you have and they have become corrupted, that is the most likely cause of those errors. It does no harm to load them again if they have already been loaded, and you almost always do not have to un-install anything in order to load them again. Whenever you load Windows from a regular Windows CD (or DVD) from scratch, after Setup is finished you must load the drivers for the mboard, particularly the main chipset drivers, in order for Windows to have the proper drivers for and information about your mboard hardware, including it's AGP or PCI-E, ACPI, and hard drive controller support. If you have a generic system and have the CD that came with the mboard, all the necessary drivers are on it. If you load drivers from the web, brand name system builders and mboard makers often DO NOT have the main chipset drivers listed in the downloads for your model - in that case you must go to the maker of the main chipset's web site, get the drivers, and load them. ..... "It boots from the cd, loads setup, i accepted the EULA, wipe the HDD using NTFS, it loads the setup files and reboots. Windows then starts to load the main installer ande I end up with either a stop error, a complete freeze with no error or it restarts the computer." Setup MUST get to the end of each stage before it reboots. E.g. you must see "Rebooting in 15 seconds" or similar. If you got that at the end of the first stage, that part went okay. A problem I have seen only a few timeas in the second stage is it has a problem after it starts detecting devices (hardware) - it gets to a certain point, the time remaining does not change for a while, then the computer reboots (without you seeing "Rebooting in 15 seconds" or similar)and the second stage starts from the beginning again. However, I saw no BSOD. I cured that problem by removing a Creative Audigy card in a slot. You could try removing all cards and devices you have plugged in you don't need to run Setup, and try again. And try cleaning the ram contacts in any case. If you got that far in Setup, there is probably nothing wrong with your cpu (unless it is overheating, in which case it would work fine while cooler) and your ram is probably not damaged, but it could have developed a poor connection. When you fiddle with your ram, or anything else inside your casae, remove the AC power to the power supply! Ram that wasn't installed in the computer mboard before when it worked fine will NOT necessarily work in your mboard. It has to be compatible with the mboard chipset, or in the case of your cpu, compatible with the memory controller in the cpu. It's possible for ram to be damaged by a power failure, but it's extemely rare. I see no definite sign of that in anything you've told us so far. However, it's quite common for your power supply to be damaged by a power failure - but I see no definite sign of that in anything you've told us so far, either. What usually happens if the PS is failing is the system will reboot for no apparent reason, or shut down for no apparent reason, and usually you see no BSOD before that happens. You can check the current voltages in your bios Setup, in the same place where current temps and fan rpms are - if 12v, 5v, or 3.3v are not within 10% of their nominal value, your PS is failing and must be replaced.

Well thanks for the suggestions. I think I'll have to leave this one now though. BTW I typod, I didn't mean UTC I meant UT3, unreal tournament 3 so yea, a game. And you're probably right I did get an irql error when setup was running but that was before I noted down the exact names and such so it was likely different to what I thought. I couldn't really tell what I was getting when playing UT3 because the computer restarted almost the instant the blue screen came up. Anyway as I say I'll have to leave it now, although I will do a test on the memory. Can't do it in my computer now because the damn cpu fried while I was trying something (somehow managed to forget to put the heatsink on it). So, yea, I need a new CPU now anyway. The graphics card, fairly sure it wasn't that causing the problem because I found an older ATI X300 kicking around that I knew worked okay so I tried that setup wouldn't just freeze with a black screen when it came up. very time, so fairly certain there then that that is fine. CD-ROM isn't the problem, after the system rebooted I unplugged it and setup still died on me with an error. I'll check the ram, if that is the problem that'll be great because its really cheap at the moment. Only problem is now I need to buy a new CPU, and the one I had... wasn't cheap. Suppose the HDD could be the culprit, but I've had SMART on ever since I installed it and I've tried running setup since the trouble began with SMART enabled and I've never had any errors pertaining to it. Who knows... It really only leaves me with the mobo, and the PSU. I'm really thinking here the mobo is screwed up. But I hope not. Here's hoping it is just the memeory. As I say though until I get a new CPu I can't o any more testing, but I'll test the ram in th eother computer in th mean time. Anyway, thanks.