Tried FDISK /MBR - didn't seem to do anything. When I just ran FDISK, it saw both my NTSF drives as 100% full. I'm assuming this is because the only boot disk/fdisk.exe I have are Win98 so don't support NTFS. I guess I'll try and see if I can't get a WinXP boot disk from somewhere and try again. Also, something I"m going to try latter today is to take a 98 drive out of one of our other machines and just put it into my XP machine (alone) to see if it will boot up normaly.

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Update: Tried putting a known good win98 drive into the machine (without the 2 ntfs drives). The system slowed to a crawl with it in, and when it finaly got past the BIOS startup screens, it hung for a while before saying there wasn't any bootable media. I haven't gotten anything like this with any of the other 3 drives I've tried (the 2 ntfs and one other drive that turned out to be totaly bad).

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Update: Followed the instructions for making an XP boot disk here: http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=305595 But I still crashed as XP tried to start (in safemode). This seems to indicated that the problem is not actualy in the boot-up, but withing XP itself. Even more fun.

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Update: I'm looking into the power supply atm - while all the voltage in the BIOS are ok, it's possible that something is damaged in the supply that causes it to loose power when under a load, so when the drives start to work the voltage drops and they fail. It's kind of a long-shot, as they didn't have any trouble when I ran PowerMax on a surface scan, but I guess just scaning the surface might actualy be a farily low power activity. *shrugs*

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Eidalac, so sorry to hear about all the trouble... Thanks for the updates. Makes it easier to analyze of course :-). Well, about the power supply--doesn't matter what the wattage is--these days it's the manufacturer that's important--cheap power supplies are more trouble than a can of worms, and they blow often. What do you think the difference is between a cheap $15 400W supply and an $60 Enermax or Antec 400W supply? Big difference! I've witnessed this myself more than once... Other than that, the only other thing you have left is the video card and the CPU. It's rare but CPUs can go bad once in a while. Video cards can cause all sorts of bizzare problems--yeah, even just booting the computer! The only easy way to solve a problem like this is by a process of elimination--just exchanging components till you find the culprit. I don't believe that the new mother board could have been damaged, and since you are having the same problems, you old mobo is probably fine as well. If your power supply is a cheap brand that's one thing you do want to replace--in fact a cheap power supply can damage components and cause unnecessary headaches. Next try another video card. Finally a new CPU. Please keep me updated! Thanks, and good luck! Tek.

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Just wanted to add that you shouldn't feel frustrated--this is NOT some bizzare unsolvable problem--Windows should install perfectly fine and with no hitch on a properly operating computer--there is nothing strange or wierd that should happen--one of your components is just damaged. You only have 3 to go. Power supply, video card, and CPU. Find which one of these three and you'll be up and running! Tek.

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Well, I've had this particular power for about 3 years with no problems, so I'm confident that the problem isn't that it was a bad brand. Anyways, I've found a old AGP card and swapped it in - still no go. I guess that just leaves CPU and power. *shudders* I hope it's the power; I can just afford to replace that but I'm hosed if it's the CPU. Speaking of which, anyone know if there is some program out there that I might be able to use to test the CPU? Something like Memtest and Powermax that I could use from a floppy? I've not seen anything like that, but it would save me alot of trouble if there is something out there. The reasons I'm getting so frustrated by this is that not only has this been going on for almost 2 weeks now and I still haven't figured out where the problem is, but I'm the guy that people always come to for computer help, yet I'm helpless after -dusting- my machine. Plus the fact that broken parts cost money and I'm near broke and still can't find a job which just compounds my frustrations.

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Well since you have swapped every single piece, yeah, I guess we're down to the CPU and PS. I looked on google groups and found that cpindx23.zip tests CPU performance. There is also CPUBURN http://users.ev1.net/~redelm/cpuburn2.zip I don't know if these will eliminate the possibility that the CPU can't run some specific windows instructions. I do know that it is unlikely for CPUs to go bad. It's really rare from what I understand. But it's still a possibility. Power supplies are MUCH more likely to go bad. Particularly when they are not a known brand and are 3 years old! Believe it or not, power supplies are critical to the reliable and proper functioning of the computer--they are of #1 importance, and they are the most failure prone of anything else in the computer--most of the bad computers I've seen in the past few years have had bad or intermittent Power supplies!!! Tek. http://www.simtel.net/pub/simtelnet/msdos/sysinfo/cpindx23.zip ftp://ftp.simtel.net/pub/simtelnet/msdos/sysinfo/cpindx23.zip 55409 bytes cpindx23.zip CPUindex v2.3: Test CPU performance. Freeware CPUindex v2.3 is a tool for testing the performance of a CPU. It's a 32-bit protected program which runs on DOS.

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Oh, just wanted to add that it's funny that you say you are the one people usually come to for help. Me too! Yeah, something like this would drive me cooky. Sorry to hear you are so low on cash. Maybe you can find a bargain on eBay? Also look on pricewatch.com. I find all the best prices there--usually better than ebay! Don't forget you can also sell any extra parts you have on eBay--people there LOVE to buy used things--you post it for like a penny and everyone jumps on it--they all think they'll get a bargain--but things usually sell for market value in the end...

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Oh, forgot the info on CPUBURN: http://users.ev1.net/~redelm/readwin.txt Appears there are setting for all the different CPUs. It doesn't test all instructions though. It's meant to stress the CPU as much as possible. Of course that may load the PS as well, so I don't know how you can eliminate the PS like that. Maybe as soon as the CPU becomes very active as it's involved with Windows, then the PS doesn't have the power. At least it would be an indication. If you had a Voltmeter you could have checked the voltages at the same time as you boot, or use the program, unfortunately you don't... :( Tek.

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BTW, I see cheap power supplies are down to $10 delivered on pricewatch.com (I searched for "atx power supply". The P4 1.6 ghz is $106 delivered. Obviously the power supply would be the cheapest to try first.

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Well I'm officaly hosed. Managed to snag a brand new Antec case/PS by getting it as an early Bday pressent. Still the same bloody crap. Well, I'm still looking for a good CPU testing program - all the ones I've found (and that you gave me, Tek) either just do a benchmark or won't run in DOS mode, which is all I can boot into. However, the one that benchmarks did show my CPU as running slower than a P3 which certainly backs-up the idea that the CPU is bad. Plus I'm still not seeing any signs of overheating or incorrect voltages. Well, I'm still going to try to find a program to test my CPU for confermation... On the upside to all this... I now am only a spare P4 and hard-drive away from having a second system from all the parts I've attempted to 'replace' in the course of this fix. *le-sigh*

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Hey! Pretty lucky with that early b-day present! So only the CPU and video card are left. I'm wondering if the CPU isn't under warranty? A somewhat defective CPU would prevent the computer from running windows as windows is more "intensive" on the CPU. But how about the video card--the computer SWITCHES video modes when it goes from the initial DOS resolution to the Windows boot screen, and windows. Maybe it fails as it's trying to switch the resolution??? The benchmarks: I thought those programs were for DOS. The problem is that a "benchmark" program will not test all the instructions, like one of those program's manual mentions--the link I gave you there. It says that the objective is to stress the CPU by just running instructions quickly, not by running a variety of instructions. I think that loading windows is a pretty good test by itself. Windows uses the CPU intensively as its booting and also needs to change the video resolution. If the card is bad, it just won't be able to switch the resolution and windows booting will fail. In fact, I can tell you I had a similar experience building a brand new computer a couple of years ago. It was a Pentium III, with a VIA chipset. That particular chipset was "allergic" to Matrox G400 video cards, and the system needed the VIA drivers installed properly to be able to boot into windows with that particular card. So every time I got to the windows screen--*BAM* black screen, dead computer. I coudln't believe it! I just could NOT INSTALL windows on the computer!!! I was freaking out at first till I found out I had to have those drivers installed under a generic video driver first before having the Matrox driver installed. That solved the problem. But just goes to show that if there is a video problem windows will just die instantly. What card is it? Video cards can go bad--I have been playing with an INTERMITTENT video card here--it was an old card and I had it in a Pentium 133, and it was causing very intermittent startup problems, and wierd effects--sometimes it would work, sometimes not. I put in another card, computer was fine... I would suspect the card more than the CPU, as there is more overall chance that it would be bad than the CPU. The benchmark program that shows its running slower than a P3 may be outdated and might not know how to approach a P4, as the P4 is so drastically different in design than previous CPUS. Good luck, and keep me updated! Tek.

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Well, I got the CPU back in 01, so it'll still be under the 3 year warrenty, but I'll have to check to make sure it still qualifies under the terms. Both the programs you gave links too gave me the impression they would run in DOS, but they both crapped out when I tried. As for my card: Leadteck WinFast A250 LE TD MyVIVO Edition. (NVIDIA GeForce4 Ti 4200 chipset). Just got it back for x-mass, and I've tried swaping it out with an older Aopen NVDIA RIVAN TNT card that I had before but I get the same problems with either card.

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Update: Swapped out my APG card with an old PCI VGA card from my dad's work PC. Still crashed. Oh, also a reason I can rule out the video card is that I also crash in the XP CD DOS mode setup, which I can't see using any kind of complex video mode.

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Well that's good news! Good thing it wasn't one of those "OEM Specials" with the 15/30/90/ or a "generous" 1 year warranty! :-) Yeah, I would say that as it is an Intel 3 year warranty and you didn't try to "overclock" it, the wty would still be in effect! I was just going to suggest that the video card can be tested easily with a DOS Diagnostic program that "AMIDIAG" which I used to use. It would test everything on the motherboard, video and memory. I remember that there was a real old version that was one file, and in 1998 I got a newer copy that takes up like 5 floppies. Dell supplies such a program. It does a lot of basic functionality tests on the motherboard. I remember the AMIDIAG ran a lot of video tests. Talking about DOS testing programs, Mushkin gave me a little DOS memory tester that runs through all the system memory... If you would like these lemme know... But, since you already did try swapping the cards, then we have to rule out the video card. There is really nothing left to check. What else could it be besides the CPU? You've swapped it all! Don't forget you can always sell some of the extra parts on eBay if you need the cash :-) Tek.

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Whoops--we crossed posts--While I was digging around looking for those old Amidiag disks, as I was posting the previous reply, you posted your update. Yeah, I already ruled out the video as you told me you swapped the AGP cards. No reason why the PCI card would work when those failed. I was just mentioning the video, since I noticed on my monitor that as windows boots, it switches from something say, 480x240 to something like 520x340 or something, so I thought maybe that did something... I donno, with another CPU it would be an all new computer, so I think we can be sure it is the CPU now... Tek.

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Update: Well, fortunatly enough my CPU is still under the Intel Limited Warranty, so unless I have some kind of even worse luck than before, I should be getting a new, working P4 soon. Downside is that I doubt I'll get the replacment this way in less than 2 weeks, but I guess that beats the hell out of paying 100+ bucks for a new one. and there's still plenty of ways for this to all go wrong. Tally-ho.

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Well, sounds real good! I just noticed someone picked up a P4 1.6 on eBay for $76 though. Others paid around $120. Some people just have all the luck! :-). Well, I just realized that when you send the chip back to intel, they probably verify that it indeed bad before they give you a replacement, so at least you might be able to find out from them if it's really bad. Don't be so negative--we both know that computers are not that stubborn. If it is a bad CPU then at least you'll know that everything you've been through was due to that, and there would be no reason to feel bad--how could you possibly know? CPUs are usually not the culprit. Once you get the CPU back, and hopefully it will be the CPU, I don't see how things could go wrong if you use the standard precautions, which I hope you have always been doing! ALWAYS GROUND YOURSELF WHEN HANDLING COMPONENTS! The slightest static charge can completely blow or damage internal circuitry. Tie a wire to yourself and to ground--one of those velcro wrist straps from radio shack is good, or any wire--usually they have a resistor in-line. I think a 1 meg resistor. OR AT LEAST ALWAYS TOUCH THE METAL CASE! If you didn't use these grounding precautions, that could even have damaged the CPU. AND ALWAYS KEEP EVERYTHING IN STATIC PROTECTIVE BAGS! Hoping all will be well--don't forget to update me! Thanks, Tek.

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That's what I though about getting a replacment, but in the instructions I got, as soon as the place gets my CPU, they automaticaly ship another. I'm guessing that if they find it's good they'll just clean it up and resell it. *shrugs* Find out soon enough I guess.

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Some companies actually ship immediately if you give them a credit card number in case you don't return the old one... (Like Hard Drive manufacturers). But they know it's bad because you give them the code off the dianostic program. Tek.

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What a trip... They shipped the CPU as soon as mine arrived, 2nd day air. Right on my Birthday. Go figure. Long story short, for now, it wasn't the CPU. After installing the new P4 failed to do anything, I did the following: 1) Swapped the CD-ROM - Failed. 2) Swapped the memory - Failed. 3) Disconnected my D drive - Success!? Mind you, I'd only unhooked that drive a dozen times and then some with no results... But that's not the end of my woe yet. I manage to do a re-install of XP... only durring the process it 'losses' the CD-ROM and fail to install things... like graphics, IE and other basic necesities... Never-the-less, it did boot and one-by-one I undid the steps I took to get it to reinstall, with no errors. Unfortunaly, the missing parts of XP soon forced me to try and do another reinstall... At about 6 am, after a dozen tries and as many formats, I desperatly chuck my RAM sicks and slap in my old one. It works. I'll be damned if I can figure it. Every test I could D/L registers those sticks as 100% A-OK. *shrugs* So, bottom line, my machine works again, fresh XP install, with all my software in the process of setting back up. I think I should just have the software/drivers for my video card left to install and I'll be good. So far, with just the old 128 meg stick I've had not a single error, crash or weird happening. Though, I did replace that memory twice before during my crisis with no affect. So, it all seems to work again, hell if I know why, only XP doesn't like one or the other of my DIMMS. *shrugs* I can live with that, so long as I'm able to use my 512 stick once I'm done with settup. If not, it should still be under warrenty. My summation of all this: Sweet Monkey Jesus Tap Dancing on a Pogo-Stick.

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It was the blasted memory. All of this [censored]. As soon as I popped my 512 stick in, BAM, same [censored] as before. Soon as it's out, smooth sailing. [censored] I only swapped that thing out twice with no results before. [censored] Three weeks of hell all because of 1 bad stick, that still shows up fine to every memeory test I can run on it. [censored] The kicker? I would still be under warrenty. If I hadn't sent off the recept to get a $20 rebate on it. [censored]

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UPDATE: Groovy. The memory has a liftime warrenty, and since I bought it with my check card, I don't have to have the recept to exchange it. Or so the guy there told me. I'll find out tommorrow. So, all told, all things point to just that bad chip. Mabye I just dreamed swapping it out and getting no results?

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Whoa!!! That is sure nutty!!! Thanks for writing back--I've been checking here and there looking for your reply. Really something you got it exactly on your birthday. I love coincidences like that!!! At first when you mentioned the CD-ROM--I once had an experience where my Teac CD-ROM didn't let me boot into windows... I was thinking of asking earlier if you disconnected the CD-ROM, but I thought you did--now I realize you need it to install windows if you don't copy to whole thing to a partition on the HD. (I like to do that myself). But anything that's not 100% can potentially cause problems. I have a CD-ROM here on an old computer that sometimes just spins up when you turn the computer on with no disc inside! The only way to stop is to turn the power off and on again! So, its the stupid memory stick! Memory is hard to analyze because the testing programs use it differently than windows does. The only really reliable thing is a machine that tests memory I think. Too expensive of course. I'm having a strange problem recently where the keyboard becomes scrambled in certain applications like AOL Instant Messenger, and Photoshop--so far. I have to exit and restart the program. In IM it happens again shortly. I suspect it might a certain address in the memory. If it's lifetime warranty then why would you need a receipt? Lifetime is lifetime! This type of memory probably wasn't produced more than a year ago anyway--obviously no lifetimes could have passed in 1 year!!! Keep me updated. You can email me too: tekwiz@tektimes.com or "the tekwiz" on IM.

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Well, the reason I would have needed the recipt was to prove to the store that I bought it there. Otherwise I'd have to go through the manufacture, which would take longer due to haveing to ship them the chip and them ship me one back. (This store has a policy of taking care of warrenty returns in the first year.) Anyway, turns out that since I payed for the oringaly with plastic, they were able (with some effort ;)) to look up the purchase in there comptuers and, presto! So, I'm now sitting here with about 1.25 gig of memory in my machine, and I've been running for 4-5 days strait without a single problem, which is a record for me with any OS. now if they would hurry up and ship MOO3 already...

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Finally!!! That is really great! Too bad you had to go to hell and back to find out it was the memory. But it's definately a nice learning experience--memory can act really strangely. In fact I have a problem recently where my keyboard gets scrambled with certain programs. Particularly with Instant Messenger, but it has happened with photoshop too. I exit the app, come back and it's OK, but with IM, it usually recurrs over and over. I wouldn't be surprised if its that my memory stick is flaky at some address, and whatever program happens to use that memory space is subject to this sudden keyboard scrambling... So now I have a ghost to hunt down... Tek.

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