Hi, I have a brand-new desktop running Windows XP, Athlon 64 3200, Gigabyte KT8V800 Pro motherboard, 1 GB RAM, 160GB S-ATA hard drive (partitioned 80GB NTFS, 20 FAT32, 20 FAT32, remainder unformatted for Linux install), Nvidia GEForce 5900 graphics card. I got the machine home, ran it for 2 hours, installed a few things (printer, MSN Messenger, WinZip) after which it refused to boot up. After the XP splash screen it would either stop on a black screen, restart itself, or go to a BSOD with various messages. I have since tried a repair install, and the XP recovery console, to no avail. The final step was to use the XP CD to format the drive in order to reinstall the operating system. However, the furthest I have got with this is after Setup restarts the machine; I read the message saying Setup is restarting, and then it goes to a BSOD again. The messages vary. Often it is to do with NTFS.sys. Surely after formatting the drive this can't be a software problem? Is there any other way of formatting the hard drive? Would formatting in FAT32 help? How could I do this? Any ideas much appreciated. Thanks.

bsod's are a cause of overheating or bad memory. open the case, make sure the cpu fan is connected and turning. reseat the memory, video, unless video is onboard

Hi Ferris Just last week I had a similar issue with a new computer giving various blue screens. As a last resort after swapping out RAM and cards, I downloaded all the latest drivers for the integrated motherboard, and voila ! problem solved. This computer had an NVIDIA graphics chipset, and it seems that NVIDIA is a bit dodgy on XP without the very latest drivers. Could be worth a try for you to get the latest drivers for your mobo and graphics card. Good luck Krystyna Be daring and be adventurous...the only things in life you'll regret, are the risks you didn't take !

Hi Krystyna or anyone, I'm not sure your suggestion is what I need, but could you please explain what you mean in more detail? Remember, at the moment I have no operating system as the XP installer fails to complete (BSOD). So how would I go about updating the drivers? By the way, I'm not being sarcastic, I genuinely don't know much about PCs built post-1998 :) The graphics are not on the mobo, it is a separate card. Everything *was* working for a total of two hours, and then after a restart it wouldn't reboot. Is there any way I can test the memory? Thanks again.

Hi Ferris Sorry, I did not read closely enough to realise you cannot boot successfully at all now ! Back to basics...try and determine if a piece of hardware is at fault. Remove all cards except the video card. Unhook the floppy drive and CDROMs. Leave only your hard drive plugged in to the Primary IDE port. Have you got 2 sticks of RAM ? Take one out and just try booting with 1 stick in the first slot, then try just with the other stick. Krystyna Be daring and be adventurous...the only things in life you'll regret, are the risks you didn't take !

Hi Krystyna, Thanks for the advice, I would love to do that but I just can't spare the time to delve too deeply into hardware at the moment. I have just downloaded MemTest-86 v3.1. Does anyone know how reliable this program is? It just ran Test #5 and found 30 errors at around 960.2MB-960.8MB. My problem is, if it is a hardware fault, it will be covered by the warranty and I can just take it back to the company that built it and it will be their problem. If it is a software problem, it is not covered by the warranty and they will charge me just to look at it. So it is important to know how reliable this test might be! Thanks all.

Hi Ferris I cannot say, as I've not used MemTest before. We tend to just swap out RAM when trying to determine if it is a problem or not. But I definitely think you have a hardware problem...not software. Krystyna Be daring and be adventurous...the only things in life you'll regret, are the risks you didn't take !