Hi, I recently picked up a used PC.

Everything worked out fine at first. It has a Sempron 3000+ and I think about 1g of ram ( one slot is full ). The previous owner had Windows XP x64 on it and tons of other " junk " that I wanted gone. I wiped down the HDD with a homebrew app I have used successfully in the past plenty of times and I installed a fresh copy of XP Pro. Now the PC restarts while Windows is loading.

I can pull the HDD and drop it in a newer Compaq and it works fine so I know its not a bad install.

Can someone shed some light for me and also can someone tell me what max amount of RAM this machine can handle and what type I should buy?

Like I said, I got it used and its in a blank case so thats all the info I can give you. Im assuming the PC was built by a teenage amateur PC enthusiast at some point giving the uhhh media I had to delete.

You'll need to open the case and find out what hardware's in there. There's usually something marked on each component. Don't forget the power supply.

-------------------------
MSI K7N2 Delta2 LSR|35w XP-M2400 11x214 1.62V|2x512MB OCZ EL 2 2 2 11 2.9V|9600XT|Seasonic 350w
Abit AN7|XP-M2800 10.5x227 1.62V|2x512MB Mushkin XP4000 2 3 2 11 3.2V|9600XT|Seasonic 550w
Asus A7V600|XP-M2600 6-11x202 1.6V|2x512 Crucial PC3200 2.5 3 3 9 2.7V|PCI 32MB gfx|Corsair 450w

Thats honestly all I can give. Everything else is blank.

The MOBO has some numbers but nothing I can make out.

Like I said, it seems to me to be a RAM issue. It worked fine on a install of XP x64 but now restarts when I get to the windows is loading screen of the new install of XP Pro.

And again, the HDD works fine in a different machine so I cant see it being the HD and since it worked previously to this I also cant see it being the power supply.

Ok, now I got somewhere.

I have a MSI K8MM3 MOBO and a Phoenix bios.

Still nothing on the PS but I am getting a bit further with windows. I can get to a point where it asks me if I want safe mode etc,... etc.

Nothing works.

Did the WinXP install complete before it restarted?

Does the boot into Safe Mode work?

If the windows install completes, install all chipset drivers and others before restarting.

You could also try setting the CPU and RAM bus to 100MHz in BIOS before doing the OS install, to see if it stabilises, then if does, lateron try to find out the reason it restarts.

-------------------------

The install is complete. Again it ( the hard drive ) works on a different PC with no problems at all.

Again, it does not work in safe mode.

I could try the CPU and RAM bus.

I cant find out why it restarts. Thats why I am posting.

Its in my bios or my RAM, IMO. I can try to get windows to correct it but it cant find the error. Then the PC restarts and again as windows starts up it restarts.

If you can get into OS, run CPU-Z to get some info of the system and post it here.

Would try a install of WinXP from scratch, including MS updates + all drivers.

-------------------------

I am starting from scratch! I cant get into windows, thats the problem!

As I said, I used a home brew disc kill to clear the hard drive and set it to stock and then I made a fresh install of XP.

Also, I cant find where the CPU and RAM bus settings are for my BIOS.

The manual is here if you need to check for the BIOS settings.

Re the bus settings, initially thought it was a socket A board, but that is not the case.
But anyway, can try an underclock, in case it is a weak powersuppy or incompatible RAM.

EDIT: Is this an OEM board, from e.g emachine, Acer etc.? Then it will have another BIOS.

-------------------------


Edited: 02/01/2010 at 11:34 AM by go_for

Im not sure. Like I said, it looks like a PC that was made by someone.

I have started thinking. I erased the HD and installed Windows on it via a different PC. Could this be the problem?

Exactly, that is the problem. You must install the OS on the computer/HD is going to be used on.

-------------------------

Still no go. It either hangs on the splash screen or it hangs on a black and Grey screen that says windows is loading with a bar on the bottom.

Think the error is a bit different now, it does not restart?
This could be a drives connection/ master/slave configuration issue.

Try also a test with memtest86+

-------------------------

Def. not a config issue.

If Im booting from the windows disc or the disc kill disc it hangs on me. If Im booting off the HDD it restarts.

This sucks. I would hate to have to take it in for service.

So you have confirmed the CD drive vs HD are correctly jumpered in ref to Master and Slave with the corresponding drive being correctly hooked on the IDE cable, Master at the end connector?

Can also try a Knoppix Live CD to see if boots into it. No harddrive necessary.

http://www.knopper.net/knoppix/index-en.html

-------------------------