HELP - New system won't boot at all now!!

[bravestar]

Hi folks,

I've just put myself together a brand spanking new system, comprising of: AMD 64 3500 (90Nm), MSI K8N Neo Plat, 160GB IBM SATA, 1GB Geil, Samsung DVD/RW and an 128MB FX5500.

The system was running Win XP Pro and all was going smoothly, I had downloaded and installed SP2, updated all my hardware with the latest drivers, flashed the BIOS..... great I thought - time to see what this baby can do!!

Before thinking about doing any overclocking of my own, I thought I would try the built-in MSI Optimised Overclocking feature and increased the performance by 1%, not much difference in testing and still completely stable, so I went back and increased to 3%. Again a very small increase in performance and still completely stable. This is now where my problem starts...

I went back into the BIOS and increased the performance to 5% (it goes up to 10%+) but this time it wouldn't boot. Just where the WinXP loading screen would normally come in the system would re-boot. I reset the BIOS defaults and now the PC won't boot at all - it runs the system checks but when it comes to loading windows a blue screen flashes very quickly (too quick to see what it says) and the system reboots again. I've taken the HD out and replaced it with a nother but the same thing happens so I know it's not the HD and I'm just really hoping that it's not the CPU..

I can't believe an MSI built-in 5% increase in performance really destroyed my system, when i've seen XP3500's hitting 2.5Ghz+

Can anybody help me??? I'm in a state of panic here and some wise words would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance.

[Daymonkey]

Try reflashing the bios, might be corrupted

[ultimate]

Try reflashing the bios, might be corrupted

As Daymonkey says try try flashing the bios, but it might be worth trying to clear the bios first, not sure how you do it on the msi but it should tell you in the manual.

[Daymonkey]

yeh take the battery out and short the contacts for few minutes, with the power lug out press the button a few tmes first anyway to discharge it

[JimmyBoy]

failing that, i found overclocking and reaching instability can currupt windows

try a fresh installation

[bravestar]

Thanks for your suggestions, will try clearing the BIOS first and then flashing it if that fails. Will let you know how I get on. Cheers

[bravestar]

Right, have now tried clearing the CMOS, removing the battery and flashing the BIOS, but I'm still no better off.

It will boot as far as the safety screen, telling me that Windows failed to boot in a previous attempt and giving me the option to boot in Safe Mode, Last Settings that worked etc... However no matter which option I choose, a blue screen flickers v.quickly and the system reboots again.

Decided to cut my losses and tried reinstalling Windows, however the disc will run as far as: 'Push Enter for fresh install or R to repair etc..' However as soon as you push 'enter' for new install the folling blue screen appears:

"A problem has been detected and windows has been shut down to prevent damage to your computer....

Technical Information:
*** STOP: 0x00000024 (0x001902FA, 0xF7CAE7C4, 0xF7CAE4C4, 0xF749A633)
*** ntfs.sys - Address F749A633 base at F7447000, DateStamp 3d6de5c1"

Would I be correct in thinking that if it was a problem with the CPU that I wouldn't be able to get this far with booting up? Now I've seen this 'ntfs.sys' come up in the error screen I'm beginning to think it's the HD again, although I did plug in a different HD with Windows XP already on it, but the same thing happens and it won't boot either.

Before trying to fix it again this morning I was all for sending the CPU back, however now I'm not so sure that it's the problem. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that there's still a way out of this little dilemma and would appreciate you comments again.

[Hottentot]

Try booting from a floppy and running something like memtest. If your memory is OK then it sounds like a BIOS/ hard drive problem.

[ultimate]

Did you remove the power from the computer before you cleared the bios?, if you didnt then it wont clear.

[bravestar]

Come to think of it, although the system was off, the power cord was still attached when I cleared the BIOS/CMOS. Will try again now with it completely disconnected.

[bravestar]

Nope, just tried clearing the BIOS again - still boots right up to where the WinXP logo should come on the screen but instead states that Windows did not load properly in a previous attempt and no matter which option I chosse the system just re-boots.

If the CPU was shot would the PC load anything at all? I'll try some different memory at some point today, which just leaves me with either a HD or the MB problem...

The current HD is runnning on SATA, however my old HD which already has WinXP on it is IDE. If I unplug the SATA drive and plug-in the old IDE drive, I still have the same problem when the WinXP screen should appear the PC reboots.

I'm still confused!!

[ultimate]

Cpu should be ok or you would not boot at all, it does appear that the xp installation is corrupt on your hard drive, just out of interest the ide drive has xp installed but was it installed by the same machine, if not it wont be recognised correctly by your computer and as such would give you a similar problem.
Suggest you reinstall xp from your cd by making the cd drive first boot in the bios then when it comes up on screen "Boot from cd" press enter and go from there, good luck

[bravestar]

OK, some new developments... I tested the memory on another machine & vice versa - all ok, so I finally decided to pull the system apart completely and build it from scratch again.

Firstly, upon removing the heatsink the processor cam eout of its socket along with it.. not a good sign!! However, I cleaned it up and visually it's still in perfect condition. After reinstalling everything, I tried booting up again however the same problem is still there - I tried to reload Windows from the CD but the 'blue screen of doom' is still lurking large. As a final option I thought I would plug back in the old HD and see if a new copy of Windows would install on it.... woohoo, some luck at last - the old IDE HD will format and install a new copy of Windows on top if it, where the new SATA drive just kept crashing.

As far is I can tell, it would appear that the new HD has somehow been corrupted and is beyond recovery - d'oh!! Will return it today and request another one.. hopefully this will solve my problems, but I'll keep you posted.

Cheers for all your help.

[Firelord]

Put the SATA on SATA3 or SATA 4 as 1and2 are infamous for crap ocing and causing system problems.

Someone on EP-UK had similar probs with an AV8 and they flashed to new BIOS and all BIOS issues went away!

[Firelord]

Oh and make sure you have the 12v P4 connector in secure as seen these problems before with people not plugging in the P4 connector

Also what PSU are you using?

[bravestar]

Cheers for the suggestions Firelord.

Have arranged for a replacement HD to be delivered ASAP, will make sure I plug into SATA 3 or 4 this time and double check the power connections.

I'm using the standard 350W SmartPower PSU which came with my Antec case.