Not sure where to post this, but here goes...
Right, I have really screwed something up this time. Here is my new rig:
NEW RIG: AMD 64 3500+ | Asus A8N SLi Deluxe | 2 x Corsair 512MB PC4400 Overclockers RAM| 1 x XFX 6800GT | Creative SoundBlaster Live | 1 x 74GB Western Digital Raptor )Boot + backup & 2x 200gb Seagate Barracuda 7200.7 (RAID 0) | Plextor 716A Black 16 x16±,x4+ Dual Layer DVD | Tagan 480W | ThermalRight XP-120 with Delta Screamer | 2x120mm YS TECH| [Black Akasa Eclipse 62 | L1980U 19" TFT 12ms 500:1 DVI Ultra Slim Black & Silver | Phillips 5.1 Surround Sound| Razer Diamondback Mouse | ExactMat mousemat | Black Cherry Keyboard | WinXP Pro
It has been running fine for a few weeks now, but I hit a problem before. Naturally, buying an Athlon 3500, I want to overclock it a lot. At least up to 2600mhz (starts at 2200). So I started overclocking it a bit a couple of weeks ago, and got it up to about 2600. I left Prime95 running overnight, and it found no errors. Then when playing Warcraft 3, it started giving me funny DIDIDIDIDI noises through my speaker, and then the computer just restarted. I adjusted the overclock, but I put the FSB too high and it froze on boot. I shutdown the computer and fired it up again, and got this message:
"Windows could not start because the following file is missing or corrupt
Windows/system32/config/system.
(then something along the lines of)"You can attempt to fix this by running the original setup CD and using the repair console. To access the repair console press 'r'."
So I put the XP CD in and tried to repair, but it wouldn't work. Eventually after numerous tests, I used the second partition on my Raptor, and it did a disk check, rebooted, and windows started fine...I didn't have to reinstall windows.
So a few days later (aka last night) I was trying different settings again, and windows booted, but the screen kept flickering on and off, I was guessing the CPU needed more voltage. I pressed the shutdown button and held it on, which meant it shutdown and immediately rebooted (I didn't actually mean to do this, but I didn't think it would do much harm).
Windows didn't load again, and I got the same thing as before:
"Windows could not start because the following file is missing or corrupt
Windows/system32/config/system.
(then something along the lines of)"You can attempt to fix this by running the original setup CD and using the repair console. To access the repair console press 'r'."
So I thought, Okay, this should be easy to fix, I'l just do what I did last time. But it didn't work. I tried it, and it said "C: is corrupt and cannot be repaired" (or something like that), please exit setup by pressing F3."
So what the hell do I do? Surely my Raptor can't be bust? It checks okay on startup Im sure. I think it might be something to do with shutdown times on a Raptor, but I would have to research this. Does this mean I have to format C: or is there another option? (Also bear in mind I have 2 200gb Seagate barracudas in RAID 0 which can be used if needed for testing).
Regards,
Ross