What a mess

[smorris]

I had a power supply fry, and it cooked my Mobo. A-open replaced Mobo under warranty (its a socket A AK77-8xn 8xAGP VIA chipset). Got it back and figured out that my chip was cooked too. everything else seemed to check out OK.

Since I had to replace a number of things, I decided to go ahead an upgrade as much as I could while I cold still get the bits for this mobo and bus...etc.

I replaced chip with an Athlon XP 1.8ghx (the 2200), and uped my ram to 1GB, and bought a 128MB NVGF 5500 8x AGP card by MadDog. I had great results with my previous card from them, so I went with them again.

Now, seemingly at random, I get that blue screen memory dump thing. I have had it when simply spinning a CD and accessing files. I have tried running GTR racing game as well (having installed DIRx 9.0 as directed by card and game) and when the opening video starts to play, the machine would simply and suddenly reboot. I unsitalled and went to reinstall, and as it is copying files, the screen goes blank. I reboot and windows wont load and neither will safe mode. I go to "use last known configuration" and I can back to where windows seems to work.

Trying to bt from the CD and reinstalling windows with the Windows XP CD doesnt work either. It starts and then just freezes up. Uhg.

Safe mode will not even boot up at all. I have no idea where to begin. Too much stuff on that drive to want to reformat, and I dont think that has anything to do with it.

Anyone have any ideas or course of action?

HELP!!!

[jayb1234]

First thing to check is whether the cpu fan/heatsink assembly is on securely.

Is the 4 pin auxillary power connector near the power supply attached?

What brand and model is the power supply?

[smorris]

As far as I can tell it is. I have installed the heatsink and fan units many times before. Also, there is no heat coming from the cpu, and can stick my finger down under there and its absolutely cool. All the hardware is turning an windows will now start, but it does work...mouse freezes up, all kinds of evil spirits lurkng and whatnot. The PS is an A-Power unit at 500 watts. Its brand new.

With all due respect, I dont see how this would have anything to do with windows acting the way it is. Wouldn't those things cause the unit to just shut down?

When A-Open repaired the Mobo, they installed an updated bios, but there isnt a temperature reading place in this bios that I can find. However, like I said, its not hot at all.

[Hi Ho]

A poor quality power supply can cause many seemingly unrelated problems due to fluxuating voltages. I have never heard of A-Power. Take a look at the Power Supply Reference Guide and the Power Supply FAQ.

I had similar problems when I had a low quality PSU and replacing it with a quality unit solved all of them.

A bad piece of RAM could also be causing the problem. Try running the system with one stick at a time.

[smorris]

The power supply is ISO 9001 rated (and as far as I can tell, it almost twice what I need), and a local computer store uses them exclusively in all of their builds. Its possible, but I doubt it. I did the RAM trick with all three sticks, and no difference, swapping them in & out, one at a time, trying each one...etc. Same stuff.

I know you said unrelated stuff, but I dont see how fluctuating voltage would cause my mouse to freeze up in windows, and everything else freeze up...and the other problems. I thinks its all windows and driver based stuff, but then again...I dont do this kind of thing for a living.

I appreciate everyones help though!

SRM

[Hi Ho]

Have you reinstalled Windows since all of this started? It could be software related and reinstalling Windows would rule that out. If you continue to have problems after reinstalling then it would be hardware related. Dirty power can cause freezes, reboots, memory dumps, and all sorts of other errors.

EDIT: After researching A-Power a bit more, I feel even more leary. A "400 watt unit" selling for $12 and weighing only 2.5 lbs is never a good sign. The 500w model isn't any more impressive. Many PC shops use crap PSU's in their builds.

[Stuey]

It's not easy to see that a PSU can have such an effect on a system, but it does happen. The easiest way to see this is to think about baking. If you put too much or too little butter into a batter, things will turn out differently. Even a small variation in the baking powder in the batter can result in a very different end-product. Similarly, a lower quality PSU may be rated at a certain wattage, but whether or not it provides stable power at the voltages the motherboard uses, now that's a different story. Also, cheaper PSUs tend to get sloppy at higher temperatures. Since they also have smaller heat sinks and cheaper internals, they get pretty hot. I remember reading that a 250W quality PSU offers cleaner (more consistent) power at operating temperatures than a 500W budget model.

Theoretically (in other words I'm rationalizing this based on my knowledge and experience) if a mouse is not powered properly and is getting a fluctuating voltage, it may in turn send a weak or fluctuating signal back to the motherboard. If the motherboard is unable to recognize the mouse or cannot read a stable signal, Windows will freeze. I doubt that a PSU can affect a mouse directly, but I suppose that the motherboard's voltage regulators can be affected by the PSU.

Nobody can say for sure whether or not your PSU is at fault, but it's always better to be safe than sorry. You get what you pay for, and with an A-Power PSU, that doesn't include quality or reliability.

While better PSUs are not 100% guaranteed, there is a LOT less chance of system damage if the PSU dies. With let's say an Antec PSU, your motherboard and CPU would have survided, and if it had been within three years of your purchase, Antec would have replaced your PSU.

On another note, it doesn't sound like a reformat issue to me either. Maybe the HD went bad when the PSU fried. I'm thinking that you should try to hook up the HD to another computer (not sure if this is risky or not). If it works, you can backup your files and try a reformat.

If this were a temperature issue, then the system would probably turn itself off rather than freezing up.

I hope this helps. Without access to the system, all we can do is throw out suggestions/advice. I don't think there's a fool-proof way of anyone determining what's wrong without having access to the system.

[smorris]

Yeah. I think the first thing I will do tomorrow is go buy another PSU that is a better known brand and see if that makes any difference. Doing a reinstall of windows doesnt work right now because the machine freezes up during the copying of files...etc. and it never completes, which I am sure compounds problems by creating corrupted files and all sorts of other binary goo.

Then I guess I will just reformat and hope that works. If not, then I am stuck and should probably just break down and build a new machine. I really dont have the bucs for that right now though. I was hoping that I could upgrade this machine to last me another year or so, as I use my laptop for the most part anyway.

The reinstall bothers me because I know I wont get everything set back u the way I want it. Especially all the plug-ins (adobe aps especially), and then there isthe registration of MS apps as well, I have to call and tell them what happened and whatnt to get another reg code....etc etc. Uhg. I want to avoid that if I can.

OK...so new (better) power supply and then I guess I am wiping it clean. I can always return either PSU too if I want.

Thanks again guys. Big help. Noce to know someone out there is willing to help!

SRM

[glc]

If you are going to go buy a power supply from a retail store, you can't go wrong with an Antec. Just make sure it has a 20 or 20+4 pin main connector - a pure ATX 2.0 unit with a straight 24 pin connector won't work on your board. If you don't mind waiting a few days, you can order a good unit from Newegg and save some considerable cash.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817153023

[mevensen]

Do you have another system which you could check your RAM modules in? Your MOBO was fried, your memory may have been as well. Just a thought.