First Build - AMD 4400+ Vista 64Bit

[bobt1978]

Hi,
In the computer game since late 80s & just getting around to putting system together. Actually the system is up & running, just not purring as smoothly as I'd like. Here's the system:

Antec Solo case
Antec 380W PSU
AMD 4400+ Brisbane 2.3G & 65nano
Windows Vista Home Premium 64Bit
G.Skill 6400 4GB
Gigabyte GA-NA69GM-S2H 690G MB
- with built-in video & sound
Seagate 250 SATA HD

As you can easily see I'm not into high speed gaming, just wanted up-to-date system w/latest OS - having doubts about 64bit version of Vista though! Initial start up was flawless - no blue screens - and other than learning idiosyncrasies of Vista all was well on home front,

Then thought cheap video card might just up the video performance mark. And a local computer shop had irresistible deal on a XFX GEFORCE 7200GS w/256MB on board. But it installed OK but shortly thereafter my system would reboot almost immediately after widows loaded. So uninstalled & nothing has been the same.

Here's a list of current problems & my attempts to cure:
1. Get a variety of while lines on UAC screen & sometimes options aren't clearly visible.
- reset all connectors on mb but still get some lines on pop up menus
2. Audio sound varies - either crystal clear or comes w/warble & bit of static sound
3. Sleep - Vista reincarnation of hibernation - doesn’t work anymore, so I don't put sys to sleep - this is a great improvement over XP when it works!
4. Finally, get random reboots - a clear sigh of potential hardware/electrical problems me thinks! Also maybe driver problem from failed video install & removal.

Not sure what to do at this point. Coming to 30 days since parts arrived from Newegg, but can't clearly see have mb or psu problem. Thinking of reformatting & was going to this eve but can't for life of me figure how. Tried w/i windows & using cmd window - both said format of only drive not authorized.

Stymied. And help greatly appreciated.

Bob

[Masaki 7-11]

Try to reset your CMOS on the motherboard, it should clear up any problems on a hardware level.

[bobt1978]

Thanks. Never attempted reset at mb level, always used the F! or del key to get to adjust bios. At this point I'm willing to try anything that sounds reasonable. Will let you know the results.

[bobt1978]

Reset bios to default settings. Had bios at optimum prior to this. Couple of positive changes. First the system no longer is rebooting. Should mention that had loaded Speedfan to monitor cpu & motherboard temps. Program apparently is not compatible with either my Gigabyte 690G Mb or Vista 64bit OS. Anyway, system ran w/o rebooting till I loaded Speedfan, then sys frooze.

Still getting having problems with audio quality. Either clear & far superior to anything prior or it has a warble. Sometime warble goes away if I exit Window Media Player & start DVD over again. This intermitent probem started after a failed attempt to install an inexpensive 256mb video card.

Any suggestion to wouild be appreciated.

Other problem - also started after video card aborted install - sometimes pop of screens will have options obsured by numberous white lines. And similar to audio problem, this one is intermittent.

Suggestions on either would be appreciated.

[Masaki 7-11]

Have you installed the 64-bit drivers? 32-bit drivers are completely different from 64-bit drivers, so make sure you install all the newest 64-bit drivers, especially for the video card and sound. Also make sure you get rid of the old video drivers beforehand. The most reliable solution would be to back-up all your important files and do a reinstallation of windows, this will fix up any problems.

[bobt1978]

Went into device manager to update all drivers, had downloaded most current video (from DriverAgent.com)- Realteck High Def Audio since using built-in audio - but windows wouldn't let me update & said current driver is latest. Little upsetting! DriverAgent scans sys and provides list of all drivers, highlighting those which are out of date. My system had only 2 out of date - the onboard audio & the LAN driver. Didnt update LAN driver since not having any problem there. BTW using onboard audio & video since mb supports same & both are adequate for my needs.

Plan on doing a reistallation of vista to clear up video & audio problems.

Thanks for the input. Will let you know results.

[bobt1978]

Interesting day. Did the reinstall & all was well, for awhile. Took longer than expected. Had copied install disk to hd, so expected quick reinstall. Took 55 min & everything was working perfectly. My spirits soared!

Couple hours later changed desktop video settings from 800X600 to 1024X768 and got first video aberration - just a few white horizontal lines. Up to this point on new install of so no problems with video or audio. Within next 30min or so number of lines increased. Countered with attempted restore to first available restore point........

Computer sat in restore mode w/o ever rebooting for over 20 min. Shut down and attempted to reboot. Will not boot up now. Can't read install disk in DVD drive. Got following message:

"Windows failed to start. A recent hardware or software change might be the cause. To fix problem:
1. Insert your windows installation disc and restart computer.
2. Choose your language settings, and then click "Next."
3. Click "Repair Your Computer."

My computer didn't read the DVD drive. Light came on but never loaded operating system off DVD. Screen said reading DVD, then got the failed/misfunction msg above!

Any ideas. Think might have bad md or psu. Would appreciate any ideas!

[Masaki 7-11]

Not likely you have a PSU problem since all your computer parts are working, so it might be something with the motherboard. White horizontal lines are not normal even when running without the latest drivers, and warble coming from your audio seems to indicate a motherboard problem. Since you reinstalled vista, and you still have problems, it's shouldn't be a software issue. If you want to try one more thing before replacing your motherboard, try loading up a different operating system, preferably 32-bit. If the 32-bit operating system works fine, then the motherboard must have had compatibility issues, if it doesn't work fine, you know for sure you have a motherboard problem.

[bobt1978]

Couple of things. Doesnt anybody sleep around here! Couldnt believe impossible to boot off DVD drive. Notices screen after post test said attempting to read CD/DVD drive, press any key. Finally went into bios set up & changed setting to enable keyboard - seem going defalut/no fail performance setting disenabled usb keyboard. Now I've got a repair os option!

Ran os repair & all is well. For time being! Think mb may be problem or as you suggest, my mb & Vista 64bit arent compatible. Understand from other posts possible to swap 32 bit Vista for 64bit OEM. Not too inviting but better than replacing mb.

For time being will let sys run continuously & observe!

Thanks loads for the input.