Someone please help me ASAP!

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damienb

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Hey there,

Ive got a Packard Bell Pulsar 600. It had a 10Gb hard disk 5400rpm (IDE) originally, a Pentium 3 600Mhz processor (socket 370) and 512Mb RAM. Just now I have replaced the hard disk with a brand new Hitachi Deskstar 160Gb 7200rpm (IDE) and also upgraded the processor to a Pentium 3 900Mhz (although its showing up in "System" as 701Mhz). I booted to a Windows 98 boot disk and used Fdisk partition the new drive, then reboot and then format c: to make the drive usable. From the very start though there was this intermitant siren like beeping coming from the tower that lasts about 4 seconds each time. Sometimes it would stop for quite a while and then come back for a while. After completing the format process I rebooted and the run the XP Pro setup. Again, intermittantly I the PC would make this siren like beep during the setup. Even now the setup is complete and XP is installed, the PC is still occasionally making this sound. The hard disk is only showing up as a 130Gb so I cant understand where the other 30Gb has gone and I did tell Fdisk to use the maximum amount of space. Also when starting up it gets to the XP logo and the little progress bar starts moving but then hangs for a quite a bit, then starts again and then hangs a little bit more. Then the logo screen dissappears and the PC just hangs for about a minute then suddenly the hard disk spins up and brings up the desktop.

I bit of a mouth full I know, sorry.

Can anyone tell me what going on???? Could it be that it doesn't like the faster processor Ive put in it?? or maybe the hard disk?? Does anyone know what that siren like beeping is or what it means??

Im going to try putting original processor back in when I can but thought Id ask everyone on here about it.

Damien
 
is that what the beeping mean?? you seen this before then??

the motherboard bant be setup wrong as it was working perfectly before no issues at all and was actually faster Id say. No hanging at startup or anything! I havent changed anything on the mobo!

Damien
 
The beep is a warning from the computer saying something is not quite right, but it is a good ol boy.
Each computer brand, and sometimes model, has its own beep codes. You need the beep codes from the brand website, or the motherboard website.
It can be anything... from wrong cable to bad memory to something plugged into the wrong socket... anything that isn't "right" as detected by that motherboard.
 
i haven't changed any cables. i used the same hard disk cable and made double sure it was plugged in correctly and I set the little pin on the new hard disk to "master". Then I changed the CPU making sure that it went in the exact same way it came out, thats it. the memory has not been changed or power supply or anything else.
 
Change your processor back to the 600MHz one, and leave your new hard drive in. See if it still beeps and hangs. The fact that it's telling you 701MHz for the processor instead of 900MHz, and it freezing is making me suspect the processor. I don't see how the hard drive (if connected properly, which is a must for you to actually format it ;) ) can make your pc beep, theres not really much than can go wrong with it.

Also - did you use new thermal paste on the processor? When you take off the heat sink, there should be thermal goo in between. Clean that off (of both the heat sink and the processor) with Isoprol Alcohol, apply new thermal paste (Arctic Silver 5 is the best) according to it's instructions (different pastes use different methods) and then try.
 
Your CPU is showing up as 700MHz because you are using a 100MHz FSB, whereas that 900MHz P3 is designed for a 133MHz FSB.

Most propietary motherboards, such as with OEM machines from Dell, Gateway, et cetera, will not allow you to alter the FSB. They rely completely on CPU ID detection and proper support in the chipset on the board. If your board does not detect the CPU correctly it will probably default to the lowest FSB for that CPU type, in the case of the P3 it is 100MHz.

I doubt your CPU is bad.


Your HDD is showing up at as ~130GB because your system does not support 48 Bit LBA, which is required for drives larger than 127GB. Your solution is to either install a newer OS with software workarounds (such as Windows XP SP1 or higher), or to format and partition the drive with multiple partitions on another machine.

The beeping could be from many things, including something as benign as a sticky key or a failing keyboard. Unless you are seeing obvious flaws in the system itself (crashing, rebooting, et cetera) you should check your peripherals, or even just unplug the PC speaker.

If you want more details I will oblige.
 
Thanjs for all your help. It was the newer processor that I had put in it. I swapped it back to the original and no problems whatsoever! No beeping, no hanging, its faster than it ever was now. As to the reason its only showing uo as 130Gb is wierd, I have installed XP Pro SP2 so I cant see why I should have to install a new OS????
 
How to enable 48-bit LBA support on WinXP Pro SP2

Hi all,

I have just rebuilt a PC at home. Its a Packard Bell Pulsar 600. Ive upgraded the hard disk from a 5400rpm 10GB (IDE) to a brand new 7200rpm 160GB (IDE). I booted to a Win98 boot disk and used FDISK to create a new partition using the maximum capacity. Then formatted the disk and installed XP Pro SP2 fresh.

Everything is fine but the drive is only showing up as 127GB. Ive read that and been told that I need 48-bit LBA support for this but I already have XP Pro SP2. Shouldn't this already have this??

Damien
 
You need to update the BIOS for the motherboard... usually available on the Manufacturer's website, as well as the website of the motherboard manufacturer.
 
BIOS Update for Packard Bell Pulsar 600

Hi all,

Can anyone tell me where I can get a BIOS update for a Packard Bell Pulsar 600?? I need 48-bit LBA support for the big hard disk I've just put in. I'm using XP Pro SP2 and have checked that 48-bit LBA support is active, which it is. The disk is still showing up as 128GB instead of 160GB. Looks like the BIOS needs an update. I just hope there is one available??

Damien
 
Look at the motherboard, determine the mfg and go to that site. You may have to enter the chipset or motherboard numbers into a Google search to figger it out. Packard Bell does still exist in Europe... so look for them with a Google search... also there are about 15 or 20 companies that offer rare drivers online... so search for drivers on line.
 
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