Startup problem - Hangs when starting.

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- NOOB QUESTION -

im not sure if the problem is that i dont have the windows CD... i have tried to start with only the PSU Vid card RAM etc... and pressing F12 when it starts to see the boot menu...

But it hangs and says: Loading Boot Menu... nothing happens.

i think i should atleast be able to see the boot menu, or its something with the mobo.?
 
Wait, did I overlook that you have never been into the BIOS menu?
If you can't press DEL or F12 and enter BIOS, then we are back to where I said it's a CMOS problem or therefore a motherboard failure. This is where we were at this morning at 7:40am:
What I'm thinking is this: After the POST the PC beeps to indicate a good self test, then it loads up the CMOS instructions, this contains the boot order info and other such settings in the BIOS. If it hangs here, then it can only be a corrupt CMOS or corrupt EPROM (both of these could be a faulty mobo) or the CPU is overheating (i.e. by now the CPU has had time to heat up, they use almost 100W of power these days) and think about how fast a 100W light bulb heats up.

If a CMOS refresh/reset does not correct this and you are sure the HSF is installed correctly and thermal paste was used, then you very well might have a faulty mobo.

I'm thinking you have faulty/dead mobo you need to return/exchange it.
 
I just found out something... It is actually touching the case! But there didn't come anything with the mobo so it doesn't touch the case...

Can this be the problem? If so, i will go buy those things asap.
 
You can just make some cardboard disks and put a hole through the middle for the stand-off screw. Use them on top and bottom side of the mobo at each mounting point.

|screw
__ __ crdbrd disk
____ ________ mobo
__ __ crdbrd disk

|stand-off
|

Cheers
 
Tried to do that.. Still the same problem with the CMOS.

Got a reply from the store now, gonna send it back to them and they are gonna check it.
 
Ok, that's probably best. I think we've tried just about everything we can and it really looks like a mobo failure.

Cheers.
 
Sent it to the store... Yup, they said it had an error.

They have sent a new one to me now, will just have to wait for the slow postman to deliver it :p

Will post results when i have received the mobo!
 
Ok, today i got my new mobo from the store. I still havent got WIN XP cd though, but will get tomorrow.

So i tried the system with only the needed components, PSU, Gfx, RAM etc. And it worked, came to this screen "DISK BOOT ERROR". But that is because i dont have a HDD in.

So everything works fine now!!

Cheers

Frostyrod :D
 
While you're waiting for the XP cd, go into your BIOS and set the boot order to CD 1st then HDD 2nd. This way when put the XP disc in it will automatically boot to the set-up screen for you. Good news.

Cheers.
 
Ok, her comes a reeeal noob question.

I need to format my old HDD first, but when starting with Windows CD, i can only repair it or install a new WinXP.

How to format?? :p
 
So you have the new WinXP cd? Boot from that and select install new.
If this is a SATA Hdd then you need to install the SATA drivers first by hit F6 when prompted and running the drivers from the floppy or cd. If it's IDE (ribbon cable) HDD then just follow the "new install" on screen instructions.
You're HDD must be installed at this point. You will be given the option to format the drive you select and partion it. Partion is to divide up the drive. Example, a 200GB, might be partioned into two 100Gb, C: and D: drives.

Cheers.
 
But i need to format it before installing in with the new motherboard, or i will get the CMOS error again?

You cant format it from Run; Format C:
?
 
If you set your BIOS to boot from the WinXP cd you can just follow the installation instructions on screen. It gives you the option of formatting the target drive before installation. If it's a new drive and you didn't select format option, the installation would just kick out and tell you have to format first.

If you have a previous copy of a boot disk. you can try the Format c: option if you like. You still need to boot from the boot disk first though.
 
Ok, everything worked fine with the Windows XP when i started it for the first time.

But then when i restarted it, i got the message

"Windows couldnt boot because a file is bad/damaged:
c:\Windows\DRIVERS\pci.sys

Thanks for all your help, and i hope you can answer this final problem:)
 
No prob, reinstalled windows and now everything works great :)

So now the work begins to install all the drivers :D

Thanks for all your help and good luck.

Posting this from my "new" computer btw :)
 
Sorry I missed that last problem post, work is darn time consuming! :)

Glad to hear all went though. Now the first thing is to install the mobo drivers. Then the video drivers. Order isn't too critical, but that's the way I like to do it.

The nice thing about XP is it has the USB drivers and any add-on ethernet cards you'd like to install. Most mobo's now have NICs on board now, so any proprietary drivers will be included with the mobo installation package.

Good job and let us know how it all works out, or of course post any questions that come up.

Cheers.
 
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