System Restarts While Restarting XP Setup

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ninjakirk

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Current Symptom: System restarts while restarting XP setup.

Past symptoms were variations of restart-related issues.
I have done almost everything I can think of to rule out what the problem may be, including replacing my motherboard and chip twice and switching out computer components to single out hardware. I even changed the case.

Current Setup:
CPU: Intel Pentium 4 HT 3.2Ghz
CPU Fan: Stock Intel Fan (new)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-P35-DS3L/S3L S-Series–Express chip set
Sound: On-board Audio Realtek
Video: (PCI-Express EVGA Nvidia 128MB Geforce 4)
SATA device (Master): 160Gig
IDE device (Slave): 80Gig
Optical IDE device: CDR/RW /DVDR/RW
Memory: 1 Gig DDR2 @ 667
OS: XP (not fully installed due to reformat).

Can anyone give me some sense of direction on this? I am about ready to give up.

Thanks!

NinjaKirk
 
Hello, ninjakirk, and welcome to Techspot :wave:

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With regards to your problem, it could be that you are mixing ide and sata hard drives, try unplugging the ide one and see how it goes.
 
Thanks for the suggestions! I am not sure if this this hardware or software related at this point. I have done so much by means of ruling out hardware that I am thrown for a loop. I, however, have not started the system with just the SATA drive, especially since all the changes I have made. I will try that. In the mean time, I have attached a document that details every single change I have made for reference.

Thanks again!

Ninjakirk
 
It seems that you have done all hardware checking to the extreme. What I don't understand is when you say..."O.S. XP Not fully installed, due to reformat". What exactly do you mean? Are you in the middle of an install?
 
What exactly do you mean? Are you in the middle of an install?

Good question. Windows XP has yet to finish it's setup cycle, so it's not fully set up on the system. That's what I mean.
Cheers!

NinjaKirk
 
So, I tried just starting the system up with the SATA drive connected. The system did exactly what it has been doing from the get go. I am beginning to think that this particular chip isn't friendly with my motherboard...just a guess. How valid is that anyways? Could that be the issue? Does anybody else have any suggestions?

Thankfully,

NinjaKirk
 
i don't think that it would be a problem between your cpu and motherboard because you wouldn't get as far as loading the xp disc if they didn't work together

when you tried it with just the sata hard drive, did you unplug the ide optical drive as well? i just noticed that that is ide as well ;)

is it restarting in exactly the same place each time?
 
No, I did not unplug the IDE Optical drive. I just unplugged the IDE Hard Drive. The Optical is set as Master, but that's a default setting that has never interferred with my IDE Hard Drive before. I noticed, additionally, that my CPU fan had trouble starting up when I first fired up the system. I am doubtful that that's a motherboard issue, since this is my 2nd motherboard replacement of the exact same. Could it be the SATA drive that is offering up the problems? I can't even boot into the Optical at startup because currently, my USB keyboard doesn't work after the initial BIOS splash.
Thanks for any help. This is getting so old!'

NinjaKirk
 
if the cpu fan is starting off slowly, it could either be that it starts going faster when the temperature increases, or that the power supply has a problem

it could be that the ide optical drive is interfering with the sata hard drive but obviously you can't unplug the cd drive when you need to read a cd ;)

does the ide hard drive has windows on it?

also, i'm guessing your hard drive and optical drive are on the same ide cable because your mobo has multiple sata connections and only one ide one?
 
Right you are on the IDE Hard Drive and IDE Optical Drive sharing the same cable. The Optical is connected to the Master side of the IDE Cable. My IDE Hard Drive is connected to the Slave portion of the IDE Cable. The Slave drive doesn't have an installation of Windows on it. The power supply issue could explain why the fan has trouble (initally) continously spinning; however, I am also doubtful because of the fact that I changed out the power supply at one point with a 430w Antec Earthwatts Power Supply to rule out that problem. Could that be the reason as to why my system is stuck in a restart loop though? To answer the question of if the system restarts in the same place any time. The answer is yes. I must qualify that by saying that the first boot is different. After I have not turned on the computer for a while and then boot it up, the computer still restarts at the restarting of Windows setup; however, the screen displays a quick message in a red box before it restarts. From that point on, the system restarts before that message box has time to show up. Does this help?

NinjaKirk
 
Right! Thanks for the suggestion...let's give it a go...probably won't be able to do it till next week. I'll keep you posted! Thanks again!

NinjaKirk
 
Well, I scanned my hard drive for bad sectors, but there were none to be found. I decided to try running Windows setup 1 last time. Setup not only was successful all the way through, but my system is running better than ever at this point. ???? I have no idea what happened, but my system is out of the woods. Call it Devine intervention. Thanks for all the help!
in good spirit,

NinjaKirk
 
Well that is strange, but in a good way :D

I expect the scan fixed something without telling you but who knows ;)

Glad to here it's sorted and don't hesitate to come back for any future problems you may have :)
 
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