XP Installation Problem...

[LGraves]

Greetings all,
New member here, im going to give some background info on whats been going on with my PC.

First off about 2 months ago my motherboard (AOpen AK89 Max) died - was not sending a signal to my monitor. I played around with some things i had read about and could never get it to work. So i ordered a new mobo. This one compared to my old mobo is crap hehe. Im pretty new at dealing with motherboards and installing them so this was my 1st time. New mobo = Biostar k8NHA Grand - I needed a compatible AGP/754 pin

When I first installed this mobo. It posted I played ith the BIOS a bit and it would go into windows fine. However,when trying to load up BF2142 or WoW (I was really foaming at the mouth to play) I would get a BSOD! so I couldnt run any games or exporer.

After about a day of trying to update the drivers I still kept getting BSOD's reguarding devices and drivers and new hardware or software - multiple stop messages.

I then got sick of that and thought it would be a great idea to take a differant approach - I grabbed my windows recovery CD and started to attempt a repair. still getting BSOD's reguarding hardware and what not.

This HDD is about a year old HDD - (Seagate 7200 sata 120gb) - its been working well.

So I have this going on with this older HDD that I been using.

Now im in the process of trying to freshly install XP on a 2nd HDD that I had in my closet totally new. This 2nd HDD is a Maxtor 100gb HDD maybe about 2 years old.

With this 2nd HDD I have gotten all the way down to 19 miutes left to install I think it says its installing start menu items (?) but it then goes to a BSOD
and says this:


cdfs_file_system (think it said something diferant here also,will try again)

if the problem continues disable any newly installed software/hardware. disable bios memory options such as cache or shadowing (unsure how to do that) press F8 to advanced start up options. then select safe mode -

So im curious at this point what my options are?
I have been trying to install/repair windows on both of these HDD both leading to BSOD's. I will post more messages that I get.

Appologies for the lengthy post - just trying to be as informative as possible.

System Specs:

AMD athlon 64 3400 CPU
1 GIG kingston PC3200 HyperX
Nvidia Gforce 7800 OC GS (AGP)
K8NHA Grand - Biostar motherboard
Creative audigy ZS Plat. sound card
Xion 500 Watt PSU
Seagtate 7200 120gb HDD (one I been using)
Maxtor 100GB HDD (one that was stashed away)

Hope this helps,im going out for a few beers to try to get this off my mind for a few hours

I must say that I am very interested in learning new things reguarding computers so this is a learning experiance if anything - even though i have had way to many already.

 

[CCT]

Since much of the diagnostics on the net is guesswork based on a a lot of experience and knowledge, my guess would be bad ram.

If that 1 Gb is 2 sticks, try 1 at a time.

Post back.



edit: the Biostar site says the only PC3200 Kingston 'approved' is the Kingston D3208DH1T-5.

http://www.biostar.com.tw/products/mainboard/board.php?name=K8NHA Grand

 

[LGraves]

How do you know wich typ of RAM you have? (D3208DH1T-5?)
I do have 2x 512 sticks but thats all that I have. But,im going to try that out - thanks or the reply.

My old mobo used to make a long steady beep - i thought that i heard that might indicate bad ram.

My other question is how would RAM go bad?

 

[Tedster]

RAM does in fact go bad, especially with a failing PSU.

check both and ensure your RAM is of the type recommended by your mobo maker.

 

[LGraves]

I got windows to installing by taking out 1 stick of RAM. It hangs during the welcome screen but after while it goes to the desktop.

Im currently installing my Graphics drivers and dx9. then my sound card.

Should I install the drivers for my motherboard? I was told that the drivers on the CD are old and out dated.

Also to my knowledge the RAM is compatible - KINGSTON D3208DH1T-5 512M D 400 - to my knowledge this is what im using but how can i be sure?

http://www.biostar-usa.com/mbdetails.asp?model=k8nha+grand

So if windows installed using only 1 stick of 512 RAM does that mg it back iean i "luckily" pulled out the bad stick or what? and if its bad I cant plug it back in?