After an upgrade my PC won't boot

[Simoncounsel]

About six weeks ago I upgraded my memory. About three weeks ago I
replaced my power supply and the heatsink and fan on my processor (in
order to quite the PC), I then had a minor tragedy and my motherboard
died. I took the PC to a local repair shop and they installed a new
motherboard for me. They also installed a new heatsink and fan
because they broke the old one when removing it.

Since all of these upgrades/repairs I have been unable to boot my PC.
A friend of mine helped me recover the data I wanted from the hard
drive, which we then reformatted. I then used the restore CD's (these
came with the PC and I think they contain an OEM copy of XP Home,
which I bought from PC World - It is an e-machines 180). Since using
the restore CD's I have not been able to fully boot up the PC.

When I push the start button I get a black screen on which is some
white writing. The white writing goes into some blurb about an
hardware upgrde. It then offers me some options such as: boot in
safe mode, boot to last working configuration etc. (I think there are
four options in total). Which ever I press, what happens is the
screen just flashes and I then go back to the beginning of the POST.

I have been given a CD by the repair shop which contains the drivers
for the motherboard, which I have not yet installed. A friend of mine
suggested that the new motherboard may not be able to 'see' the other
hardware, but I have been into the BIOS and it recognises the correct
processor, hard drive and memory etc.

I have no idea what to do next. I once read in a magazine that
Microsoft only allows four changes to hardware in any two month period
or something. I don't know if this is true. Does anyone have any
ideas that do not involve purchasing a new operating system?

 

[Carey Frisch [MVP]]

Unless you replace the motherboard with an exact model duplicate,
your eMachine restore CD is of no value. You'll have to purchase
a conventional "Retail Version" of Windows XP and perform a
"Repair Install". Your eMachine license for Windows XP is only
valid with the hardware (especially the motherboard) installed
originally by the manufacturer.

Changing a Motherboard or Moving a Hard Drive with XP Installed
http://www.michaelstevenstech.com/moving_xp.html

How to Perform a Windows XP Repair Install
http://www.michaelstevenstech.com/XPrepairinstall.htm

[Courtesy of MS-MVP Michael Stevens]

--
Carey Frisch
Microsoft MVP
Windows XP - Shell/User

Be Smart! Protect Your PC!
http://www.microsoft.com/athome/security/protect/default.aspx

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

:

| About six weeks ago I upgraded my memory. About three weeks ago I
| replaced my power supply and the heatsink and fan on my processor (in
| order to quite the PC), I then had a minor tragedy and my motherboard
| died. I took the PC to a local repair shop and they installed a new
| motherboard for me. They also installed a new heatsink and fan
| because they broke the old one when removing it.
|
| Since all of these upgrades/repairs I have been unable to boot my PC.
| A friend of mine helped me recover the data I wanted from the hard
| drive, which we then reformatted. I then used the restore CD's (these
| came with the PC and I think they contain an OEM copy of XP Home,
| which I bought from PC World - It is an e-machines 180). Since using
| the restore CD's I have not been able to fully boot up the PC.
|
| When I push the start button I get a black screen on which is some
| white writing. The white writing goes into some blurb about an
| hardware upgrde. It then offers me some options such as: boot in
| safe mode, boot to last working configuration etc. (I think there are
| four options in total). Which ever I press, what happens is the
| screen just flashes and I then go back to the beginning of the POST.
|
| I have been given a CD by the repair shop which contains the drivers
| for the motherboard, which I have not yet installed. A friend of mine
| suggested that the new motherboard may not be able to 'see' the other
| hardware, but I have been into the BIOS and it recognises the correct
| processor, hard drive and memory etc.
|
| I have no idea what to do next. I once read in a magazine that
| Microsoft only allows four changes to hardware in any two month period
| or something. I don't know if this is true. Does anyone have any
| ideas that do not involve purchasing a new operating system?

 

[Nathan McNulty]

I would suggest purchasing either a new OEM version, an academic version
(if applicable), or an upgrade version if you own a pervious version.
It should cost you under $100. An OEM version can be purchased from
newegg.com for fairly cheap