Help! Mega PC trouble, no idea whats causing it

[Joshimitsu]

Hi all,

I'm having major PC problems. I formatted about 2 weeks ago, and my
computer hasnt been the same since.

Every now and then when I'm doing something, the HDD LED will go a
complete static red (It usually flickers when its accessing the HDD)
and the PC will stop responding, for anywhere from a couple of seconds
to a couple of minutes. It seems to only do it when I'm using
the computer, like just after I've clicked a button or something. The
computer also takes ages to boot up (when it gets to the Windows XP
Proffesional screen with the blue bar along the middle), and the HDD
LED just stays without flickering or anything.
Here's the current spec:

Windows XP Pro
QDI Plantix 2D/533 Motherboard
P4 2.2ghz CPU
512mb PC2700 DDR RAM
256mb PC2100 DDR RAM
Samsung 60gb HDD
Geforce 3 Ti200
Creative SB Live 5.1

I've tried everything, formatted and re-installed countless times, but
the problem always comes back after a couple of days,
swapped the RAM around, taken sticks out, tried buying new IDE cables,
switching round which drives
were master and slave, even tried it on another hard drive.

It's driving me completely mental, please help!

 

[Yves Leclerc]

Here are a few more questions that we need to be answered:

1) What other software do you have installed on this PC?
2) Do you have anti-virus, anti-spyware and firewall software install?
3) What do you use on this PC?

Y.

 

[Thagor]

Just a few guesses here.

Is all the hardware compatible? Are you installing an drivers that may need
to be updated?

Check the BIOS for Hard drive configuration, UDMA/PIO settings, Advanced
Power Control on, and memory latency settings. Check the system manual for
information on these settings.

Next time you feel like re-installing make sure the drive is completely
clean. Use an old boot floppy with fdisk if you have to. Don't forget to
"FDISK /MBR" the drive as a final task. XP will install smoothly on a very
clean drive, like right out of the box.

Finally, it could be a power supply failing though far fetched.