system continually locks up and restarts itself

[jman]

I recently put an ECS ELITEGROUP KT600-A motherboard with an AMD Athlon
XP
3200+ processor into my computer that has XP home SP2 installed on it.
Anyway, it worked great for about 3 hours. Then it froze. I had to
restart
the computer and then it went into a loop of restarting itself.
Eventually it
booted back into windows and forced me to activate my recently
re-installed
windows. It continutes to freeze at radom times and currently will not
even
boot into windows without freezing up which requires a restart. I have
tried
adjusting BIOS settings and have loaded both failsafe and optimized
defaults,
neither of which solved the problem. I really don't want to have to
return
this since it ran so well. The only things currently attached to the
motherboard beyond peripherals are my CD drives, floppy drive, hard
drive,
and video card (NVIDIA GeForce FX5200). I tried running a repair
installation of Windows XP, but the computer froze during loadup.
Please help!!

 

[Malke]

I recently put an ECS ELITEGROUP KT600-A motherboard with an AMD
Athlon XP
3200+ processor into my computer that has XP home SP2 installed on it.
Anyway, it worked great for about 3 hours. Then it froze. I had to
restart
the computer and then it went into a loop of restarting itself.
Eventually it
booted back into windows and forced me to activate my recently
re-installed
windows. It continutes to freeze at radom times and currently will not
even
boot into windows without freezing up which requires a restart. I
have tried
adjusting BIOS settings and have loaded both failsafe and optimized
defaults,
neither of which solved the problem. I really don't want to have to
return
this since it ran so well. The only things currently attached to the
motherboard beyond peripherals are my CD drives, floppy drive, hard
drive,
and video card (NVIDIA GeForce FX5200). I tried running a repair
installation of Windows XP, but the computer froze during loadup.
Please help!!

This is definitely a hardware issue. Strip the machine down to the
motherboard, video card, and one stick of RAM. Run Memtest86+ on the
RAM and see if it will stay stable. If it does, add another stick of
RAM. You will have to add one hardware component at a time, but you
definitely have hardware failure. Make sure that the RAM you got is the
correct type, matches, and is in the preferred slots for your
motherboard.

Also, make sure the heat sink and thermal pad/paste is properly applied
on the processor.

Malke

 

[CS]

I recently put an ECS ELITEGROUP KT600-A motherboard with an AMD Athlon
XP
3200+ processor into my computer that has XP home SP2 installed on it.
Anyway, it worked great for about 3 hours. Then it froze. I had to
restart
the computer and then it went into a loop of restarting itself.
Eventually it
booted back into windows and forced me to activate my recently
re-installed
windows. It continutes to freeze at radom times and currently will not
even
boot into windows without freezing up which requires a restart. I have
tried
adjusting BIOS settings and have loaded both failsafe and optimized
defaults,
neither of which solved the problem. I really don't want to have to
return
this since it ran so well. The only things currently attached to the
motherboard beyond peripherals are my CD drives, floppy drive, hard
drive,
and video card (NVIDIA GeForce FX5200). I tried running a repair
installation of Windows XP, but the computer froze during loadup.
Please help!!

I suspect you have a hardware problem which possibly could be caused
by overheating. Make sure you have the new CPU properly cooled in
accordance with AMD specifications. A CPU that's overheating will
shut itself down (reboot) in order to prevent damage. One of the
symptoms of overheating is the system freezes up. Your problems are
probably not related to Win XP Home since the freeze occurs before you
even load the OS.

 

[jman]

I ran memtest86 and both my sticks of RAM failed. This does not make
any sense however because they were both being recognized by the system
and both worked in my old motherboard.

 

[Malke]

I ran memtest86 and both my sticks of RAM failed. This does not make
any sense however because they were both being recognized by the
system and both worked in my old motherboard.

That doesn't mean they work well with this new motherboard. Try a
different (known-working) stick of RAM and see if all is well. If it
is, then you know the RAM and the new motherboard are incompatible. If
you get a RAM failure with it, then it's the motherboard. Take it back!

Malke

 

[jman]

the motherboard came with the cpu installed with a massive heat sink
and a fat so i would assume it's cooled normally. Also, when I leave it
sitting in BIOS it never runs higher than about 35 degrees celsius.

 

[Malke]

the motherboard came with the cpu installed with a massive heat sink
and a fat so i would assume it's cooled normally. Also, when I leave
it sitting in BIOS it never runs higher than about 35 degrees celsius.

Since you didn't do the cpu/fan installation yourself, it is probably
all right. I'm betting on the RAM or the motherboard itself.

Malke

 

[CS]

the motherboard came with the cpu installed with a massive heat sink
and a fat so i would assume it's cooled normally. Also, when I leave it
sitting in BIOS it never runs higher than about 35 degrees celsius.

OK. The next thing to do is check the memory. Ah, I see that Malke
has already advised you on this. Follow her advice. Good luck.

 

[Bruce Chambers]

I recently put an ECS ELITEGROUP KT600-A motherboard with an AMD Athlon
XP
3200+ processor into my computer that has XP home SP2 installed on it.
Anyway, it worked great for about 3 hours. Then it froze. I had to
restart
the computer and then it went into a loop of restarting itself.
Eventually it
booted back into windows and forced me to activate my recently
re-installed
windows. It continutes to freeze at radom times and currently will not
even
boot into windows without freezing up which requires a restart. I have
tried
adjusting BIOS settings and have loaded both failsafe and optimized
defaults,
neither of which solved the problem. I really don't want to have to
return
this since it ran so well. The only things currently attached to the
motherboard beyond peripherals are my CD drives, floppy drive, hard
drive,
and video card (NVIDIA GeForce FX5200). I tried running a repair
installation of Windows XP, but the computer froze during loadup.
Please help!!

Normally, and assuming a retail license (many OEM installations
and licenses are not transferable to a new motherboard - check yours
before starting), unless the new motherboard is virtually identical
(same chipset, same IDE controllers, same BIOS version, etc.) to the
one on which the WinXP installation was originally performed, you'll
need to perform a repair (a.k.a. in-place upgrade) installation, at
the very least:

How to Perform an In-Place Upgrade of Windows XP
http://support.microsoft.com/directory/article.asp?ID=KB;EN-US;Q315341

The "why" is quite simple, really, and has nothing to do with
licensing issues, per se; it's a purely technical matter, at this
point. You've pulled the proverbial hardware rug out from under the
OS. (If you don't like -- or get -- the rug analogy, think of it as
picking up a Cape Cod style home and then setting it down onto a Ranch
style foundation. It just isn't going to fit.) WinXP, like Win2K
before it, is not nearly as "promiscuous" as Win9x when it comes to
accepting any old hardware configuration you throw at it. On
installation it "tailors" itself to the specific hardware found. This
is one of the reasons that the entire WinNT/2K/XP OS family is so much
more stable than the Win9x group.

As always when undertaking such a significant change, back up any
important data before starting.


--

Bruce Chambers

Help us help you:



You can have peace. Or you can have freedom. Don't ever count on having
both at once. - RAH

 

[Bruce Chambers]

I ran memtest86 and both my sticks of RAM failed. This does not make
any sense however because they were both being recognized by the system
and both worked in my old motherboard.

The fact that the RAM worked in the old motherboard isn't really
relevant. It absolutely *must* be fully compatible with the new
motherboard.

It is absolutely essential that any new RAM module(s) be fully
compatible with both the motherboard and/or any other RAM module(s)
already in the system. Additionally, there are sometimes jumper
switches on older motherboards that need to be reset for new RAM
configurations. Consult your motherboard's manual or the
manufacturer's web site for specific instructions and compatibility
requirements.

If you cannot lay your hands upon the computer's manual and the
manufacturer doesn't provide a support web site, you can use these
utilities to help determine the correct type of RAM needed:

SiSoft's Sandra
http://www.sisoftware.co.uk/index.php?dir=&location=sware_dl&lang=en

Belarc Advisor
http://www.belarc.com/free_download.html

Unlimited Possibilities' AIDA32
http://forum.aumha.org/overflow/aida32.zip

Also, Crucial Memory's web site (www.crucial.com) has a database
to help to find the right RAM for your specific make and model
computer and/or motherboard.

--

Bruce Chambers

Help us help you:



You can have peace. Or you can have freedom. Don't ever count on having
both at once. - RAH