Computer Freezes

I know there is another thread but the problem i am having is not the same ... or is it the same .. .sorry if it is .

I am stumped. Dell Dimension 2400 256 mb / 80gb hd onboard video controller , onboard NIC , .

When i try to install any software , Win XP , DSL ( Damn Small Linux ) Ubuntu the machine installs the software fine ( except for XP , it just freezes when it gets to the 39 minutes left part ) anyway the machine installs all other software packages that i've tried fine BUT when i reboot after the software package is installed the machine freezes and not always at the same spot , it is random.

I've done the following :

- Replaced the memory chip.
- Replaced the HD
- Replaced the power supply
- Replaced the Keyboard
- Replaced the mouse
- Changed power cable
- Replaced IDE cables

- Ran Memtest on the machine with several passes , all turned out ok .

Now i am thinking that there might be something wrong with the motherboard , which i hope is not the case , I have the Ultimate Boot CD but there are no utilities to test the motherboard on it , does anyone have any idea of what might be wrong or know of any motherboard utilities that i can download and run off a bootable CD or floppy disk ?

Thanks

 

First of all, 256 ram is not enough to run XP. you need 512 to 1024/1 gig...
Up your ram then try installing XP..Also check your install disk for scratches ...

 

tried that , had the memory at 512 and still the same thing , also tried installing from 2 different cd's one with service pack 1a and the other with service pack 2 still the same thing , disks are originals and no scratches , still does not explain the freezing problem ..... i am baffled.

 

I sadly am also using a Dell Dimension 2400 :doh:

As for your problem my system would do that to me when I had my VIA raid PCI card in the system while it was installing. Do you have any PCI cards in it? Is this a fresh install (reformat and everything)?

 

Have no PCI cards installed in the system , the reinstall is a reformat and start from scratch ..... really baffles me !

THAnks

 

Maybe try a different CD drive.

 

If it is Freezing up art different points of the install , then it has to be a hardware problem.. I would try another XP install disk..

 

Tried that still the same thing .

 

have a feeling it is hardware related , tried another XP disk and still the same thing , anyone know if there is a good motherboard test program out there that i can run from a bootable cd ??

Thanks

 

have you tried the hard drive and cd rom drive on a different IDE port on your motherboard?

 

Tried that also , still nothing, this one really has me stumped . Funny thing is i can install FreeDOS on the system and let it run for days without a problem ........

 

I would see if the HDD has any bad sectors. Maybe XP is trying to install onto a spot with bad sectors.

 

the hard disk was replaced with a brand new one and still the same thing , also tried putting the old hard disk back in and the same thing happened ... i am stumped .

 

Well at this point, It sounds like the Motherboard is your problem.. You might have to just try changing that, Then use all your new parts with it..

 

Go into the bios and increase your Vcore slightly, CPU could not be getting enough power therefor causing the install to Freeze.