I have an amd athlon t bird 1 gig on a 462 mobo, 256mb of pc133 ram, 20 gig western digital 5200 rpm hd, cd rom, 3.5 floppy drive, 300w power source. My problem: At best the system has been unstable, it would NEVER install unreal tourn. it would always have problems installing stuff, it would crash running IE. It always operated under 98SE. A few months ago I wiped the HD clean and removed partitians and stared from scratch. I tried installing XP because I thought it would make things run ok and everything would update and install. Well it never let me get the whole way through the installation process. It would refuse to install some of the files and I would make it very far in the process but it would never work properly. My efforts to correct. My initial effort has been the most successful by far. I bought a dell and put my old comp far out of sight and out of mind. I started a job where I really should have a computer to play games because I have a ton of downtime. Since I have been trying to bring this demon back I have swapped out the hard drive for a used one I bought at a local comp store. I have tested the ram for over 2 hours with no errors. I have even swapped out cd rom drives to see if that might be the problem and I have used 2 different xp cd's from 2 different sources. Any insight on this problem would be greatly appreciated. I would like to think that it is still my ram but I wouldnt think the test would lie. The test ran I think 12 times and came back with no errors. Thanks in advance for any help. Dave
I've had the same problem installing windoze.... it turned out to be the DVD drive works. After a certain amount of time, the cd woudl stop spinning.... and then wen windoze tried to use the disc it told me it coudlnt find a file, and then the next fiel it wanted, and then the next one........... you get my point Try installing windoze using another CD drive (i used the DVD-burner to install windoze.... took longer but it worked!)
Like I said in the original post I tried two different cd rom drives (I only have 1 in my computer at all times). This does sound like something I have had to deal with, however I swapped in an entirely different cd drive and I had the same problems with the 2nd hardware as well.
Verify that the jumpers are set right on your drives (HDD and optical alike), and that each drive is on the correct position on its IDE chain. Also, be certain that your CPU or northbridge is not overheating, and that your PSU is outputting adequate power for your system. Finally, I'm a bit biased but you might try and install Linux on that hardware and see if you still have the same stability problems. I've encountered hardware that simply will not run stable with Windows on it (I mean even more unstable than usual), but runs for months and months between reboots with Linux on it. In fact, I've got a Compaq workstation at work which was such a case. It locks up at least once a day while running Windows (any version), but has never had a problem to date running Mandriva Linux 2005LE. I have no idea why, but Linux seems to be much more forgiving of flakey hardware. -AT
I've had the same experience running 98 through XP on a HP Pavilion. Pavilion's are good little pc's but it just refuses MS. of course, you can run linux on anything really. From iPods to servers.
Well, I would not be opposed to trying linux. I have absolutely no experience with it and to be honest I am a total noob. you mention jumpers on my drives. I am unfamiliar with jumpers and the ide chain. Im guessing the reference to jumpers is on the motherboard and the ide chain is in my bios settings. Could reflashing my bios make any difference? As far as overheating I dont believe that is a problem. In all of my last dealings with this thing I have taken both sides of the case of and let it run. Its noisy but I wanted to try and rule out overheating unless it is already cooked. Two other things to mention, after the first reformatting i lost the modem and then towards the end the soundcard went bye bye. I think both were due to me not having the drivers. Its been so long. Regaurdless, the cd drive, hd, and memory all seem to check out fine, and it boots and runs so I am kinda at my limits of expertise (unbolting, replacing, wiping clean, starting over). As far as psu, i was under the impression that 300x was more than plenty for a system at this speed range, chipset, motherboard ram, but once again im no expert. I never had any problems that would lead me to believe I had a lack of power but thats not to say I just didnt recognize them. Finally, if you know any good places to try a free linux based os I would definitely try stumbling around with it. I have nothing to lose.
I'll break your reply up into individual questions so I can answer them more effectively. Everybody starts as a n00b, so that's no problem, right? If you wanna try Linux, several regulars on these forums are avid Linux users (including myself -- 100% Microsoft free). We'd be glad to help you out in that area. IDE is the mechanism through which your CDROMs and HDDs interact with the rest of your system. PCs have at least two IDE chains, and on each chain you can have up to two devices (for a total of four). If two drives share an IDE chain, they must take different roles, known as master and slave, for data to pass through properly. The jumpers in question are found on the drives themselves, and must be set according to the drive's physical position on its IDE chain. The drive at the end of the IDE cable furthest from the motherboard should be set as the master of that chain, and if a drive exists in the middle position of the cable it must be designated as the slave. If you can hold your finger on the CPU heatsync for 10 seconds without pain, chances are you're not overheating. Not having the drivers installed can definately keep devices from functioning. OTOH, "unbolting, replacing, wiping clean, starting over" is a way of life for Windows users, so that part's not unusual in the slightest. Generic PSUs specs tend to be "overly generous" as to what they are actually capable of. We see this problem so often we even have a stickied thread about it. Good point. In fact, just about every Linux distro out there is free in every sense of the word. I'm currently running a pre-release version of Mandriva Linux 2006 (currently on 'Release Candidate 2'). Here's some screenshots. A few other good choices for new Linux users are Kubuntu or Ubuntu. There are literally hundreds of distros out there though, and I'd personally prefer to use any one of them over MS Windows. Hope I've been helpful, -AT
Try copying all the installation files into a directory in drive c. Run the installation from the drive. Use a Win98 boot disk to boot and go into the directory that contains the setup files.
well everything looks to be in place on my mobo. All the plugs are in right for the ide and floppy slots. The sw1 and sw2 switches are all setup properly so I am going to give a go at linux. I havent run it to check if its over heating yet and I havent been able to check power output either. I didnt remove the battery and put it back to reset the bios but i doubt that makes a difference. Im going to try the ubuntu os.
Sounds like a wise decision. At least then you'll have a good idea of whether or not it's a hardware problem or strictly a software one. If you should need any help or advice reg. Linux, feel free to post in our Linux Forums. All the best, -AT Edit: Fixed Link
