Computer upgrade that took a nosedive

D

D!gweed

n00b
Joined
Dec 22, 2004
Messages
12
I just upgraded my computer and I am having serious problems with stability. I could use some good advice because this is my first build and I have exhausted my limited knowledge for solutions.

The problem I have is that when I run a program that needs to access the net my computer runs the program just fine for about 10sec. and then completely shuts down and restarts windowsXP. (programs that have been crashing are...quake3...Halflife2...limewire...BF1942...etc) I can play doom3 offline with out any problems but when I run Halflife 2 offline it reboots. I can use Internet Explorer and download large files with no problems either. I can't figure out what is causing the instability with some programs and not with others.

This is my rig with the upgrades:
asus a8v deluxe
amd64 3500+
ati 9700 pro (the early version)
SB Audigy 2
Seagate barracuda 80 gig
enermax 465w
512 ddr400 3200mhz

I did a full format of the HD and reinstalled windows xp-home
I installed a drivers for the mobo and sound and video
Everything checks out in device manager.

Could it be a compatibilty problem with my vid card and the mobo?
I would really appreciate any help that anyone has time to lend :)
 
considering that the problem doesnt exist w/ only games, my only thought would be that theres something wrong w/ the network card/driver.

thats about all that i can think of. if someone else could provide more info, thatd help us all. im not too skilled in networking/ethernet just yet.
 
Use a NIC card instead of onboard NIC.....Try the new VIA drivers...
 
Thanks for your advice darktiger. :D
I have tried both onboard and NIC card and updated my drivers with no luck. This problem really baffles me. I was playing bf1942 online this morning with no problem at all but when i switched to quake3 or HL2 the game loades and everything appears to be running ok but give it 10sec and boom, my computer does a restart. Has anyone heard of any problems running an early version of ati9700pro with new hardware specifically asus mobo's? :confused:
 
maybe it is a problem w/ the graphics card? if you could get a second, preferably newer, graphics card and install that, then you could test to see if its the card or not. just make sure to uninstall the previous drivers before installing the card.

heck, it could be a problem w/ the mobo. ive never run into a problem like this before, so i wouldnt have any ideas.

btw, does it just restart or does it get the blue screen of death? if it does, what does it say?
 
Do you have any other computers at your disposal for gutting? If so, just keep swapping parts till you find the problem. Swap graphisc card, memory, and power supply. See if any of those solve your problem.
 
I do have some other parts that i have tried to swap in and out(power supply, soundcard, ethernetcard) unfortunatly i don't have a second gfx card or compatable ram:( When the problem occurs i get no error message and no blue screen either. My computer just locks for a second or two and just goes black and reboots. I have heard some not so good things about the compatibility of hardware with the ati9700pro that i have. It just sucks that this has happened right at christmas when i am totally strapped for cash! otherwise i would go out and buy the 256mb ati9800pro that seems to be reasonably priced atm. the only thing that leads me not to believe that it is my gfx card is that doom3 runs perfectly offline.

I was talking to my brotherinlaw who is a networker and he said it might be something to do with port designation? I am totally lost in that department.

I guess i am stuck between a rock and a hard place till i get the cash to buy more parts.
Thanks for all the help guys. Totally appreciated!! If anyone has any further ideas love to hear them
 
right click My computer > Properties > Advanced > under Startup and Recovery, click Settings

Under the "System Failure" box, make sure the last 2 boxes are NOT checked (the ones that say, "Send an administrative alert" and "Autmotically Restart".

That should stop the reboot, you'll atleast get the BSOD now (so you can see if its a driver).

Also, in the same window, hit the edit button under the System Startup box and make sure the last line of the boot.ini reads:

multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS="Microsoft Windows XP Professional" /fastdetect /NoExecute=AlwaysOff

Most importantly the last part: /NoExecute=AlwaysOff

This will shut DEP off (which can cause problems in some A64 based machines), now reboot your machine and try to replicate the error.

Also, make sure you have SP2 installed. Let us know where you are after you do this and what the BSOD error says (any particular .dll et cetera).
 
oh, and TSS Modder:

"In the land of the blind, the one-eyed man is king."-Tenchi4U
Click to expand...
As much as I would like to say I came up with that clever a saying, I think that was in the Bible or some other book that was written a LONG time ago.
 
and more recently in Minority Report :p

also be a good idea to run a few passes of memtest86+

and a review of Corruption 101
for what might have killed a driver that was good (if that turns out to be the case, the BSOD codes will be the most helpful as mentioned)
 
okay...found it:

"In the land of the blind, the one-eyed man is King."
Attributed to Desiderius Gerhard Erasmus, Dutch scholar, philosopher and writer (1465 - 1536).

Most definitely not me. :p

I was going to suggest a memtest86 after he tells us what the BSOD says.

If it references some memory address, I'd says Memtest86 all the way. If it says some dll, then its most likely a driver.
 
I had a very similar problem with my A8V deluxe, in my case it turned out that I had the RAM timings set too aggressivly after an upgrade (I went from 1gb of CL2.5 to 2gb of CL3, but I forgot to modify the bios accordingly), it's been rock solid since I corrected the settings.

I also initially had a 9700pro when I first got the ASUS board, and I had some problems relating to that aswell, but it turned out that the power connector on the radeon was dodgy and failing intermittently causing the PC to crash periodically, it had no real pattern though, sometimes it'd run happily for hours, other times it'd die after a few minutes, it was only towards the end when I started getting this wierd "Your overclock is too Aggressive" message during post that i figured out the power problem (it wasn't o/c'd), an examination and a bit of solder later and the 9700p liveis happily in another PC.

As others have suggested, memtest might be a good place to start, though it was P95s torture mode that lead me to the problem.
 
Tenchi4U said:
okay...found it:

"In the land of the blind, the one-eyed man is King."
Attributed to Desiderius Gerhard Erasmus, Dutch scholar, philosopher and writer (1465 - 1536).

Most definitely not me. :p
Click to expand...

aight well i fixed it, and gave you some credit for using it. :)
/threadcrap

resume troubleshooting....
 
Hi guys, still here...had some family stuff to do.
MartinX...everything you said is is exactly what my pc is doing. even the overclock error which i sometimes get.
I tried the stuff you said Tenchi4U and for some crazy reason my computer still reboots.
I am going to give memtest86+ a go and see if i can grap a gfx card from somewhere.

Thanks for all the help...totally appreciated :D
 
from [H]ardforum's inside man in Redmond

Ranma_Sao said:
I've been answering quite a lot of questions on this forum, and I keep asking for the same things, so this is what I need from you, if there is a problem you need help with:
Note: Anywhere I say C:\windows or C:\documents and settings, substitute the directory's name if you renamed them, or installed to a different drive

1. If it's a crash or bluescreen please post the dump files somewhere I can get at them.
a) Bluescreen dumps are stored in C:\windows\minidump
i) If you have full dumps set up it's stored at C:\windows\memory.dmp
b) Crash dumps are stored at:
C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\Microsoft\Dr Watson\user.dmp
i) Unless you changed the path by running drwtsn32
2. Notify up front any tweaking or changed you have made.
a) Services turned off
b) Pagefile turned off
c) OverClocking
d) Etc. More Information the better

3. If you are running an illegitimate copy of Windows, don't bother asking for help.
a) If you are trying to bypass security features, Don't Ask

4. I work full time, and have a life outside of work, so don't be suprised if I don't answer right away. ;)

5. I can't help with crashes that aren't windows based, as I only work on Windows. Windows Setup to be exact.

The above post is my personal views and opinions, not that of my employer.
Click to expand...


grab those dumpfiles ;)
Im not actually able to do anything with them
but Ranma_Sao was here today and Id recommend a new thread in the operating systems forum to attract his attention ;)
 
Lol, I fixed the problem almost 2 months later.

There is a compatibility problem with the ati 9700pro and the asus av8 mobo when run at 8xagp.

The vpu becomes unstable and hardcrashes.

If you set your bios to run it at 4xagp everything is stable again.
 
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