PC freezes at start up even on new hard drive?

[Denvers Dawgs]

Ok so my inlaws pc froze. So I tried to figure it out but I'm stumped. It freezes even after putting in a new hard drive. Are are 2 images of what the screen looks like when it freezes. I was trying to run a memory test, but it just froze again.

Any ideas. sorry for the large images? they are from my camera



p1010295.jpg


p1010296.jpg

[freebird73717]

images aren't showing up

[budz]

^^^don't see no images yet.

Does it blue screen immediately? hard drive sata or ide? either one check the connections on it. how many sticks of ram in there? test one stick at a time if you have more than one stick. use a boot disc of memtest to test ram..

[Denvers Dawgs]

SATA drive. 4 sticks of RAm. Tried to do the memtest boot disc but just freezes. The pictures provided are from the memtest.

[johns0]

Unplug everthing but the video card and keyboard and bootup,images look like gibberish.

[budz]

yuh looks gibberish like the video card isn't installed securely or something.
do as johns0 suggested.

[Denvers Dawgs]

So i just took out 2 of the 4 ram (originals that came with pc) and its running the memtest just fine no freezing at all. So it just looks like the ram was bad.

Thanks for the help guys

[budz]

you sure about that... J/K!

[Denvers Dawgs]

haha yep. thanks again

[Denvers Dawgs]

Hey budz, I have 2 slots to fill for ram. I just want to add 1 GB, do I just buy 1-1GB stick or 2x512 sticks? or does it not matter

[budz]

What speed is the ram that came with the pc? Do the other 2 ram slots have 2x512 sticks? if so then get another 2x512mb.

Too bad you're on the mainland cause I have 4 sticks, 512mb each of ddr667 listed on craigslist here in honolulu.

[Denvers Dawgs]

Oh Hawaii is awesome. Went there 2 years ago, proposed on the beach in Maui. Very beautiful there. Definitely need to get there again. Currently there are 2x512 so I'll get 2 more of those. thanks again budz

Ok so for some reason finding 512x2 DDR2 400 (PC2 3200) is almost impossible. Would 1x1GB be fine? Along with the other set of 512x2?

[budz]

Here's a long list of 2x512mb:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=2010170147+1052107965+1052...e=&srchInDesc=

If that motherboard has dual channel ram then it be better to get a matching set to go along with it.

[Denvers Dawgs]

Hey budz thanks for help, but the hp site http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/document?docname=c00303942&tmp_task=prodinfoCategor...product=459880 says I need 240 pin ddr2, so that's why I was asking, newegg doesn't seem to have 512x2 for that and don't think the inlaws will be running anything that would need 3GB of ram (if I were to get the available set of 1GBx2)

[budz]

Then you're stuck at getting these Kingston ram:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820134178

Just get that one stick of 1gb ram and you should be set. First time I've heard of PC2-3200 ram. I thought you were talking about DDR-400 ram.

[aedipuss]

ddr/2/3 only works properly when installed in pairs. it's dual channel. buy a matched set of the kingston like this.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820134181

ddr/2/3 ref:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dual-channel_architecture

[Denvers Dawgs]

Ok so I'm back to square one. I was just re-installing from the recovery discs and the pc locked up again and the screen got all garbled again. The pc has onboard video/audio. so if it's not the hard drive, or the ram, any other ideas what's causing this?

[lenti_75]

50% it's cpu and 50% the motherboard.
the only way to check this is to swap cpu on a working motherboard, otherwise it's almost impossible to tell which is bad

usually when computer is that old and does something like that, it's way better to upgrade, mobo+cpu+ram than fix the old one.

[Denvers Dawgs]

well that's what I was afraid of. I've got only on of the 512ram in at the moment and it hasn't froze yet (trying to install from recovery discs again). I had added 2x512 and previously just removed the 2 older sticks and left both new sticks figuring they both should be fine still. But after it froze again with both (newer) sticks in, I figured I'd try it with just one 512 to see if maybe 3 of the 4 ram went bad.

Or maybe even just one of the new sticks it bad? Oh this is a long process.

[SLK001]

Did you try another monitor?

If it was the CPU, everything should just go black.

Are any other cards plugged in? Try removing everything.

Is the video memory shared with the system memory, or is it dedicated? It is possible some dedicated memory is going bad, or even still your main memory. Try pulling all the memory and cleaning the contacts with alcohol.

Your system is acting like your system memory is bad. A lot of times, it's not the memory itself, but the connectors that are the problem. Cleaning these would help.

[Denvers Dawgs]

yea tried another monitor same issue. I just froze again with that one 512, I'm trying the last 512 stick now. Otherwise it lookslike its Mobo or cpu

I got all the way to recovery disc 5 before it froze

[Denvers Dawgs]

ok so I got up to disc 8 and then this error appeared

p1010297.jpg

So then I tried to recover using an acronis image and the screen froze again.

p1010299.jpg


Would it be worth even buying a set of 1GBx2 of ram? or is this pc shot?

[lenti_75]

the mobo is dead. I think the cpu is ok
regardless, upgrade, don't waist your time and money with it anymore. for $150 you can have a decent dual core upgrade; a lot better than what you have right now

[Nelson37]

Do you have a video card you could try? One near-constant is a scrambled screen. Be sure and disable the on-board video in the BIOS.

Speaking of BIOS, it is often useful in such situations to bypass the hard drive and Windows completely and just boot to the BIOS and let it sit. I would disconnect the drive, in fact all drives, completely and let it sit on the BIOS screen for several hours or even overnite. You can turn off the monitor during this period. No harm, no change, and no cost to this very useful little test.

I would not purchase any additional DDR RAM unless you can use it in another PC, or if you can return the recently purchased RAM and swap it out. Clean out the memory slots with compressed air, also try using only the secondary pair of memory slots. Another constant is Mem Slot #1.

If it locks or reboots in the BIOS screen with no HD connected and new RAM in slots 3 and/or 4, then you're down to mobo or power supply. Testing with a Known Good power supply is ALWAYS a good idea. The Video Card is about the only thing worth replacing or that can be replaced from the mobo. With an older PC, you don't want to go too far as the dollars just don't make cents. If it does not lock in the BIOS, then I would connect the HD and boot to the BIOS a second time. This tests the HD itself for base electrical issues, also power supply.

As you have learned, it can take some time to determine that any hardware changes made have actually solved the problem. Simplify the system, take your time, ISOLATE and IDENTIFY. Don't be in a hurry for the re-install as it may well just be a frustrating waste of time. You've already bought a new hard drive you probably didn't need, FWIW that is one of the very LAST things I would change in such a situation.

[Denvers Dawgs]

I understand that the screen is constantly scrambled but its a solid scrambled, it's not moving. It's frozen and the pc is frozen as well. Would faulty onboard graphics card cause that? I'll try the #2 slot with ram, and then also try removing drive and running just in bios to see if it still freezes

[videobread]

Did you try another video card?

[Denvers Dawgs]

ok so i can't get it to load without a hard drive in.

[SLK001]

The one screen that is somewhat clear complained about an interrupt request. This could be because of your onboard video controller, or your system interrupt controller. If it's your system controller, then your MB is probably toast. If it's your video controller, then replace your onboard controller with a cheap card after you disable the onboard video and see if your problem is fixed.

[Nelson37]

Absolutely a faulty graphics card can cause freezing. It can also definitely cause scrambled video display, and one of the few things which can cause both. That would be why I suggested trying another video card.

Random guessing will eventually hit upon the answer, but dumb luck just takes too damn long.

Can't get WHAT to load? You should see a msg to press F1, or DEL, or possibly some other key, to load SETUP. This is the BIOS setup. The main point here is to take the OS out of the equation, and limit the testing to hardware only.

If you were expecting Windows to load, don't admit to it.

Badly corrupted files could also be the problem. This, the hard drive controller, and the hard drive itself are eliminated by the BIOS test with the hard drive disconnected. Power AND data cables, disconnect the cable from the mobo side.

ISOLATE and IDENTIFY. Say it with me.

Describe the running times involved, and also cool-down times allowed before the next reboot. Accurate information an eliminate overheating as a possible cause. Give several times, these can be used to determine how much running time is needed to tell if the problem has been eliminated.

It is a process of elimination.

[Denvers Dawgs]

I know windows won't load without a HDD. I meant no messages ever appeard to hit F1, etc, screen just stayed black