Nasher

Hi all, Have been on holiday for a while but at long last yesterday I reassembled my PC. I've gone back to my original motherboard, original memory, original hard drives, original PSU, original CPU and I've installed a new Graphics Card:- a PNY Geforce 6200, OK, not as powerful as my original Geforce 7600GT but I needed a dual monitor card and I like nVidia. Anyway, switched on and absolutley nothing and then the CPU fan spun a few times and one of the LEDs flashed on and off a few times and then stopped. This cycle repeated itself a few times so unplugged, removed all wiring to front panel and cleaned all contacts and connected up again and yes, we have lift off. PC fired up. Removed all drivers from old graphics card and installed the new drivers for the Geforce 6200 and yes, at long last I have a PC running without freezing. Used it for 5 hours yesterday and no problems at all. So, having bought new memory, a new hard drive, a replacement motherboard, bought various registry fixers and cleaners the bottom line was that I only needed a new Graphics Card. I'm sure some of you will say that it was probably the drivers on the old card that caused the problem and it may well have been but I had renewed them and still had the problem but the new card is in and the PC is working again so I'm happy. I'm greatful for all the advice and help in trying to fix my PCbut in the end I managed it myself. I'm certainly a dab hand in stripping PC's down now. If anyone is interested in buying a spare motherboard, spare memory, a spare 320Gb hard drive, a slightly suspect Geforce 7600 GT graphics card, then just let me know. Cheers, Nasher

Hi Jelly Bean, Oh yes, I tried F8 and last known good config but no go. If it wasn't for the fact that I have a Laptop and a netbook that I can use I'm sure I would have lost patience with the DeskTop PC when the problems first started and would have chucked it by now and bought a new one. All my data etc is on the Laptop and netbook as well as the PC and also backed up to Virginmedia so I haven't lost anything either which helps keep me calm. I'll let you know the outcome of the new Graphics card when it arrives. Anyone want a probably dodgy old nVidia Geforce 7600GT Graphics card? Cheers, Nasher.

Hi Jelly Bean, I don't think it is the PSU as this was updated to 550 W quite recently. You may be correct about Medion PCs but at the time when I bought it (about 7-8 years ago or longer, I can't remember) the Spec for the money was very good. There is virtually nothing left of the old Medion PC now, anyway - only the floppy and the 80Gb slave drive are from the original PC - everything else has been renewed. PCs can be very frustrating beasts. I just think it is worth persevering a little longer with it before ditching it and buying a new PC. I've already ordered a new Graphics card so if that doesn't work with the old motherboard and gets XP up and running again I'll run the PC with the repalcement motherboard and install Linux Ubuntu (I've already got an installation disk). Before I reinstalled my nVidia Geforce 7600GT graphics card the PC was on and left on for a number of hours without freezing but only lasted 5 mins with the 7600GT. The drivers for the 7600GT are 2011 drivers. I agree with you that at some point things looked like a Hard Drive problem, but I have been clutching at straws and was hoping it was as simple as a hard drive problem, but that and the OS were definitely ruled out when the PC still froze when all the hard drives were removed. Unfortunately it isn't always easy to just try another PSU or other things when you don't have them to hand. I thought I still had the old 250W PSU in the garage but I couldn't find it so I think I threw it. I'll try the replacement graphics card when it arrives and let you know the outcome. I'll soon be able to build a second PC from some of the replacement bits I've bought since this problem started:- 2Gb DDR400 (PC 3200) memory, a motherboard, another graphics card, another 320Gb IDE Hard Drive, a hard drive caddy - about £130 so far but if it works in the end it will still be cheaper than a new PC. Cheers, Nasher.

Hi all again, As I stated in my #25 post when I installed the "new" motherboard I also used the graphics card that came with the motherboard and although I couldn't boot into Windows XP the computer was on and active for hours and hours while I was trying things. Today I removed the second hand graphics card and reinstalled my originl nVidia 7600GT card and let the computer run, although, of course still not booting and would you believe it within 5 minutes the computer had frozen while checking through the BIOS. Not once in all these posts did anyone say that the problem could be the Graphics card whereas it does seem that the card is the problem. I was going to install Ubuntu instead of persisting with XP just so I can get the PC running but I think my best bet now is to purchase another AGP Graphics card (if I can still get them) and reinstall my original motherboard as it looks as though the problem was not the motherboard. If I do that and that solves the problem of the crashing then XP should load up alright as I will be using the motherboard that goes with the hard drives that hold XP. What do you think. Any comments about why no-one thought is was the Graphics Card that is if I'm correct and it is the card. I certainly think it is worth spending a little bit more money and try a different card especially as I was getting prepared to spend up to £500 - £600 on a new PC. Cheers, Nasher.

Hi Jelly Bean, I thought things were starting to go well, but...... As I said I only have a Recovery Disk, but I know XP can be loaded from it but I have another problem. I managed to get the Windows set up to start from the recovery disk and it went through various stages and then asked if I wanted to install XP or repair an old version and it showed that I had versions on the C and D drives. I decided on a repair but then it asked me for the Administrators Password and I am certain I have never set an administrators password for the PC so I was stuck. I restarted and went through the stages again and this time decided to install Windows XP. It Checked my system and started to install and came up with the Licensing Agreement and at the bottom of the page it states F8= I agree, ESC= I do not agree, Page down=next page so I tapped F8 and absolutely nothing. If I hit ESC it comes up Windows XP not installed and restarts, I can Page Up and Page Down to my hearts content but no matter how many times I try and agree by hitting F8 nothing happens, so I appear stuck. I can't repair as i don't have a password and I can't install because it won't let me agree to the EULA. Any suggestions as to what I can do to get around these problems. After all the other problems I've had I decided to try a new motherboard for £30 before buying a new PC. Adding the new motherboard has certainly stopped the freezing of the PC but if I can't boot into XP I'm just as stuck as before. Help. Cheers, Nasher.

Hi Jelly Bean, I don't know which OS was used by the previous owner of the motherboard. I just thought that as Windows XP is already on my hard drive that it would boot automatically, especially as the Windows XP logo shows briefly. Unfortunately, I only have a recovery disk and not the original XP CD. As I was on XP service pack 3 will I have to reinstall service packs 1, 2 and 3 after I install XP from the recovery disk. To load the XP recovery disk will I have to change the 1st Boot Option to Cd-Rom in the BIOS as curreently it is set to Hard Disk. Cheers, Nasher.

Hi folks, Let me update you as to where I am. As my system was using a AGP graphics card and IDE hard drives buying a new motherboard that would accept them appears to be a no go, so I bought a second hand MS-7037 motherboard that would accept my graphics card, IDE hard drives, PC 3200 DDR memory. I've installed the "new" board along with my Intel Pentium 4 2.8 processor and my master and slave hard drives and 2Gb pc3200 memory. The "new" board came with a graphics card and the seller assured me that everything was working well when removed from his system so, incase my original graphics card had a problem I reinstalled the card that came with the board. I started the system up and went into Set up and went through all the BIOS settings and saved and exited. Both of my hard drives have been recognised. The PC is no longer freezing but it is now looping. It goes throught the POST and the XP logo comes up and scrolls for a few seconds but then goes back to the POST and then goes to the "Start windows normally, etc "page and I can't get it to start in safe mode. If I leave it, it times down and restarts and the XP logo comes up and then goes to POST and it will continually loop until I enter set up again. Is there something obvious I've failed to do which I've missed. Over to you all again. Nasher

Hi KenB, Right, I've disconnected everything external, all the hard drives, DVD Writer, CD-ROM from the motherboard end, I've removed the graphics card, a firewire card, removed the memory. There is nothing left. Switched on, but I can't hear any beeping and how do I know if the PC has crashed or not as my monitors are disconnected. If I then put the graphics card and the memory back and switch on the monitor fires up, but the PC freezes after about 10s, so at least that proves it is nothing to do with the OS. Does this tell you anything apart from I've got a knackered PC. Cheers,Nasher

Hi Bill, Frustrating these damn computers, aren't they. I don't know if it will help you but if you look at my problem and many replies some of them might help you, although, so far and after many attempts my PC still continues to freeze at varoius times from the scroll to using the PC for about 5 mins or less. Look at "XP continually freezes" Cheers, Nasher.

Hi KenB, I've disconnected the floppy, CD-Rom, DVD ReWriter, I've replaced the memory with brand new memory. I haven't managed to install CCleaner yet. Switched the PC on and it froze while the scroll bar was running. I then disconnected everything from the back - only the printer and a scanner and switched on again. It managed to get as far as the Desk Top view and then the PC froze and it is just sitting there doing nothing again. Is there anything else we can try or am I going to have to call in a PC repairer or give up altogether and buy a new PC, which I really don't want to do, but I am getting really desparate and fed up with it now. Cheers, Nasher.

Hi Plastic Nev, When I bought the PC which was a Medion PC the original drive was the 80Gb drive. Since then the PC has had many changes:- New Motherboard, new PSU, new CPU, new Graphics card, extra memory and the second, bigger hard drive. When I first rebuilt the PC about 2 - 3 years ago the monitors wouldn't fire up and I tried everything but couldn't sort it out and had to call in professional help and the problem turned out to be a simple short on the old modem, which we subsequently removed as it wasn't required. As I had been unlucky on the rebuild with this short and as the PC repairer didn't really do anything he only charged me a modest fee. The PC repairer installed XP from my recovery disc onto the new hard drive. Does this help at all. Regards Nasher.

Hi KenB, I downloaded CCleaner but I don't know if I've actually cleaned the G Drive (my caddy) as there doesn't appear to be an option to just clean certain drives. Under Options/Settings there is an option to select the drive for Wipe Free Space and also under Tools there is a Drive Wiper. I did tick drive G for the Wipe Free Space and then ran CCleaner and it did erase some files but I'm not sure if they were from drive G or another drive. Also I'm not sure if just putting my 250Gb drive back in will successfully boot up or not as normally my 250Gb is the Master as local C drive but on the 80Gb slave I have a Drive D (Boot); Drive E (Back Up) and Drive F (Recover). Cheers, Nasher

Hi KenB, I downloaded MBAM and ran a full scan on my 250Gb drive and the scan took 2 hours 13 mins and 28 secs and found no infections at all. I then scanned my 80 Gb slave drive and it ran for 1 hour 3 mins and 13 secs and found 2 infections. Both were by Spyware.Online Games one was \system volume information\_restore{4b750379-8adb-4432-b50a-ac8d5f6215a7}\RP1111\A0145797.exe and the other was \windows\temp\regincd2.exe I quarantined and deleted both infections. Do you think these could have been my problem or is this just the start of testing theories, and as such do you think I should try putting my drives back in my PC and trying to run the PC again. As my 250Gb drive ran in the caddy for over two hours it looks as though the drive is OK and was not sticking. Along with the new caddy I bought a new 320Gb hard drive to replace the 250Gb one as I though it was faulty, so I have a spare drive now. What do you think I should do next. Nasher

Hi KenB, I haven't tried to download CCleaner yet as I thought I'd let you know how things are going. Today the Hard Drive Caddy arrived. It is an Allcom caddy. So I removed the 250Gb hard drive from my PC and loaded it into the Caddy and ran it. And it does run OK and doesn't freeze. You can fel the vibration of the hard drive working all the time. I've looked at loads of pictures, files and all sorts via the caddy and the only thing that you notice is the noise fires up when you look at various files. I'm not sure if it is a design feature of the caddy but you can constantly hear a buzz through the lap top speakers and then every so often the buzz increases. It is a bit like a radio that isn't tuned in and you've got all that background noise. Tomorrow I'll try the other drive in the caddy and see what that does. Cheers, Nasher

Hi KenB, I only have the recovery disk. My PC still freezes in Safe Mode and yes I've tried "Last known Good Configuration" and I've tried using Restore Points but the PC still freezes. I do have all my data files, pictures, documents etc, backed up to Virgin Medias on-line vault or whatever it is called but not the programs so I would have to reinstall all of those if I used the recovery disc, but I was hoping it wouldn't come to that. If I find my hard drives work OK when I use a caddy via my laptop (when the caddy gets here) then I think my only option would be to use the recovery disc. I'm not sure if it helps at all but I do have a recovery partition on the slave drive. Cheers, Nasher.