Computer locks randomly

[02ranger]

OK, so I just bought my dad a new motherboard, processor, and hard drive for christmas and we installed it all yesterday. His old hard drive was EIDE and the new one is SATA. Anyway, after getting the hardware installed we tried to install a fresh copy of Windows XP. It would format the drive perfectly fine, but everytime it started copying files for setup, it locked at various points. We finally got XP installed, and now it's locking up at random when using the computer. It seems to do it most when copying to the hard drive. We've managed to eliminate the hard drive, the SATA controller, the CD drives, the IDE controller, memory, memory slots, and video. Does anybody have any idea what it is? I wouldn't think it was the processor, I was thinking something on the motherboard, but I could be wrong. Thanks for any help.

 

[cparent]

It's most likely a hardware issue.

You might want to start by checking the CPU temp in the BIOS. Make sure it's not getting too hot.
Make sure your BIOS is in factory settings
Make sure you arent over clocking the CPU
Run a good memory tester free of the OS http://oca.microsoft.com/en/windiag.asp
Make sure you seated the fan on the CPU and used good thermal paste

take everything apart and put back together.

can you swap the CPU out with another to test the MB?

 

[02ranger]

CPU temp is good, and BIOS is set to factory settings. I'm also not overclocking. I may try swapping the CPU later tonight, and I know the fan is seated right. Thanks.

 

[btcomm1]

I have a feeling it's your ram. Try running memtest86 on the system and see if you get errors.

 

[02ranger]

I ran the Windows Memory Tests, and it locked up every time. I ran it with two separate sticks of memory in each slot several times, and it always locked up on the LRAND test. It seemed to always be on the 004de000-1bef0000 range. I don't know if that's significant, but I thought it might be. I didn't have time to swap the CPU tonight, but I may try later. Could it still be the CPU if it's always locking up on the memory test at the same spot, or is that somehow memory related? Thanks again.

 

[marulee]

Originally posted by: cparent
It's most likely a hardware issue.

You might want to start by checking the CPU temp in the BIOS. Make sure it's not getting too hot.
Make sure your BIOS is in factory settings
Make sure you arent over clocking the CPU
Run a good memory tester free of the OS http://oca.microsoft.com/en/windiag.asp
Make sure you seated the fan on the CPU and used good thermal paste

take everything apart and put back together.

can you swap the CPU out with another to test the MB?

Above suggestions are fairly good check points!
Like you mentioned it locked at the various points, it can also be a partitioning issue or jumper on your IDEs. Start eliminating the components which are not mandatory or obligatory for you to flash the operating system. Other option is use a HD with OS was previously installed and diagnose the hardwares with highly recommended softwares! Good luck!

 

[02ranger]

Well, it's fixed. We swapped nearly every part of the PC with no success, but finally swapped the motherboard and that fixed it. Thanks for all your help.