ECS K7S5A and WinXP

[Calin]

This is the original topic:
http://forums.anandtech.com/messageview...threadid=722229&enterthread=y&arctab=y
K7S5A, Duron 600, 1x256MB SDR, later 1x256MB DDR (made by PQI), later 1x128MB DDR (noname)
Shortly, booting XP the system will have a kind of "freezing point" when loading XP. It only stayed there for half a minute or so, but during that time it was freezed solid.
The problem dissappeared completely when I upgraded the RAM to a KingMAX DDR3200 CL2.5 512MB stick - anyone care to invent a reason?

Thanks
Calin

other components: Palit/Daytona GeForce 2MX400 video (32MB RAM), Creative Audigy Gamer sound card (added later, not a part of the problem or solution).

 

[gsaldivar]

Freezes and specific errors during Windows XP installation are common symptoms of a hardware problem.

I'll bet your stick of PQI RAM was bad, and preventing XP from installing.

 

[Calin]

By freezing I mean everything on the system stops for like 20-30 seconds. The NumLock on the keyboard won't toggle, the blue progress bar stops (those are the only ways I could use to see what's happening). By what I remember, the hard drive light was off also. And after those moments, the NumLock bar updates its status, the progress bar starts to move again, and in another 10 seconds, the background for the login window appears, and then everything goes as normal.
It might have been something related to the AGP aperture size - as I set that at the maximum size (128 MB) but at a second thought I think not (I think I tried to change it). Other than that, the mainboard was performing almost flawlessly.

Calin

 

[fitzov]

Maybe ram wasn't bad but you seated it properly when installing. Try reinstalling old ram and see.

 

[Slikkster]

I really don't understand what you're trying to get at here. This problem is 3 years old, and now you're looking to resurrect what went wrong? Is this the pc version of tv's "Cold Case?"

Please explain why this is now a current problem.

 

[Calin]

Because I would like to know why it worked the way it did. Sorry if you find it offensive