Freeze up at first windows boot

[niroswe]

So I got my new system the other day and I installed windows today. After all the installation and configuration the computer reboots, like it should. Then when it is, for the first time, going to enter windows everything freezes at the windows logo. Its always at the same spot too, I can tell by the scrolling thingie. I updated the BIOS to the most recent one (according to asus.com) and I tried to enter errorless state (direct translation from the swedish name) and install some motherboard drivers and whatnot, but I got some very strange errors. Some of them said something about Kernel system something error.

Any thoughts?

System:
Intel Core 2 Duo E6600
Corsair TWIN2X 5400 DDR2 2gb (2x1gb)
Sapphire Radeon X1900XT 512Mb
WD Raptor 10k rpm 74gb
Seagate Barracuda ST3320620AS 7200.10
Asus P5W DH Deluxe i975X
HIPER Type-R Modular Red 580W
NEC ND-3550
Antec P180


Thanks in advance!

 

[niroswe]

I´ve now tried to up the voltage on everything imagianable. No changes. 8(
I would deeply appreciate some help, I´m desperate!

 

[dbravo223]

Have you tried reinstalling Windows again, maybe you have a bad Windows CD since kernel files are missing. Which Windows you have the one with SP1 or SP2?

 

[WiseOldDude]

REINSTALL !!!!!!!!

 

[niroswe]

Yeah, sounds like it might be the CD. I'm gonna go borrow one from a friend right now, I'll report back within the hour! Thanks for the replies!

EDIT: The CD I had was SP2, getting an SP1 now. Not that I think it would matter.

 

[niroswe]

Well, it wasn't the CD, I just tried a brand new one and the same god damned thing happened. I'm really clueless here...

 

[dbravo223]

What Kernel errors are you getting and have you tried to google them to see what you get.

 

[ChonChon]

when the BSOSD shows up, there is always something there like

INACCESSIBLE_BOOT_DEVIVE

or missing something or w/e. whatever it may say google "inaccessible_boot_device windows xp error" or something of the sort you'll get MANY results.

good luck.

 

[niroswe]

Originally posted by: dbravo223
What Kernel errors are you getting and have you tried to google them to see what you get.

I think I'm getting those errors because of the restrictions of safe mode.

 

[niroswe]

I didn't get a BSOD, everything just freezes at after like 10 seconds at the windows logo. So because of that I really don't have a way to troubleshoot either, its frustrating! 8( I don't have a problem sending stuff to RMA, but I can't find out whats actually wrong.

Again guys, thanks for the replies! As I said, I'm truely clueless and I don't know where to start.

Adam

 

[dbravo223]

Have to tried to reset the CMOS jumper and you want to install Windows XP w/ SP2 not SP1.

 

[niroswe]

Originally posted by: dbravo223
Have to tried to reset the CMOS jumper and you want to install Windows XP w/ SP2 not SP1.

Yes, I eventually tampered so much with the BIOS that it didn't boot, the reset didn't change anything. The CD I used was SP2.

 

[ChonChon]

wow this is wonderful...

i'd really love to get this fixed dammit if we had more info...

 

[idgaf13]

Next time it freezes up
Hit Ctrl+Alt+Del
and then see what is using all the resources.
You can kill a process from that screen,proceed with caution.
I have had to kill processes that were anti-virus related ,
a warning pops-up about possible ..... ,when terminated everything returned to normal including that process that was terminated.

Obviously ,this is just a start.
Once you know the offender you can go after it.

 

[niroswe]

Originally posted by: idgaf13
Next time it freezes up
Hit Ctrl+Alt+Del
and then see what is using all the resources.
You can kill a process from that screen,proceed with caution.
I have had to kill processes that were anti-virus related ,
a warning pops-up about possible ..... ,when terminated everything returned to normal including that process that was terminated.

Obviously ,this is just a start.
Once you know the offender you can go after it.

The freeze is not in windows, its right before you can use your keyboard and mouse. Its where you just have the black background and the windows logo. That's the tricky part, I'm not getting anything to go by, no error messages, no nothing.

As for the errors in safe mode, there isn't any strange program running while I'm trying to start programs, I think its just a restriction in safe mode.

 

[niroswe]

I got in contact with my reseller and he told me it might have been the CD, so once again I'm gonna try with another CD. Probably with SP1 instead of SP2. I also noticed another guy with the exact same problem as I have;
http://forums.anandtech.com/messageview...atid=32&threadid=1920841&enterthread=y

He's basicly saying he got it to work with the 64bit version of XP, which is leading me to believe that it is SP2. Maybe I should try linux or something like that. :\

 

[niroswe]

Tried SP1 with the same results, except the freeze came earlier this time, but at the same place.

EDIT: So my question to you guys would at this time be, which part to RMA? Now I'm thinking the motherboard...

 

[niroswe]

Bump!

 

[phile]

I think I may know what's going on here. How is your boot drive configured, in the BIOS?

- Standard IDE?
- AHCI?
- or RAID?

-phil

 

[niroswe]

Originally posted by: phile
I think I may know what's going on here. How is your boot drive configured, in the BIOS?

- Standard IDE?
- AHCI?
- or RAID?

-phil

Standard IDE

 

[phile]

Well, there goes my initial theory. The problem you're experiencing could have also been caused by trying to run in AHCI mode, without having loaded the driver at the time of XP install.

This is a tough problem to troubleshoot. You said you never have BSoDs, just lockups, correct? If that's the case, it's probably not a mem issue. Any chance you have another videocard you can try?

At this point, you should also disconnect any devices that are non-essential: secondary, soundcard, USB storage devices, etc. In addition to that, disable all non-essential controllers, in the BIOS: HD audio, secondary ethernet, IEEE, QFAN, etc. The point is to strip-down the machine to only what it needs to boot. If, at that point, you can boot, you enable one component at a time until you find the problem.

-phil

 

[niroswe]

Exactly, no error messages whatsoever. And yes, I could borrow a friends gfx, but isn't that a longshot?

EDIT: I'll try that too.

 

[phile]

Everything is a longshot. You're looking for the longshot that solves the problem. What got me thinking about the vidcard is that first boot after install, the first thing that occurs is an optimization of screen resolution.

You should probably run a memtest, in addition to everything else I suggested.

Download memtest:
http://www.memtest.org

Burn the ISO to CD and boot with it. Let it run the full 10 tests at least once. If you get any errors running both sticks, run the same tests on each stick, separately.

That's about all I can suggest, until I you try all of the above. I'll tell you this, at this point I highly doubt your mobo is the problem. We shall see, though.

-phil

 

[niroswe]

The first thing I did when I got the computer was to run memtest over night, its stable.

What got me thinking about the vidcard is that first boot after install, the first thing that occurs is an optimization of screen resolution.

It's before that, it freezes at the windows logo, but I get your point.

 

[phile]

This resolution optimization occurs before you see the desktop. It's something to consider. What you can try right now is to disable the stuff in the BIOS I suggested, and physically disconnecting unneeded components.

-phil