New Computer Playing Up - Need Help

[00obrimw]

I have just built up a brand new computer and from the start I've had troubles. When booting from windows XP CD the installation would stop and claim that it could not load systemdd.sys - error code 7 I think from memory. Anyway I moved the ram stick into the next slot and then the installation went fine, and I thought the whole problem was fixed. The computer ran fine for about a day or so with pretty much constant use. Then the next morning when I turned on the computer before getting to the windows loading screen it came up could not find ntfs.sys and it told me I should try to repair the installation. Seeing as this was kind of the same thing that happened earlier I moved the ram stick to the next slot and it worked fine again. Then later on in the day I came across a site I am all too accustomed to seeing, the windows blue screen of death. Not sure if it helps but it said IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL. but after restarting it worked fine and about 8 hours later it hasn't played up, im posting on it right now. Obviously I think the fault is something to do with the ram but problems i've had with ram in the past have usually been a lot more severe. I'm planning on running memtest on it over night although in the past when ive had memory troubles memtest has always said it was fine :S. Then in the morning I'm planning on swapping the ram with the stuff I have in my other computer which works fine and then seeing what happens. I'd appreciate any thoughts on the matter and any ideas on what I can try.

The system's specs:
AMD Athlon 64 2800+
Gigabyte K8NS Pro
512MB Kingmax DDR400
Western Digital 1200JD SATA HDD
Thermaltake 420W PSU
Gigabyte 9600XT 256MB

 

[Skippy81]

If you try an install windows again, leave the 9600 card out of the rig and use an older generation card if possible. Newer gfx cards play havoc with windows installer and often cause crashes at the installing hardware drivers stage.

Check the position of the ram in you mobo's manual, this will be availiable on line if you do not have a hard copy.

Enable all diagnostic functions in the BIOS, a quick boot is no good when things arnt working.

When installing Windows, do it from scratch and repartition and slow format the hard disk. A slow format will pick up any fatal errors on the drive.

IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL is, from my expierience, usually related to dodgy drivers. Keep your copy of windows as clean as possible, use the most upto date mobo drivers from the manufacturers website. Only install essential hardware at first. Add graphics card later.

IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL can also relate to memory probs, try less intesive timings in your bios.

 

[00obrimw]

I ran memtest on it for 10 hours solid overnight and it came through with no errors but when restarting the computer last night to run memtest durning the post it was like everything was in slow motion when detecting ide drives etc so I moved the memory module again and that fixed it :S. This morning I installed the latest video card and chipset drives to see if that does anything so now i'm waiting until it stuffs up again. All the problems seem to occur when windows is loading or when I first trun on the computer, once windows is up and running it seems to hardly miss a beat.

 

[00obrimw]

Any other ideas anyone?

 

[Maggotry]

Originally posted by: Skippy81
If you try an install windows again, leave the 9600 card out of the rig and use an older generation card if possible. Newer gfx cards play havoc with windows installer and often cause crashes at the installing hardware drivers stage.

I've never seen, heard, nor ever experienced such a thing. Don't want to thread hi-jack, so PM me some links for that.

Anything in the event viewer?

 

[00obrimw]

Event viewer?

The computer hasn't missed a beat today. I installed the latest catalyst drivers and nvidia chipset drivers. I by no means trust the computer yet and seeing as I've built it for someone else I want to test it a bit more. If the problem only occurs when windows is first loading e.g. before the windows load screen to me that indicates the problem isn't drivers but i'm no expert. I'm not even sure if the blue screen of death I got is even related to the other problems I've had, usually in the past when I've had that before it will happen more than just once. Maybe the drivers fixed that problem, I don't really know. A friend of mine with my help just put together a computer with exactly the same cpu, motherboard and ram and his computer has worked without one problem. Knowing my luck by the time I think it's fixed it will die on me again.

 

[00obrimw]

I left the computer off overnight then when I came to turn it on this morning it came up could not find ntfs.sys again when trying to load windows. Instead of just moving the ram module to a different slot which seemed to fix the problem temporarily I swapped it with the ram in my other computer to see what would happen. What seems strange to me is that these errors during boot up only occur when the computer has been off for a long period of time. Yesterday I was restarting the computer quite often and turning it off and turning it on and it was fine. Now I'm just waiting to see which computer falls over, the new one with the other computer's ram or the other computer with the new computer's ram.

 

[00obrimw]

One thing I just noticed is that it is booting up quite slowly compared to my other computer, an athlon xp 2600+, 512mb of ram. I'm really stuck on what the problem is, maybe the motherboard is not the best, I don't really know. But like I said above, a friend of mine has exactly the same cpu, motherboard and ram and his worked perfectly from the start.

 

[00obrimw]

My other computer just crashed twice with the questionable ram in it so I'm pretty certain that's the problem.