New system - flaky hardware issues

[heights1976]

System:
Antec Truepower 380W
Asus a8v deluxe latest stable bios
Athlon 64/3200 2.0GHz
1GB (2x512MB) Kingston PC3200/DDR400 RAM, dual channel operation
3.5" FDD
IDE 1'master: 19GB mode 5
IDE 1'slave : 120GB mode 5
IDE 2'master: Samsung 16X DVD burner TS-552
IDE 2'slave : 40X CDROM
AGP: MSI-MX4000-T128 128MB AGP 8X with TV-out (nVidia GeForce)
PCI : Maxtor UltraDMA 133 IDE Controller w/ 1'master 150GB mode 6
PCI : Asus Wifi-g (bundled with mobo)
USB: Samsung ML-1710 printer

Inital installation with XP-64bit went fine, but no drivers for wifi or my printer so I switched to Win 2K (don't own a copy of XP-32bit). Installed, updated to latest service packs and security updates without installing unnecessary drivers. When I installed the video card, the video died after the VGA Win2K boot screen with the progress bars. I rebooted, F8 -> enable VGA, set display to 1028x768 truecolor, apply (nothing happened), and rebooted. The video came up fine. I can set the display to any mode EXCEPT 800x600. Annoying but eminently unimportant to me - but could it indicate a deeper problem?

Additionally, once I got the video working, I installed the drivers and software for the PCI wifig. After logging in, when it loads the software for the wifig the system freezes (so I pulled the card).

Finally, throughout all of this, I will occasionally (not reproducibly) encounter failure of the PS/2 mouse. When this happens, the PS/2 keyboard acts all flaky until I unplug the mouse. When this happens, only rebooting the system will rehab the mouse - and it's been working fine since I flashed to the latest BIOS. Any ideas? Hardware issue(s)? My own inexperience? Window 2K?

 

[MrChad]

Run Memtest to see if there any RAM issues. Overnight should be sufficient.

What kind of temperatures are you getting?

 

[heights1976]

I'll run the memtest and get back to you. What are you thinking is the problem?

CPU temperature low 30's C,
mobo temperature high 20's C.

From the AsusProbe warning thresholds, I'd guess that these temperatures are well within the margin of safety.

Could it be that my RAM settings are farbled? I've left the BIOS defaults for most everything == Auto.

 

[MrChad]

Originally posted by: heights1976
I'll run the memtest and get back to you. What are you thinking is the problem?

CPU temperature low 30's C,
mobo temperature high 20's C.

From the AsusProbe warning thresholds, I'd guess that these temperatures are well within the margin of safety.

Could it be that my RAM settings are farbled? I've left the BIOS defaults for most everything == Auto.

Try adjusting your RAM voltage to 2.7 V. Memtest should be able to determine if you have a faulty RAM stick, which can manifest itself in strange ways.