requesting help on my first two system builds

[ftseng]

today my friend and I built two computers: one for myself, and one for my brother.

my brother's is a little dated.
ATI RADEON 9700 PRO
Maxtor DiamondMax 9 80GB
Intel P4 2.53GHz
ASUS P4S533
Creative Audigy
512MB Corsair XMS memory (1 stick)
Antec True 430w

that's all I can remember at the moment. its very late; I'll try to add more specs later.

the problem with this computer is that although it seems to boot up fine, the monitor does not detect a signal. we have tried clearing the CMOS, switching and reseating the memory, switching and reseating the video card, tried using different monitors, and maybe some other things. does anyone have any idea whats wrong and how we should go about fixing it? if more information is needed, please ask.

edit: I don't think its the PSU since everything else seems to be working fine. I don't think its the graphics card either since it did not work with a pci graphics card and the graphic card's fan seems to be running fine. the monitor isnt at fault either, since those monitors I tried worked for my other computer. memory doesn't seem to be the problem either since the other memory we tried didn't work either.

the second system is better, but there's still a problem.
AMD Athlon 3500+
ASUS A8N SLI Deluxe
eVGA 6800 GT (PCI Express)
1GB Corsair Value Select PC3200 memory (2x 512MB)
Creative Audigy 2ZS
Fortron 530w PSU

we've managed to get this system to boot up and we've managed to install xp. after installing the drivers for the mobo, gfx card, and soundcard, as well as directx 9, the computer became very slow. After booting up, the screen is black for quite some time, and then loading windows and logging in takes forever. Once it gets past logging in, the desktop background appears but nothing else does, except for the cursor. Nothing happens for awhile, and then the system just locks up and freezes. What could be the cause of this? I'm thinking it has something to do with the drivers, so later I'm going to try and get into safemode and see what's up. are there any other ideas on what may be happening?

thanks for taking the time to help me!

 

[mechBgon]

The description of the troubles with #2 made me think of a worm infection. If your WindowsXP CD doesn't have Service Pack 2, then by default you would have no firewall protection when you install Windows, as well as having one jillion worm vulnerabilities. If it does have Service Pack 2, then it would have the firewall enabled by default, and many vulnerabilities patched. A router between your modem and your computer would also firewall you against the Internet (but not against any other PCs that share the router).


On the P4 rig... ok, shotgun approach here...

1) is the ATX12V cable plugged in?

2) is the mobo mounted on standoffs?

3) check that nothing but fans (or nothing at all) are plugged into the Antec's Fan-Only plugs

4) video card got its power plug hooked up?

5) silly one... make sure the mouse and keyboard are in the right ports, if either one is a round-plug PS/2 style. Green port = mouse, purple = keyboard.

6) don't plug in any really slow fans on the mobo's 3-pin fan headers. That includes the blue-&-black fan-monitoring wire from the power supply, which runs really slowly. This can make some motherboards and then they won't POST.

 

[ftseng]

thanks

I don't know how I could have gotten a worm since I haven't really done much on that computer except install drivers.

for the P4 system, it seems to be booting up fine; im hearing one beep and it sounds like the HDD is running. ill check what you suggested anyways. thanks

 

[Pr0d1gy]

As Big Lar told me, most worms & viruses are caught during Windows update. I also would like to add that pron is also responsible for a huge amount. You will need to fix that on the 2nd PC.

As for the first PC, I'm not sure what is causing the poblem, but good luck with your new PC's.

 

[ftseng]

I haven't updated windows yet, though.

I tried starting in safe mode, but its stuck on loading this file called Mup.sys. I don't know if that will help diagnose the problem or not or if it helps present a solution.

could I wipe the drive and reinstall everything? then should I go straight to updating windows?

 

[ftseng]

at this point i'm going to try reinstalling windows xp. I am pretty sure its one of the drivers thats causing the problems, since prior to installing the drivers everything ran fine.

I'm going to take my brother's computer down to a store to see if they can diagnose the problem.

 

[mechBgon]

To clarify: you don't need to open a browser to catch worms. They come to you. Plug in the network cable, and here come the worms, trying to infect your computer without ANY interaction from you AT ALL.

mechBgon's suggested worm-avoidance strategy and other security suggestions

 

[ftseng]

ok, the problem turned out to be the drivers asus included with the mobo. for some reason they caused the problem. I ended up downloading drivers straight from nvidia and now the system seems to be working fine.

as for my brother's p4 rig...any more suggestions? my friend is also furiously searching the net for a solution but everything suggested doesn't seem to work. the local computer shop charges way to much for a simple diagnostic so I'm going to actually dismantle the computer and reassemble it to see if I that will solve the problem.

 

[wisdomtooth]

The P4 rig... Asus has many different models of the P4S533... If yours has on-board video, try using the integrated VGA port.

 

[ftseng]

how do I do that?

 

[ftseng]

nevermind.

my p4s533 doesn't have onboard video.