[SOLVED] HELP - new motherboard wont work

[Munky]

Ok, so I was using this rig:

Athlon XP @2 ghz
Asus a7v333
Radeon 9800pro
512mb RAM @166fsb
320watt PSU, 15A on +12volt rail
2 hard drives
2 optical drives

Basically everything was working flawlessly until I switched to a Abit AN7 motherboard. Now, everytime I turn it on, I can get as far as the bios, and to the Windows boot options (f8 key), but anything after that just causes my computer to restart. I tried disabling all the extras, and even disconnected a bunch of things - all I have running now is the cpu, mem, video card, 1 hd and 1 cdrom. Still no differemce, and I can't even get it to Windows setup if I try to boot from the windows cd and reinstall. Also tried relaxing memory timings, and lowering fsb, cpu clock, still no difference.

Anyone else know what the problem might be? I'm thinking maybe the PSU has not enough power, but I can't see the AN7 sucking up that much power, and I never had a problem with the PSU before, even when overcklocking and running at full load. I even tried putting in my old gf2 mx, still same problem.

Or do you think I have a faulty motherboard. I just got the thing new yesterday, and I can't figure out whats going on. It's really frustrating.

 

[SlitheryDee]

Did you reinstall windows when you changed motherboards? I had precisely the same problem when switching from an Albatron kx600 to an Abit NF7-S2. To my knowledge you can't just switch motherboards without AT LEAST totally cleaning out EVERY motherboard driver that's installed in windows. The best option is to format your hd and start from scratch. However, there are guides on anandtech which address this without going through such drastic measures. Honestly, if I were you, I would format because that'll make things much cleaner and straightforward. G/L

 

[PENNSYLVANIARON]

hi:

It is very possible to change mobos and not have to re-install windows XP. I have a procedure that involves Microsofts sysprep and norton ghost. It works like a charm. I just setup my new epox ep-9npa+ ultra mobo and used my hard drive data from a via kt400 chipset mobo. Absolutely worked flawlessly...Regards..

 

[Munky]

The problem is, it cant even get to the windows setup screen if I try to boot from the XP disc and reformat/reinstall. Maybe I'll check if there's a newer bios version to fix this, but it's a weird problem.

 

[SlitheryDee]

My abit board prompts me to "press any key to boot from cd". If I don't press a key then it defaults to the normal boot sequence. It happens pretty fast too. Maybie you're expecting it to just jump into setup and not paying attention to what it says. Stick the windows disk in and see if its doing that.

 

[Munky]

No, I did see the "press any key to boot from cd" screen, and when I press it, it starts reading the disc, and stays on the "Inspecting your hardware" screen for like 5 seconds, and then restarts. Also, it can't boot into safe mode either. It seems no matter what I do, as soon as it tries to boot it restarts. I'm thinking maybe I should RMA the thing, but I really want to try all the options before I do that.

 

[SlitheryDee]

Hmm... Your problem is sounding more and more different from the one I had. Have you tried booting up with an old win 98 startup floppy with cdrom support and installing windows from there? I think that you can get old startup images from several websites.

 

[Munky]

Hey, thanks for that idea. I'l try that when I get home. Also, I'll try memtest, just to be sure, although the memory had no errors on my old motherboard. And maybe a bios update will help, hopefully.

 

[canadianpsycho]

Unlplug any usb devices, and any extra crap you may have connected, that may help also.

 

[Munky]

Yeah, right now it only has the bare essentials connected, and still no good.

 

[Munky]

I realized yesterday that my xp disc had a scratch on it, and luckily I had a backup. So, I put in the backup, and it boots off the cd no problem. I reinstall windoze, and everything works nicely now. Now running an XP-M 2500 @2.5ghz on air.