System crashes - OS or hardware?

[FlyByWire]

Here's what I have:
Abit KT7 with Duron 600
128 MB RAM PC133 CAS2
WD 20GB 7200 RPM HDD
Creative SB 128
ATI Rage Fury Pro 32 MB AGP
3COM Etherlink 10/100 network card
... and other stuff...blah blah blah

Here's the problem: installed Win98,everything seemed OK, then started adding sound card, modem, installing drivers, other software (Office 2000 etc), and the system started locking up. It could freeze even on a simple Windows screensaver, also when playing multimedia (.wav files, running DVD, games, etc). OK, upgraded to Win2K. Made it even worse. Started locking up as soon as Windows is loaded. I also observed boot-up and shutdown problems similar to those mentioned on other threads on this forum (guys with Abit KT7 - Duron).
So, I pulled all the cards out except 3COM (for driver downloads), put in a simple PCI video card, wiped out the hard drive, re-installed Win98. Ran screensaver overnight - OK. Installed one simple game... lockups.
My buddy swears that my hardware is bad (processor, video card or MOBO, he says). I tend to think it's the OS.
Any opinions? Free box of cookies to whoever fixes my system! I need this ASAP - gotta be ready for X-mas as a gift!

 

[Supergax]

Not sure exactly what would be causing the problem, but it definitely sounds like a hardware issue if both OS'es are locking up. I had a problem with an Athlon 700 system I built back in July. I ened up RMA'ing most of the parts, did a whole bunch of stuff to it, replaced parts, I worked on it for about 3 weeks straight before finding the problem. I thought I had it down at least 7 times, I had installed Win2k, Win98, Win98SE, and WinMe on it to test OS's, and yet it would start acting up again. After going down by about $100 to get the systme working, I foudn out that it was the TNT2 M64, which I replaced with a V3 3000 and it works fine (odd thing is that I tried and ATI card that works fine in another system and it was doing the same thing). You just gotta keep at it:frown:

 

[FlyByWire]

Thanks much Supergax. I will try another vid card. You're first in line for the cookies!
Anyone else has an opinion on what causes lockups? I'm sure everyone had those at some point or another. Please share your experience on how to build a stable system.

 

[sandorski]

Did you install the VIA 4in1 drivers? Also, make sure to disable SB DOS emulation for the soundcard and make sure the soundcard isn't sharing IRQs with anything.

 

[zeppelin]

Are you overclocking? I found my system crashed when playing halflife because I was overclocking too much, esp. the FSB.

 

[FlyByWire]

Sandorski,
How do I disable SB DOS emulation? Also, aren't IRQ's assigned to the PCI devices (which my sound card is)automatically? And yes, the 4in1 drivers are installed.

Also - hot update!!! I just upgraded to Win2K (again) - and the frequency of lockups has gone down SIGNIFICANTLY! So, OS had something to do with stability? Is it possible that RAM quality has something to do with that?

Thanks much for everyone's take on this!

 

[FlyByWire]

No overclocking, Zeppelin. No-no. I'm trying to play safe. I've even tried going below spec'd speed (entering 600 Mhz when chip is rated 700). Didn't help a bit.
Thanks for asking, though.

 

[jmsazul]

Recent MOBO? which BIOS are you running? Lattest bios from Abit covers an issue with voltage problems with KT7 and the Duron. KT7 bios K7TUL.exe

 

[FlyByWire]

Thanks for the link, dude! I will make sure to upgrade the BIOS. While on the Abit site, I ran into FAQs, and possibly the answer to my problem:

Q: Why Voodoo 2 or ATI 3D Rage 128 cause Windows98 hang-up?
A: The driver 3.02.02 of Voodoo 2 conflict with KT133 chipset and fail to start Windows98. Old driver for Voodoo 2 solves this issue. Latest driver V633CD21E for ATI Rage 128 also causes similar problem while old driver 6263 is okay