XP freezes on my first home built

[kev25]

I have been having total OS freezes ever since I first installed XP home edition on my new computer.
This is the first computer that I have ever built; the components are listed below.

Soyo SY-K333 Dragon Ultra Platinum Edition Via KT333
AMD Athlon XP 2100+ 1.73GHz Processor Retail w/Fan and Heatsink
Gainward GeForce4 PowerPack! Ultra/650XP Golden SampleTi4200
2 times Kingston 512MB DDR333 PC2700 Memory
Western Digital Caviar Special Edition WD800JB 80GB ATA/100 7200RPM Hard Drive w/8MB Buffer
Liteon LTD163 16x DVD
Lite On 40X12X48 CDRW Model: LTR40125S
SONY CRT MONITOR Multiscan® E540 21"
Floppy Drive
Creative Blaster V92 PCI Modem
WindowsXP Home Edition
Antec PLUS660 w/350W
During the build process, I cleared the CMOS as instructed in the Soyo manual.
After I assembled the hardware, I did the BIOS setup. I entered the time/date and set the clock speed to 133. I allowed the Soyo BIOS program to autodetect the harddrive. I didn't do anything else.
I put the XP cd into the cd-rom drive and rebooted. The windows blue screen came up and I partitioned my drive into 5 partitions using NTFS. I installed XP on the firsrt partition C. All went well. Installation took about 20min. I installed the latest Via4inone software which I had gotten from the Soyo website previously. I did not install any drivers from the cds that came with the hardware. I let XP install what it wanted. I was not yet connected to the internet. I let the system run overnight. The next morning while the "pipes" screensaver was running, I moved the mouse to start things and the system froze. I had to push the restart button to to get windows up and going again. The system continued to freeze now and again, once when I clicked on a jpg icon to open a picture. I got connected to the internet without any problems and got into the Xp update site. I started to download SP1. The system froze up three times during the download process. Between one freeze, I turned off the screen saver and power down options. I got SP1 installed OK and then downlowded the various patches and windows apporved drivers. One for the modem, one for the nvida part of my vid card, and one for the on board sound chip. The freezes continued. I downloaded the "Video Capture" software from the Gainward site and installed it even thought I got warnings that these drivers were not Win apprived. I installed the WinDVD and WinCoder software that came with my Vid card. I was able to watch DVD's and watch a tape from my VCR which I connedted to the Video In jack on the back of the Video Card. I got a freeze once or twice when I was trying to capture a still from the VCR program, 99+% of the time I could capture stills with no problem. I continued to get random freezes. Sometimes when I would do the restart, I would get another freeze as soon as my desktop came into view, just as the music started to play.
I have tried the following to no avail:
I got rid of all XP profiles other than mine, so that when windows comes up, I see a welcome page, then my desk top.
I shut down all the XP extras: the visual things that make XP look like XP. I turned them back on after I got more freezes.
I open up device manager and uninstalled or shut down all the non-windows signature drivers. The only ones that were non-signature were the Gainward drivers for my video and audio capture. I have not reinstalled them.
So, I keep getting periodic freezes, at least 5 per day. They seem to be random. Last night I installed the action game " No one lives forever 2" and after some minor problems was able to play the game at 1200x1600 res for several hours without a hitch. The game looked and played beautifully!!!!!! This morning I opened up the game, and it froze on the opening screen.
Below are a couple of links which might be of help. One is a "belarc" of my computer and the other is a screen shot of my device manager.
I really hope that one of you folks can help me. I know that my computer will be able to function properly, I just need some help getting it there.
thanks,
kev





Belarc Profile of my Computer



Device Manager

 

[corkyg]

This is a tough one - random freezes are very often video-related. I have had them on and off for the past several weeks, ever since I installed the new Catalyst drivers from ATI for my Radeon 8500. I tried all sorts of solutions and was able to reduce the freezes to about 1 or 2 a day. So, I just got tired of messing with it - so I replaced the 64MB Radeon with a 128 MB Radeon 9000 and the problem has gone away - so far. I'll let you know after a week. But so far - so good.

 

[trilks]

Do you have the most current BIOS version? I had similar problems when I built my PC, and a BIOS flash pretty much took care of it. Not sure if that is what is causing it, but you may want to check it out.

 

[DainB]

I have a similar problem. It has only frozen/rebooted once while using Kazaa, it happens most often in 3d games and appears to be completely random. I've tried swapping out ram, reinstalling any and all drivers, removing and reinstalling most programs, and disabling most un-needed hardware.

Last night I was on the verge of reinstalling XP until I found this little gem on Microsoft's website...
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;Q321938
I added the key it mentions and rebooted and played CS for 30 minutes without a problem before I had to hit the hay. Since the problem appears to be random I'm not 100% sure that it's fixed but I should find out for sure tonight...

You might want to give this KB a try since it has to do with AMD processors and Nvidia boards. Lemme know if it works for you.

 

[kev25]

Kevin here,
I also posted my message to the Microsoft XP newsgroup. Someone there said that he had had a similar problem and it was hard drive jumper related. This could be it!!! I got an oem WD drive without the booklet. I installed the drive and left the jumper settings as was. I didn't even know that there were jumpers on the drive. Well, when I did the BIOS thing, it did not recognize my hard drive. I went to the WD web site and one of the FAQ's there was about BIOS not seeing a drive. They said to remove the jumper completly. So I did, and it was recognized. Now, this guy at the MS XP message board says to be sure to have them set for single if it's my only drive. I just now looked up jumper settings for a 10 pin WD drive and set it to single. I will let you guys know what happens. If this doesn't do the trick, I'll start on your suggestions.
Thanks very much for the quick and thoughtful replys,
kev

 

[SemperFi]

I have had problems when running 3d screensavers. There was a thread in the OS forum that mentions problems with 3d screensavers and the monitor shutting off. I tried the fix that was posted it seemed to help until I installed sp1. I have since quit using 3d screensavers and haven't had a lockup in weeks.

 

[shatton]

Honestly... I see these all the time.. XP is NOT the greatest thing... Try 2000 or get the Professional XP... Home Sucks.

 

[DAPUNISHER]

Originally posted by: shatton
Honestly... I see these all the time.. XP is NOT the greatest thing... Try 2000 or get the Professional XP... Home Sucks.

It's best to add the statement in your honest opinion when stating such things I have home edition on the P41.6A@2.4ghz in my sig now for about 7-8months and I've never had a single issue that was the OS's fault. In fact the only issues I have period were pushing the overclock to high I have been running either SETI or ECCp on it 24/7 since I set it up and it never crashes or reboots or BSOD's as long as I don't push the OC to the bleeding edge as I stated. I also use XP pro and quite honestly most of the added functionality I rarely use and I've found home every bit as rock solid stable, no offense but 99% of the time the problem is between the chair and the monitor Sorry about the temporary thread hi-jack kev25 it sounds like you may have straightened out your problem and I give you major props on your excellent research considering it's your first build! However, if you find that your freeze ups continue I suggest you monitor your CPU temp as it would become more likely that you have a heat related issue at that point. For instance if you had a little trouble lining up the heatsink/fan during install you could have scrapped some of the thermal pad off the area of the retail cooler that makes contact with the CPU and that would have a very negative effect on it's cooling ability. You can eliminate heat problems from the mix by monitoring the temps in the bios to confirm the temps are good. Let us know how you make out.

 

[kev25]

DAPUNISHER and every one else, I don't like what you said about the heat sink prob. I did indeed have problems getting the heat sink attachted to the chip. Did you know that none of the directions that I followed, including the big foldout page that came with the Retail version which I purchased said anything about first hooking the "ring" to one side of the bracket before you apply pressure to the other side of the heatsink catch. This might seem obvious to you, but for someone like me, well, I was just following orders, Sir. People who are doing this for the first time do need better instructions. Anyway, freezes continued inspite of following all the suggestions. So I did a complete format and reinstalled my partitions and reinstalled XP. The first thing I did was install the Via4 in 1, and reboot. Next I installed the latest sound drivers for the on board sound chip from Soyo. I rebooted and the thing froze! I reformated again, reinstalled XP, installed Via4in1 and created a restore point. I installed the win approved nvidia drivers rebooted and did another restore point. Next I went online to WinUpdate and downloaded and installed their approved Soyo sound driver. This is where I am now. (Well, NOW, I'm on my other computer) I haven't had a freeze yet. But I haven't done much on the computer.
So...about this temp thing? I have the BIOS temp screen up on my computer. Right now, the CPU temp is bouncing between 125 and 127F. and the chasse temp is 96 degrees. The CPU fan is running at 5113. What is an acceptable temp range? Can I monitor the temp while I'm doing things on the computer, or do I have to reenter the BIOS? I have an auto shutdown function set to shut down at 140 degrees. And I have the chip performance set to "Normal".
Let me know if I should go ahead and install other drivers and things including Sp1 from the windows update.
Oh, one more thing. I noticed that XP created a folder on my outermost partition with all my win updates in it (I think) the folder weighs 42mgs. Is there any way I can get my SP1 using this instead of having to down load it all over again. I have a dial-up account. I copied this folder onto a cd before I reformated my computer.
Thanks for all the help,
kev

 

[foofoo]

hi,
my suspicions on this one would be ram.
try installing with just one of your dimms in place and stress test for errors, if it still bombs then try the other dimm instead and repeat.
maybe one of your dimms is bad.
good luck

 

[kev25]

Hi, it's me again,
I think it might be a modem driver conflict. After following through with all the suggestions here and from other newsgroups and forums, the computer was freezing as soon as the desk top appeared after reboot. So, I did a complete format, built new partitions and reinstalled XP. I added VIA4in1, and signature nvidia driver, then signature onboard sound driver, then freeze with audio cd. I restored to post VIA then downloaded SP1 and signatrue nvidia driver, freeze with "No one lives forever2" without sound. I monitored CPU temp(54c top). I reseated the Vid card, still freezing. Then I uninstalled the modem via Device Manager and then physically removed the modem. I have had no freezes for the past several hours playing NOLF2 at 1200X1600 with all the special effects. So far so good.
Now, how do I go about reinstalling my Creative Blaster V92 PCI Modem. I guess XP choose the first driver, I was never given an option. During the final part of XP install, I followed the Wizzard and typed in my ISP information.
Can someone help me reinstall my modem?
Thanks again,
kev