What is wrong with my computer?
 

Hey evrebody,

Im getting this weird computer problem. My setup is

Gigabyte GA7N400 Pro2 mother board
2500+barton
333mhz 512 stick from wintech industries
120gb main harddrive from western digital
60gb secondary deskstar
Aopen 5900xt
Maddog entertainer 8.1 sound card

First a week ago after messing around trying to make my ram and fsb run 1:1, my computer didn't start. After taking out the bios battery and got it to boot it told me that windows could not start because it was missing driver xxxxxx.sys. I tried repairing the file but it didn't work. So then I reformated my 120gb HD and reinstalled again. This time I didnt overclock and windows seemed to work I was able to get internet and some programs but for some reason the computer got these major slow downs and after a few seconds my computer froze. After restarting a few times it was starting it once again said driver xxxxx.sys is damaged missing corrupted so I reformated again. The same thing happened once more. I bothered noting what file went wrong. It said System32\Drivers\isapnp.sys.

The even more crazy thing that happened was when I turned off my computer but not my powersupply. I was in my bed when my computer started up by itself!!!! :eek: :eek: :confused: :confused: :hmm: It got stuck at loading windows saying the sys file was dead corrupted ect and turned off the computer. The computer started up again on its own after a few minutes. Then I turned off the power supply and then it didn't happen anymore. What is going on here.

Something hardware is borked.

My first guess is mobo, but thats because I had a very similar problem a few years ago that ended up being a bad mobo. It was corrupting files, screwing all kinda stuff up.

I think you are right. I took my dad's old 700mhz comp and put my 120gb in and installed windows and it works so now i know that it isn't the HD. I'm pretty convinced now that the problem is the mobo. What new mobo should I buy?

Start with the IDE cable. A bad IDE can do the same thing.

Bad power supply can cause all of the about issues as well.

And of course the already mentioned mainboard.

A failing harddisk can do that same thing.

BUT, chances are you have the first 2 items already at hand and can test without spending cash, or RMAing parts

If you dont have a PS, SHAME ON YOU, anyone that works on their own PC should have a spare PS laying around as it is the single most common failing component in all of computing.

I am ashamed to say but my I skimped and only spent $30 on a 400W supply.

Try swapping a PSU with another computer. If it isnt that, I bet its the mobo. I suppose it could be the CPU too, but generally when those go, the whole thing just blows up--no boot, no nothing.

Im getting the same symptoms with my 700mhz athlon and a7v + 120 western digital + $30. I tried putting my gigabyte board together again but now its totally fried. Is this PSU?

You might want to run memtest for a bit.

http://www.memtest86.com/

I've had corruption problems with my k7v athlon motherboard, so I ran through a few sticks of ram until I found the right pair that went in the right slot (I think the motherboard is on it's way out, but, one of the slots still works with one of the sticks). The great thing is that this program runs off of a bootable CD, so as long as you can boot, it will run.

If it finds errors, run it again, if it finds the exact same errors, it sounds like the ram, if it finds different errors, it's probably something else.

I suggest you buy a decent PSU as soon as you can. Not because it may be damaged/bad, but because a new *high-quality* one will be much more stable in the long run.

FYI, good 400 watt PSUs should cost around 80 Euros or more. Zalman costs almost 100 Euros. Compare that to the $30 (25 Euros?) you spend on yours... Where does the extra money go? High-quality parts, and huge heatsinks. You can actually *feel* the quality of a Zalman simply by it's weight.

This is another question. I was wondering in the past few years I had numerous computers completely break down on me. An A7V+1.2 Duron P4PE+Inter 2.0celeron and now GA-7N400pro2+ athlonxp. What am I doing that computers become dead? Is it powersupply related?

For a new powersupply I think I am going for a PC Power & Cooling Turbo Cool 510 express. Its $200+ but I doubt I would ever get a psu problem ever again.