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General discussion

Boot Problems

Feb 26, 2004 10:55AM PST

I'm having difficulty with my system booting. I'm using Windows XP Pro. The problem started while booting my system one morning and it froze midway through the process. It was at the screen with the Windows XP logo and the boxes going across the progress bar, it would get roughly half done and then freeze. I was able to log into the computer using the "last known good configuration" setting. Windows informed me that the system had recovered from a serious error. It said it was caused by a device driver.

The only thing I've changed recently on the system was the video card. I installed a Radeon 9800 Pro about 2 weeks ago and up to this point it has worked fine. But since I've gotten the system back up, I've tried reinstalling the drivers twice but to no avail. Each time the system freezes during the boot process. I've searched ATI's site for help but I haven't found anything that directly relates to my problem.

Screens now scroll strange (it's like it goes a screen at a time rather than a smooth scroll). I've tried ScanDisk, Norton Anti-Virus, I've checked Spyware. I'm really out of ideas...

Discussion is locked

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Re:Boot Problems
Feb 26, 2004 12:05PM PST

Go back to the web site and look for download drivers, then reinstall the video card with the new drivers.

Also check Windows Update to see whether Windows has a new driver for that video card.

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Re:Boot Problems
Feb 26, 2004 1:03PM PST

Tried simply to use a different video card? Boot up just fine with different card? If so, consider the card faulty and return it.
Windows Update is not where I recommend getting drivers from.
Power? Upgrading your video card is putting a demand on your power supply. Is it up to the task?

Good Luck, Tom

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Re:Re:Boot Problems
Feb 26, 2004 1:19PM PST

I've done some more testing. I put my old video card, a Radeon 8500LE 128 MB, back in the system. It now will boot with no problems. This may have to be taken to the Hardware forum. I was concerned about the power supply issue when I first got the card but when it worked fine for a couple weeks, I thought I was in the clear. Could an insufficient power supply cause a freeze in the system boot?