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General discussion

Building New Computer Problem - BIOS freezing

by DamnYankees Feb 20, 2006 5:23AM PST

For any of you who are technically advanced, here goes:

I bought a new motherboard, processor, and RAM, put it all together with parts from my old computer (namely my old HDD, DVD drive, DVD-RW drive, and video card).

So, we assemble it all and turn it on, but the computer keeps freezing up at different points. Sometimes it freezes up before BIOS even starts, which requires us to clear the CMOS. Then, when we do that, I get an error message upon reboot saying I have a "checksum error." I have no idea what that means or how to solve it.

But, sometimes I get past that point, and the computer starts to boot off the Windows CD. And it'll start doing the windows installation thing before freezing while detecting my hardware. But it never freezes at the same point. There doesn't seem to be a specific spot where it gets stuck.

Any ideas what could be wrong? My best guess is that there is an incompatibility with my new motherboard and my video card (GeForce MX 4000).

I'll be glad to provide any info you might need - I just don't know what's necessary to diagnose this.

Discussion is locked

9 Posts
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Mainly HDD
by retired Feb 20, 2006 5:28AM PST
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I wiped it
by DamnYankees Feb 20, 2006 5:29AM PST

I formatted the HDD before I transferred it to the new computer. And that shouldn't effect how it boots off the windows CD, no?

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You did not explain that!!
by retired Feb 20, 2006 5:32AM PST

try this.

New/Clean Install/Re-install


1=Set Bios to boot from CD/ROM as first boot device(Entering the BIOS and changing the boot order is not discussed here, you may have to refer to the computers manual for this).(For a clean or new drive the boot sequence does not matter)

2=Place the OS/CD in the CD/ROM drive and Re-Boot

3=Watch for the prompt to "Press any key to boot from CD/ROM" Press ASAP (Ignore when prompt appears on any reboot) (You will only get this prompt if there is an OS installed).

4=windows Setup (Loads Files)

5=To setup XP now press "ENTER"

6=Press F8 for license

7=To continue installing a fresh copy of windows without repairing press "ESC"(You will not get this prompt for a new or unpartitioned drive)

8=For a new or unpartitioned drive press "ENTER" (or you can press "C" if you want to create multiple partitions).

9=For a drive that has partitions, operating system or any data on it, you should press "D" to delete the partition and start out with a clean drive
.
10=Press "enter"

11=You will be prompted again, press "L"(You will do this for each partition) , Now you are ready to partition and format

12=Press "C" (Only if you want multiple partitions, Otherwise press "Enter"

13=To setup windows on the selected partition press "enter"

14=Select format NTFS with quick option, (Should be the top selection)

15=Press "enter'

16=Wait for format to complete

17=Computer will start copying files to the installation folders (this may take several minutes)

18=Computer will re-boot, do not press any key to boot from CD/ROM when prompted
.
19=follow the on-screen instructions to complete loading windows.

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I know that much...
by DamnYankees Feb 20, 2006 5:36AM PST

The thing is, my computer is freezing. Sometimes it freezes before I can even enter BIOS (with dead pixels on the screen). Sometimes it freezes during windows setup. Another time it got to a point in windows setup and flashed me an error message saying it had to reboot (unfrotunately I don't recall all the errors, but one had to do with BIOS).

My problem seems to be a hardware imcompatibility or something.

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Trial & error the thing
by kubasic Feb 20, 2006 6:09AM PST

Take out unnecessary components. It's probably the vid card, motherboard, RAM or power supply. If you have other parts, try swapping things in one at a time. If I had to guess, I'd say it's a power issue. Did you buy a new power supply? If not, then it may not be powerful enough to work the new things you just got. I'd guess 450-500w would be required, especially if you were to upgrade your video card at some point, which seems like it needs to happen.

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Power is New
by DamnYankees Feb 20, 2006 6:15AM PST

The power seems fine - I don't see any evidence that its not enough. I would swap out the video card if I had another one. I need another PCI video card to use instead, and I can't get one anywhere. No one I know has a desktop with a PCI video card...

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First try and get it working with just the basics
by Stephen Cantone Feb 20, 2006 6:19AM PST

The absolute bare minimum that most desktop PCs need is a power supply, a motherboard, a processor and ram. You will also need a system speaker attacked to the motherboard so you can listen for any error "beeps". These beeps tell you when you system isn't working properly. Different brands have different codes. With only the power supply, a motherboard, a processor and ram installed you should get 2 beeps saying that it has past POST. At this point you want to turn off your computer and install the video card. When you restart the computer make sure that the system can boot, with no HD installed it will ask you "please insert a disk and press enter". From reading your post I would bet dollars to donuts that it?s a problem with your ram, that?s why it?s happening at different times during the boot and the install. memtest86 from www.memtest86.com is excellent for checking to see if your RAM has errors and it runs straight from a floppy drive/OS independent (you do still have a floppy drive don't you)If memtest86 doesn't find any errors then go ahead and install the HD and cd/dvd-rom and any other that you have. Up to this point we have determined that all hardware inside the computer is working properly. If you are still having trouble consider using a spare HD, a 5 gig HD lying around will work fine for testing purposes. If you have anymore questions or would like me elaborate on any part of this post just let me know
-good luck

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No Floppy
by DamnYankees Feb 20, 2006 6:23AM PST

I actually don't have a floppy drive - just 2 DVD drives. Can I boot the RAM test from a CD drive?

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Similar Bios problem
by B5309 Feb 20, 2006 6:06AM PST

This may not be related, but I had some similar problems recently. I had flashed my bios from a boot floppy and upon rebooting my computer would not go through the posting routine for the bios. Basically it would get power but nothing else.

Long story short I had to take the motherboard out of the case and hook everything up (minimal as I could) and it would then post. It gave me a checksum error, like yours and said the bios was reverting to defaults. I then flashed it again using a newer bios. I put the motherboard back in the case and it worked.

Seems I must have had some sort of short somewhere. Weird that it turned up after the bios flash, but that's how I fixed my problem.

Good luck with yours.

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