Guys I know this doesn't belong here...but I've lost my mind...almost literally at this problem. I just bought new parts and put a system together Athlon XP 2100+ MSI KT400VL 512 CORSAIR DDR 400 RAM RADEON 8500 64MB DDR Windows XP Pro Soundblaster Live! Value Western Digital 80GB Hard Drive w/ 8mb buffer 350 PS Here is my problem...After tremendous pains on getting windows xp just to install without problems...I now have computer crashes everytime I try to download and install software. It has crashed with AIM, with Catalyst drivers, with 3dmark2001, with everything! I have downloaded the VIA 4 in 1s, installed motherboard onboard drivers, and have even flashed the bios to the most current form. There are no hardware conflicts in windows, and yet the system just crashes everytime I try to download and install something. Sometimes It will freeze when the download is complete, sometimes in the installation procedure. Any help would be needed. My current hardware confiuration is that I have the CD-ROM and the HARDDRIVE seperated and plugged into two different IDE slots... I have NEVER EVER had a problem with this, but it is the first real time I've tried it on the newer boards...probably not significant. Any help would be appreciated. I have spent 8 hours straight on this, and am on the brink of busting out a sledge hammer and ending the computer's life. Again I'm REALLY sorry to post it here....please do not delete it...at least move it if it causes a nuisance. I don't know where else to draw attention...Any help would be appreciated as this system needs to be completed within the next hours of today (XMAS PRESENT!!!!!) Please help... Thanks!
1. It might be a HD problem. Try disabling HDD S.M.A.R.T. monitoring in BIOS, or reduce the buffer usage (if possible). 2. It might be a RAM problem. DDR400 standard is not yet officially approved, I guess, this is because of the varied standard used for 400Mhz clock so compatibility issues often occurs. Try reducing the clock speed for the DDR (to 366 or 333) and try to increase the CL (clock latency) to a higher setting. 3. If you installed Windows and the softwares from a clean install procedure you can conclude there is nothing wrong with the drivers and/or the softwares.
