Hello, I am a first time poster who is having a very strange and unpredictable series of problems with my computer and the way in which it is starting up. It all began when I came back to my comp after a few hours away, awoke it from sleep, and saw that it had just finished doing a Windows disk check, the kind of check it does when it restarts after a big problem. It kept mentioning a directory called $I30, somewhere in Windows, but I don't know if this has anything to do with anything. So I reboot the system, and it goes through it's usual motions, only a lot slower, lingering on the several DOS screens (RAID setup, etc.) after the motherboard logo for a few seconds longer than usual (the screens generally flip by so fast I can't even read them), so something was running slower. When I finally got into Windows (I am running XP home), the cursor would sporadically stop moving every few seconds, then resume smooth movement again, then briefly pause again, repeating this. Very weird. Also, the entire Windows interface (start menu, desktop, etc.) was unresponsive. All I could do was draw a box on the desktop by dragging, but it didn't even do anything. Again, I restarted, and it did this a few more times. Somewhere along the line, I got a DOS warning, before Windows booted, giving me a warning that "your system may be overclock FAIL" (I am running an ASUS A8V-E SE motherboard, and my CPU is NOT overclocked, nor has it ever been). However this warning did not occur every time, but I did see one or two more times, which is weird, as I'm starting the same way every time, but it always acts differently. After going through the cycle of unresponsive XP several more times, it then locked itself into a cycle of starting, displaying the XP loading screen, then blacking out right after it loads and automatically restarting. Extremely frustrating. I thought it might be the HDD, so I bought a new one and a copy of Vista OEM. Now when I go to intall it, it loads the install screens, only VERY VERY slowly, without any clear signs of actually doing anything in between (no RAM lights or noise from inside the tower itself). Also, the first time I started my system with the Vista disk in, I got the "your system may be overclock fail" warning yet again, which froze the system up. A restart resolved this and allowed me to continue to Vista setup, though it is very disconcerting that this error happened in the first place. So here I am on a different computer, waiting on the Vista OEM installation on the problematic unit in the other room. I am looking to buy a new comp soon anyway, so I can accept that this is the end, if it indeed is. However, I would like to know what people think, is this a problem with the motherboard slowly crapping out, the CPU not working (hence reading as "overclock FAIL" even when it isn't), or maybe the initial HDD (which I don't think, since I replaced it with a brand new blank one, and the computer is stilling behaving unpredictably)?? Sorry for the long winded explanation, I just wanted to lay it all down first so I could get this resolved ASAP, or at least go get a new box if it's too pricy to fix. My system: -ASUS A8V-SE motherboard -Seagate 250GB HD (first one, with all my stuff) -Seagate 320GB HD (new one, blank) -AMD 64x2 4200+, 939pin connection -2GB Kingston RAM -Sapphire Radeon X1950XT (probably irrelevant) I have tried to fix this by: -Restarting aplenty -Resetting BIOS options to all defaults -Starting XP in all conceivable types of Safe mode, as well as doing a system restore to a week before this problem began. -Replacing the HDD -None of these have made any difference in regards to the unpredictable, spotty, ineffective startups and performance I am getting. Thanks again everyone, hope I can get this sorted out, it's a very weird problem, and I'm suspecting my motherboard is just failing. THANK YOU!
Can't be of too much help here, but I had similar problems with screen freezes, etc. I put in a new motherboard and everything was solved! Strangely enough, with the old board, I could not install many XP updates, but with the new board - no problem (don't know it this is just a coincidence). I also had problems with the RAM on the old board, but the same RAM on the new board works just fine!
Try running with single sticks of your kingston ram. If one went bad it could be throwing everything off. Try them seperatly in the first slot and see what happens. If you tried two different hd's then your hd cant be the problem so go down the list...... If that doesnt work you more than likely have a mobo issue.
it can be a spyware i see you are using your hdds together so what's the aim of it just one of them will be enough to test it can be your bios damaged, if you don't even oc your pc it says it's oc'ed or it's beacuse of you have resetted the bios try to reset the bios from the jumpers if you haven't tried yet it can be a temp. caused problem check for it too the sensors can be damaged if the temp. seems normal but still the pc freezes (check the temp with an external control panel if you can)
