My pc at home is behaving very oddly.

There was some kind of power spike (I guess), and now no version of Windows will run. (I have W98SE, ME and XP * 2).

I changed the motherboard and ran the chip at 1/2 speed (to generate less heat) but to no avail. Currently the only hardware is a Ti 4600 graphics card.

Windows XP failed with any number of BSOD error messages - BAD_POOL_CALLER / IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL / PAGE_FAULT_IN_NON_PAGED_AREA, to name a few. Safemode isn't reachable either.

Windows ME's are Windows protection error / While initialising IOS (W p e) / While initialising ??BACKUP (W p e).

Sometimes ME will start up but after a short time I get a slew of recoverable blue screen exception messages before a freeze / W p e / reboot.

Since the machine POSTs and the hard disks are recognised, I haven't a clue as to what could be causing this. The ME disk is old, worked when it was last connected, and hasn't been near a modem (so no downloaded viruses).

Any ideas?

PS I tried reinstalling XP. Bad mistake. At about 32% I get a setup error message pair saying that I've not written a valid image to the disk, and then that reading the CD is no longer possible. I've tried two C:\ drives, a DVD ROM and a CD RW drive and two different copies of XP. I've also changed the main cables between drives and motherboard.

I once completed the install, but didn't succeed in installing the hardware. Foolishly I started again.

Hi Mr Zebe D,

Did you just up-dated your Window XP SP2 before this mess.
Last time I did that, I had three full crashes in the same week.

Hi, Nanouk. No. The problem isn't just with XP and I had a stable XP SP2 for months before last week.

Try running a virus scan and a spyware scan from CD. Also, try running a disk repair tool like Norton SystemWorks Disk Doctor from CD. This may require booting from the CD, so you'll most likely need to access your system BIOS to make the CD the first boot device.

Unfortunately there's no O/S on the partition any more to pick up a virus.

With ME, three times out of four I'll get a Windows protection error after the first splash screen. How far I get on that fourth time varies greatly, but eventually I'll get exception / freeze / reset.

What I have noticed is that the a: and c: / d: drives are being recognised but not the CD ROM.

I've now changed the case as well but to no avail.

Can a chip itself become 'contaminated'? Can a power supply vary so much that it exceeds Windows' tolerances yet doesn't prevent the chip from POSTing? Can memory become 'contaminated'? Why does this stuff vary so much?

Waaaah!

Take a look at Error Message: Windows Could Not Start Because of a Computer Disk Hardware Configuration Problem, especially Methods 3 and 4.

It doesn't help, unfortunately. My setup files never finish loading (the interface between CD ROM and disk is lost at about 40%), and chkdsk /r doesn't fix the problem (even though it's said it's fixed one or more errors on the disk).

Chips don't become "contaminated" per se. However, a power surge can bugger various electronic elements on a PC, either partially - which is the worst of all possible worlds - or completely. For example, an older video card (like a Ti 4600) that may unbeknownst to you be nearing the end of its useful life is more susceptible to that sort of thing than other, newer bits and pieces.

If I understand correctly, you've changed out your original motherboard for a known-good motherboard, and changed the case. Unfortunately, changing out a motherboard can make Windows go nuts, because the drivers and hardware it expects to find when it boots up are...different! Very often, a motherboard change requires formatting one's hard disk and re-installing Windows. Either that, or lots of sweating and swearing, which may be interesting to one's housemate but at the end of the day to no avail.

Questions:
-- Did the case change involve a new power supply, of proper wattage capacity?
-- Have you tried a new power supply with the original motherboard?
-- Have you tried the original motherboard with a new power supply and a known-good video card (not your Ti 4600)?

The problem originally arose on my 5950 system running Windows XP in a 400W case.

Whatever it is still maifests itself on a Ti4600 system running ME in a 300W case.

I'm planning to bring the ME setup into work tomorrow and see what happens off the power supply here.

You're right about trying to set up Windows on a new motherboard, especially when it has a completely different chipset. It would be easier if ME was up long enough / able to read from CD ROM.

If you can do so, try another video card!

Ok. I can try the 5950 ultra instead.

Umm, OK, but since the 5950 Ultra was the resident card when the problem originally arose, I was thinking more along the lines of another card altogether (and not the Ti4600).

Hi Mr Zebe D.

Mayby Heimdall will remember me when I talk about my crashings problems trying to play Uru CC. I followed Ubisoft Tech Support recommendation and since I had only a 350 watts power supply, they told me to go for the ATI Radeon F300SE-PCI because of its very low power requirements. My PC has been, since, running like a formula 1 racing car. The price was also good. ( $120.00 less $30,00 rebate,cdn$ )

I've sorted it. 20 / 20 hindsight question - what's the first thing to go on a power spike?

It didn't fry the chip... it did for the memory!

I'm sort of up and running again. The chip is running at 200MHz (400 MHz) bus speed and 'borrowed' memory is running at 166MHz (333 MHz).

I've reformatted my c:\ drive and reloaded XP. Having 'upgraded' to SP2 I can no longer connect to any web page, though the broadband connection is successfully made.

What fun!

I hope you did upgrade to SP2 only after reinstalling all your personnal software programs !! I did the opposite not long ago and it became a real mess. So much I decided to downgrade back to SP1 after reinstalling everything with internet disconnected.

How to turn on or turn off the firewall in Windows XP With SP2

Thank you for the link Heimdall G. I am not sure but my problem seemed to be related to the automatic update option for Microsoft. I was not working on the PC when this happenned and it took me a long time to figured this out. (three full crashes). Now, I used the personnalised update option.

Nanouk, I was spared the fun of SP2 the first time precisely because I already had Norton loaded. Not this time, though.

I think Heimdall's fixed it for me.

Thank goodness for a work pc!

Happy for you Mr Zebe D and good show from Heimdall G