Question before first boot.

[FourTwenny]

The budget build i made for my friend is almost done. I actually have everything put together except the graphics card. The board has a vga port and on-board graphics so i am going to install xp and some other programs on it on it now while me and my friend decide on a graphics card.

My question is this; I pulled the HDD and Memory out of 2 separate computers, one working one non-working. Do i need to format the HDD or flash the memory before i power up the new build for the first time ? I could use the previously working pc i pulled the memory out of to do it with if i need to.

 

[Dainius]

well when you go to install xp on the new machine I would go into the bios and set the cd rom to boot first and reformat the hard drive along with a fresh install of the os... It has always proved best to go with a clean install on a used hard drive in a new comp for me.

 

[FourTwenny]

OK, i was just making sure that having the used memory and HDD in wouldn't load the drivers for the computers they were pulled from.

 

[Ethereal_Dragon]

Memory is volatile, in that it once it loses power, the data in it is gone, so no worries at all about that. With the hard drive, you will need to format it.

 

[FourTwenny]

Ok when i tried to boot it up for the first time today all i got was a black screen. Power is going to all the components, it allowed me to open/close the dvdrom, fans are all spinning. All i get is a 100% black screen though. Am i doing something wrong or is maybe my cpu or motherboard no good. I have read the manual over 5 times and it is no help at all. Everything is plugged into where it is suppose to be, i checked 3 times.

 

[jantar]

Is the onboard graphics enabled in bios?

 

[NightSurge]

Does it even show your bios? Or absolutely nothing from the time you push power?

 

[FourTwenny]

It shows nothing. The monitor does not even register that the PC is being turned on. If i unplug the vga cable from the pc i get a "no signal, self diagnostic" on my monitor, but when it is plugged in the green power light just is flashing in stand-by. I am not sure if the onboard graphics are enabled. The motherboard is brand new from a store so i assumed it is. The manual/website is not really a help. Here is the info on the board. ASRock Motherboard - Product - P4I65G - Overview

I have tried 2 separate sticks of ram, DDR226 and DDR333 that both work in another computer (the comp i am on right now) I am going to try to stick in the cpu from this comp, but i am 99% sure the cpu i put in already works fine.

If this cpu doesn't work tonight i will take a bunch of pictures and post them up here, maybe someone will see a bone-head mistake i made.

 

[immy3]

The specs for that mobo says it supports DDR400 so I'm not sure if DDR266 and DDR333 would work but someone else with a little more knowledge can probably tell you if it would or not.

 

[NightSurge]

If you look farther down on that page it lists that it supports DDR400/333/266.

Also, the only other things I can think of is that it could be a power supply issue or monitor issue. Have you tried any other monitors?