Hardware issues

[Delinkwent]

ok... i upgraded my brothers computer the other day... to a 2.0ghz p4 processor... and gave him some more ram... it gets to the windows loading screen then either locks up or restarts... i really dont understand wats goin on.... any advice would be gr8... btw all cables are in properly...

 

[SHAWN]

So you reused the motherboard and just installed a different chip and added RAM?

 

[Delinkwent]

yeah same motherboard... socket 478... (i know its a dinosaur)...

 

[SHAWN]

Socket 478 is still used today so it is not exactley "old" yet. Now, does the 2.0 ghz processor have a 400mhz or 533 front side bus? If you find that it has a 533 fsb, check to see if your motherboard supports a 533 fsb. If you do not know the answer, please provide me with the make and model of your motherboard.

 

[Delinkwent]

intel d845wn

 

[SHAWN]

That motherboard only supports a 400mhz front side bus. Read the box that the CPU came in or remove the cpu from the case and tell me what fsb it has. if you read it off the chip it may say something like "Pentium 4 2.0ghz/512/533" 512 is the l2 cache and the 533 is the front side bus. Check that out then post back please.

 

[Delinkwent]

nope its 400mhz... 2a ghz/512/400/1.5v

 

[SHAWN]

Try running the system with the new processor and the old known working memory.

Can you boot into safe mode?

 

[Delinkwent]

nope cant boot into any mode... keeps givin me the option with the screen if i wanna boot to normal run or last known good configuration... tried to go back to the old ram and the old processor gave the same problems...

 

[SHAWN]

Ok, it sounds like its software related to me. I would start by reinstalling your operating system and starting from scratch. If that is not an option then you could try a repair install. There is a link in my signature for instructions step by step on how to do it. Please post your results.