Annoying freezing...

[Miros]

So I have this PC that I built and it's been giving me a really hard time. I have been recently getting a lot of BSODs and basically what it seems like is happening is the mobo is not reading the hard drive anymore. I'd restart the computer and it would not recognize the device is there.

I had hoped it was just the hard drive but I received the new one in the mail and now when I try to actually install windows XP, it freezes halfway through the installation process much like the other hard drive did.

Could the problem lie within the motherboard? The cables? Any ideas/thoughts?

I had Tauro look at it but I'd still like to hear from other people!

 

[Desan]

My guess would be a faulty cable or motherboard. Its very unlikely that its the hard drive since you have tried two and that didn't fix the problem, but seemed to make it worse. So something is wrong w/ the connection somewhere from the hard drive to the motherboard.

I would trying to replace the hard drive cable first since it would be cheapest option.

 

[PBParrot]

what was the STOP error? if it was IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL its most likely bad hardware in this situation. I'd recommend doing a RAM test to see if its the MB or RAM. If the RAM test freezes before it finishes its probably a bad MB.

 

[Nugotugo]

Its hard to say without the stop error. Since the error doesn't happen on start it is possible that it is memory reated also. Since it would require the bad spot in memory to get accessed to BSOD.

 

[Mistra]

Sounds like RAM to me - as others have mentioned try doing a MEMtest asap...

My reasonining is fairly simple - applications, especially during installation actually breech the RAM first as a cache are then sent via the bus to the SATA cables leading to your drive - this transfer of data is always common and allows for larger portions to be sent to the drive at a time. I really doubt it's the motherboard unless something is structurally unsound or has overheated recently.

I doubt it's the processor, either, and since you replaced the harddrive, it's quite unlikely a second brand new drive has the exact same problem - typically it wouldn't have been the drive in the first place, I think, unless the other one just died altogether.

Sometimes, believe it or not, a power supply blip can cause a lot of issues, depending on how dependable the rail system is within... if this ever happens again, you may want to look into getting a new power supply. Of course, as the cost of replacing parts escalates, sometimes an entire new build comes into light... that may or may not be a good thing.

Anyways, I'd consider the RAM, but do a MEMtest prior to purchasing anything.