Hello all,
First thank you for considering helping me.

I am trying to fix my daughters computer, the cpu fan stopped appears to have burned up the CPU and motherboard. So I replaced them. Unfortunately, I did not realize the cause until deep into the repairs, so each new part has been a trip to the local store. Long story but I now have new:
PC Chips M811 series Motherboard,
AMD Duron 1800 CPU
1 GB 266 DDR RAM
GE Force5500 128mb AGP video card.

Using the pre-existing hard drive & CDROM.

The symtoms are: The passes power on tests, I see the familiar bar of windows getting ready to start, about 2 of the mini blocks short of finishing the system restarts the boot process all over again.

I've tried various settings in the CMOS with no affect, I tried going to safe mode or VGA mode, and neither will come up.

IF you have an ideas I sure would appreciate hearing them. If I had known the extent of the damage at the beginning I would have just bought her a new computer for a lot less. And since I bought a CPU and Memory from one place and the Motherboard from another I doubt I'll be able to return any of these.

Thanks very much,

What is the operating system?

If either WinNT/2K/XP you need to run a Repair Install.

Originally Posted by Bruce Chambers

Normally, and assuming a retail license (many OEM installations
and licenses are not transferable to a new motherboard - check yours
before starting), unless the new motherboard is virtually identical
(same chipset, same IDE controllers, same BIOS version, etc.) to the
one on which the WinXP installation was originally performed, you'll
need to perform a repair (a.k.a. in-place upgrade) installation, at
the very least:

How to Perform an In-Place Upgrade of Windows XP
http://support.microsoft.com/directo...;EN-US;Q315341

The "why" is quite simple, really, and has nothing to do with
licensing issues, per se; it's a purely technical matter, at this
point. You've pulled the proverbial hardware rug out from under the
OS. (If you don't like -- or get -- the rug analogy, think of it as
picking up a Cape Cod style home and then setting it down onto a Ranch
style foundation. It just isn't going to fit.) WinXP, like Win2K
before it, is not nearly as "promiscuous" as Win9x when it comes to
accepting any old hardware configuration you throw at it. On
installation it "tailors" itself to the specific hardware found. This
is one of the reasons that the entire WinNT/2K/XP OS family is so much
more stable than the Win9x group.

As always when undertaking such a significant change, back up any
important data before starting.

This will also probably require re-activation, unless you have a
Volume Licensed version of WinXP Pro installed. If it's been more
than 120 days since you last activated that specific Product Key,
you'll most likely be able to activate via the Internet without
problem. If it's been less, you might have to make a 5 minute phone
call.

Originally Posted by jephree

If either WinNT/2K/XP you need to run a Repair Install.

Thank you Jephree,
first I have win2k. I tried doing the repair process, I did not have an emergency repair disk so I opted for the Fast (fix-all) option. The result is the blue screen of death.
the error is:

STOP: 0x00000050 (E187F01C, 0x00000000, 0x8051EA7C, 0x00000001) PAGE_FAULT_IN_NONPAGED_AREA

Address 8051EA7C base 0x80400000

I can print more of the error message if that would help.


Again, thank you very much for you help.

Are you using an OEM disk? As opposed to a full retail disk? Or in other words 2K was pre-installed on the hard drive?

I find this one link blatantly pointing to RAM. Perhaps the new RAM is not compatible with the new board?

"Stop 0x50" Error Message While Installing Windows:
http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=171003&sd=RMVP

More "Stop 0x50" Errors here:
http://aumha.org/win5/kbestop.php

We can research the RAM issue unless you are certain of compatibility?
1 GB 266 DDR RAM
Is this one stick or multiple sticks? Are they all the same? Were they purchased as a combo?

[QUOTE=jephree]Are you using an OEM disk? As opposed to a full retail disk? Or in other words 2K was pre-installed on the hard drive?

-- new edits, hit return too fast --

I'm real sure the memory is right, read it straight out of the book at the store. I have two sticks for the only two slots available. The manual states I can use up to two 1GB sticks, so I should be good that way as well. Though I might be able to use just one stick.

I believe I am using a retail version of win 2K. I installed it about 3 years ago.
I have several versions and tried one of the anothers, with slightly different results, this time Blue screen of death with IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL

I also tried using just one stick of memory. --- ITs Now trying to repair, ...... Hey there is hope.....

Thank you very very much, I'll post the results after it finishes.

Just to clarify:

These errors are occurring during the installation/repair process?
Or does 2K appear to install followed by these errors?

Again we see hardware compatibility issues:

Troubleshooting "Stop 0x0A" Messages in Windows 2000 and Windows NT

http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=165863&sd=RMVP

Originally Posted by jephree

Just to clarify:

These errors are occurring during the installation/repair process?
Or does 2K appear to install followed by these errors?

Again we see hardware compatibility issues:

Troubleshooting "Stop 0x0A" Messages in Windows 2000 and Windows NT

http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=165863&sd=RMVP

First while I ran the repair process all the way through now twice, I still have the same problem, while windows is starting (remember the sliding bar about a 1/4 from the bottom moving, while it prepares to start?, when that bar almost reaches the end is when it reboots.

The blue screens of death were when I did the first attempts at the repair. Now with the other CD and only Stick 1 of the memory ( see below) I can run through the repair just fine, but still will not come up.

Not sure what to think on the hardware compatibility. I tried each of the two memory sticks independantly in each of the two slots. Stick 1 has the same symptoms regardless of slot, and Stick 2 does not reach even the memory test in either slot. So you may be onto something with regards to the memory. I will take them back and the MB manual to the store and see what they can do.

Still really frustrated, but very appreciative of your help. Thank you.

Do you think doing a fresh install of win2k would solve this problem or are you still thinking that its the memory?

Thank you very much,

The second stick of RAM sounds suspicious especially if the BIOS doesn't count it.

Being that even 512 is far above what 2K requires I would try that one stick & run a Full/Fresh/Clean Install.

If you have data on that drive that you wish to save you can extract it first on another computer by slaving the drive.

Originally Posted by jephree

The second stick of RAM sounds suspicious especially if the BIOS doesn't count it.

Being that even 512 is far above what 2K requires I would try that one stick & run a Full/Fresh/Clean Install.

If you have data on that drive that you wish to save you can extract it first on another computer by slaving the drive.

I might have confused the issue, the BIOS counts it fine, but will not even start booting with only stick 2 on the motherboard.

I'll try a fresh install tomorrow. Thank you very much for your help.