New Old Machine

**BrokenApe** · 02-01-09, 12:20 PM

Hey, need an opinion here... wanted an extra machine to have setup for checking things when I had a game running that couldn't be collapsed without giving system a fit.. I used pieces that were all extras sitting around, freshly formatted an old 160 gig hd... when it first started up everything ran great, but twice in a row after reformatting and reinstalling windows (and updating past all the windows updates + the various component drivers like vid card, sound, etc) it will get to the point where I see the screen show it's loading windows, then autoreboot... no viruses in the boot sector (checked) and all the drivers, etc were dl'd fresh... the hardware was good when I used it last, and I wouldn't think it would go bad from sitting on a shelf sitting in anti-static bags.... but then again maybe EA owns part of the manufacturer somehow..mutter anyway suggestions as to what the problem is... it won't even get into safe mode on windows w/o rebooting at the same point, my bet is the HD went out after all?

**Bunni** · 02-01-09, 12:29 PM

xp sp3?

**BrokenApe** · 02-02-09, 01:12 AM

windows xp, service pack 3

**Bunni** · 02-02-09, 01:22 AM

get a thumbdrive or external storage device and put it in the the comp as its booting...
cant find the main article, but heres one directed at just an832 mobos, but you get the point:

6. SP3 and AMD motherboards (A8N 32SLI Deluxe). After installing SP 3, users receive an error code stating "Windows has been shut down to prevent damage to your computer. Your system BIOS is not ACPI compliant." There just hasn’t been much reported on this issue but I can attest to past BIOS issues with the A8N board listed above. In fact I have three of these boards stacked in my closet. There is still no fix, that I found, other than to be sure you have a usb device plugged in so the board will boot. That can be in the form of a USB storage device or even a USB mouse. Checking the Asus site I see the latest bios for this board is dated March 20th 2007 so that tells me that ASUS has done nothing to prevent the problem.

6. FIX
This rather unprofessional fix reminds me of putting electric tape on a leaky radiator hose, but so far that’s all we have. If you have installed SP3 to your AMD/Asus based computer, cannot boot, and feel rear-ended, the fix is to stick a USB device in your machine. How pitiful is that?

(from http://techtalk.pcpitstop.com/2008/0...o-not-install/ )

if that does not work, as your comp is booting spam the f8 key i believe it is, till you see the windows advanced options menu and hit "disable automatic restart on system failure" then try and boot, when you bluescreen write down all the info and post it...

**Cybs** · 02-02-09, 12:55 PM

Rebooting on bootup... anytime I've had this it's either been bad RAM somewhere (Vid card, system RAM... etc.) or a bad driver. Usually it's when I do a HW change and have to reload the system.

First, I would make 1000% sure you have the correct drivers. Don't assume anything, pull up the specs of the motherboard and video card and double check the drivers. If you are correct, remove anything non-vital to the system and boot up. Basically, only things that should be plugged in is the vid card, RAM, and HDD. If it's still a nogo, run a memory test and replace any bad RAM. If it's still doing it, check the BIOS version and update as necessary. If it's still doing it, clear the CMOS and redo all of your BIOS settings.

As a last resort, run a diag software like SiSandra and see what it comes up with.

**BrokenApe** · 02-03-09, 12:57 AM

good call bunni, thanks... I hadn't seen that article despite searching, and wouldn't you know that was the EXACT board I'm using... the a8n32sli-deluxe..heh the bios update did the trick and it works great now *scratches head* first I'd ever heard of the bios affecting it, probably ea had something to do with the development I still say..heh

**WileECyte** · 02-03-09, 06:39 AM

SP3 was one of those very touchy updates that caused a lot of weird reboot cycling. Something tells me something at a very low level was altered in the kernel that caused issues.

**Bunni** · 02-03-09, 02:42 PM

Originally Posted by BrokenApe

good call bunni, thanks... I hadn't seen that article despite searching, and wouldn't you know that was the EXACT board I'm using... the a8n32sli-deluxe..heh the bios update did the trick and it works great now *scratches head* first I'd ever heard of the bios affecting it, probably ea had something to do with the development I still say..heh

NP, only reason i knew of it was because i have the a8n32sli-deluxe mobo :3