Computer Freezing on Boot...

[ABTsportsline]

Hello,
This problem i'm having is unusual in that i haven't changed any of my hardware or anything and recently all of a sudden my computer is having boot issues. It freezes when its doing the "detecting IDE drives", before it lets me hit delete to enter setup or F2.... i can't even get into BIOS. It freezes right away. Even when i insert my Windows XP disk.... freezes before anything happens, right after the memory test.

Hardware: Athlon XP 2500 processor
Abit NF7-S board
OCZ 512 RAM
Radeon All-In-Wonder
Lite-On 52x CDRW
Sony DRU500A DVD-R/RW
Audigy 2 Platinum
Memory Card Reader
Windows XP Pro

I've had all these items for over a year now, no problems. Recently i have seen my computer randomly just reboot (no warning, just a click and the black screen from boot up), and when it recovers, gives me the warning that my computer has recovered from a critical system error. Then i click the link and it says something about a device driver caused this. But i haven't added any devices. The most recent thing i've added is the ipod and iTunes, but that was over 3 months ago. Why is it crashing now?

Anyway, any help is appreciated. I can't even get into BIOS, so at the moment i am absolutely helpless.

Thanks
-ABT-

 

[ABTsportsline]

also forgot to mention i have a western digital 120 Gb drive.... at about 70% capacity. drive was always nortoned, zone-alarmed, and ad-awared weekly. Defragged monthly.

 

[Itsme]

It could be a RAM problem, and there is a program called memtest86 that you can download and put on a floppy, then stick it into your computer and boot it up. However, I'm not sure if it will read the floppy if the BIOS won't even come up, because I think it usually boots after the BIOS. You could give it a try anyway though. If you have a extra stick of RAM sitting around, you could try popping it in and seeing if it boots up that way too.
I have a question for you now: You say it stops at "Loading IDE" or whatever, but do you mean that it just turns off? Or does the screen actually freeze? (If it turns off it could be a PSU issue).

Itsme

 

[ABTsportsline]

hi, thanks for your response.

the computer freezes. As in the screen stays on Detecting IDE drives...

if i hit "delete" many times, after awhile it starts to give me that contrived beep from the mobo. and it will beep every time i hit the delete key after awhile.

I tried letting it sit, just to see if its taking awhile.... but after 8 hours it was still on the same screen!

!

-ABT-

 

[Itsme]

Is there another computer in the house that could use to download that RAM checking tool? And/or an extra stick of RAM you could try (I tell you this because most of my freezing porblems have been RAM related )

Itsme

 

[killerdoberman]

That is a typical problem cause by one of three different items.

1st. CPU overclocked to high.

2nd. RAM is second likely canidate. Damaged or mis-seated.

3rd. Cards mis-seated.

Have you moved the computer lately?

How much dust is inside the case?

Do you smoke in the same room as the computer?

Dust and smoking cuase overheating and since you have a AMD chip (which is hot to begin with) adding dust or smoke is a no-no.

Clean you motherboard, reseat you cards and RAM, and
make sure your CPU fans still operate.

Let us know if any of this helps.

 

[CoMpUtaFrEek]

You might also want to re-load default motherboard settings - go into the bios and select "load optimized defaults" or something of that nature. Clearing the CMOS might also be a good idea, check your motherboard manual if you are unsure how.

 

[~mr mixx~]

Just one more little thing.....
check to see that the cmos battery is failing if all above doesn't do the trick...

When the cmos battery starts to die, it can cause your computer problems.