Did you try to boot in safe mode? (F8 when booting, select safe mode)
rightclick My computer, select properties. Click on the "hardware" tab and click on the "Device manager" button. There you will see list of drivers and some may not be loaded. Those problematic will have yellow triangle with an exclamation in it. My guess is the display driver. Rightclick that problem driver and select "disable" or "uninstall". Reboot the system (normally) and reinstall the driver in question (video drivers are usually not included with windows driver pack).
To access event viewer just click start/run and type
eventvwr.msc /s
It will display 3 categories of logs. You need to browse the "System" section and look for records of "Error" type and a time of last attempt of normal boot. Please post the suspect records.
While you're at it, you should post the brand and model of motherboard and memory, so I can have more complete picture of what is happening.
If you replaced with IDENTICAL motherboard and IDENTICAL memory, there is one quick way (not advised) to "transfer" BIOS settings that are (I'm certain) NOT identical (Maybe even BIOS-es differ). It is to literally switch BIOS chips. In most cases they are replaceable chips, not soldered but inserted into the seats. But doing so can cause unnecessary damage.
On the other hand, maybe the memory settings are set wrong and causing this. Maybe the memory is even incompatible with the motherboard. That is where the info on your motherboard and memory will come in handy.
You will need to check the heatsinks of those. They can get clogged with dust, preventing the cooling to take place. Also, if you recently changed the cooling of either, it is possible that the heatsink is not propperly installed. It has to be TIGHT and THIN layer of thermal paste needs to be applied on the chip.
Also, this can be game-related or driver-related issue and not hardware one. Or an internet connection issue. (both games are on-line, maybe you should try america's army just to see if it crashes too)
90 % it is a dying HD 10 % it is a loose HD cable.
My best advice is to check the cable or (even better) replace it. If the cable is fine, you'll need new HD, and a prayer to recover the files you can't afford to lose from your half-dead HD.
By "boot sector" I presume that you meant Booting problem you're having and not an area of your HD.
Few Qs:
- You wrote that you have spent $100 on new parts, but did not specify the hardware changes (except the mouse) of your machine.
- "windows XP office Backup CD", is it by any chance "Windows XP Prof. Backup CD"?
If you have a new mobo installed, you will not be able to boot normally without installing new mobo's drivers or reinstalling the windows. Backup CD and your current installation of windows are set to work with your old mobo only. Problem with mobo change is that you need a lengthly set of drivers to run it properly, and changing those drivers is not possible while in the safe mode.
In safe mode there is a tool called event viewer (Administrative tools) that will log any system or driver failures. There you can find what is preventing windows from booting. (a record of an error message or alert)
I think the problem lies within video driver. Not a mouse. Mouse either works or not. If it is not DISPLAYED right... well, that is a VGA domain. Most of the VGAs have hardware acceleration regarding mouse pointers. You should update or roll back the video driver.
If that doesn't help, try reducing hardware acceleration. Right click on desktop/"Properties" menu item/"settings" tab/"advanced" button/"Troubleshoot" tab. There is a slider that is on full by default. Try reducing it one nudge by one nudge and applying changes to see if it helps. Below it is a brief explanation of what is being disabled. That can help you in search of the cause of this weird behavior. Probably an outdated dll file.
I think you need to fine-tune the BIOS settings, especcialy memory timings and CPU.
There is a setting regarding on-board USB controller that can be disabled. (Advanced/onboard devices/NV USB controller or like that) There are 3 options regagding USB controller, and they should all be enabled. With those disabled, you would disable USB keyboard also.
You should try different optical drive before you decide to take the mobo back to the store. It can be set on wrong transfer mode or faulty.
From the symptoms you described, it is likely a software issue. Either virus, missing system file, missing driver or corrupt registry.
There are several things you can do:
- During post press either F2, F12 or Del key to enter BIOS setup. In advanced menu set "quick POST" on "disabled". That will make your system to do more thrall POST, possibly report an error. If any messages occurs, please post them.
- Press F8 while booting and choose safe mode. There is a tool called event viewer (part of the administrative tools) that can help point out the cause. It keeps record of any error messages. If you find anything helpful, please post it.
- Any recent hardware change or driver upgrade can cause this behavior. Windows XP are next to impossible to repair if the damage is more than minor. Especially the registry. Safest way to resurrect your system is to reinstall the windows. To preserve your work be sure that you don't choose formating the drive before installation begins nor do anything with the partition where your work is. You will need to reinstall the software needed for your work too.
- it is possible that a hardware failure is causing this. If it is so, memory is the suspect no. 1. Suspect no. 2 is motherboard. Also, you will most likely not be able to reinstall the windows.
There is one thing you can do to shed some light here if you are able to enter the safe mode. There is a thing calles event viewer (part of the administrative tools), where all the alerts, error messages and notifications of service starts and stops are logged. Try to find ANY failure notifications there.
Couple of Qs:
Those 2 Maxtor HDs... Are they in a RAID array? Are you POSITIVE you flashed the original BIOS back? Are there ANY messages before the system shuts down?
Here are couple of suggestions:
You can unplugg those 2 HDs and try a single drive config. to install the windows.
I'm thinking your BIOS settings are to blame (memory, CPU overclocking and so). You should enter the BIOS setup and restore default settings, but have in mind the memory specs. and RAID setup.
If nothing of this helps, you can disable things in BIOS (like LAN, on-board sound and such) to rule out mobo hardware faliure.
Also, you can inspect CPU heatsink and clean it if necessary, to rule out CPU overheating shutdown.
Another test wold be taking out 1 memory stick (if there are more than one) to see if the memory got fryed.
P.S. The data on your 400 gb HD does not have to be lost. You have additional 2 HDs where you can install the windows and retrive the data you want saved.
Nevertheless, I had similar problem with my sata drive. There is one jumper that sets transferrate of the HD. In my case, it was set on 3Gb/s and Chipset (Nforce4) supports up to 2 Gb/s. The jumper sets it between 1.5 and 3 Gb/s (In my case maxtor 160 Gb). Didn't work until I've set it on 1.5 Gb/s (which is, BTW, impossible to achive unless we talk double RAID)
Last couple of days I have noticed a strange behavior that I don't think is caused on my end. (Win XPpro IE6 up-to-date)
Yesterday, when I posted a reply and immediately afterward tried to edit it, the changes were saved but not displayed. When I tried to edit it again, the edit box contained the already edited text (from previous editing), but again, no changes in the post. Refreshing the page did not help. Had to go back and forth (and I don't mean the "back" button) to see the change take place.
Today I HAD to put in something in the "editing reason" box for the change to take place.
Wasn't so before.
For the record, my IE settings were not changed since the beginning. Unless you count an installaton of Windows live messanger 8.0ß.
One more thing. Sometimes (random to my knowledge) my "Delete" button does not work in the edit box. Works everywhere else. Irritating.
Also, I tried to use the recovery console to copy the files fromt he XP CD, and i cant find the drive letter its on. D is currently a raw partition on my 250 gig hard drive, E is my little storage partition, and when i try F, i get a message saying i dont have permission.
It is possible that the CD has designated drive letter D if it is vacant. You could try (from recovery console) this:
In my expiriance it is not possible to get rid of that (annoying) line. The "USER.DAT" and "SYSTEM.DAT" are files with WINDOWS REGISTRY! DO NOT TEMPER WITH THEM! Or youll mess up windows and be forced to reinstall them. It is normal that they are modifyed whenever ANYTHING is modified regarding windows. All those settings are kept in windows registry.
Regarding the taskbar lockng, (can't remeber right now) if ther is an option for it, you might want to try program called tweaks for windows. There are lots of options and settings not normally available anywhere within the windows.
Powersurge didn't fry your mobo, for it worked afterwards, but it did damage you PSU. That is evident. Maybe the damaged PSU done some damage to Mobo/CPU/Memory but that you will see after replacing the PSU. Advice: more watts - better.
Keep in mind that Dell is SELLING that motherboard that (they say) needs to be replaced. What you have there is corrupt windows registry, but not corrupt enough to display an error message upon startup. The thing to do is: While booting press f8 key and select last known configuration. Hopefully this will restore older registry that worked. Only setback is that you'll need to reinstall the programs that you installed in the meantime.
If same thing happends, try booting from CD (Installation or restore) and restore or renistall the windows.
If you can not uninstall the program thta doesn't mean that you can not install them again. They are, probbably, just uninstalled by accident. And I you reinstalled the windows, then you have to install ALL of them again. All the install/uninstall record is kept in windows registry, that was deleted by windows reinstallation.
In safe mode there is a "safe mode" title in each corner and warning window that appears upon windows startup and warns you that you are in safe mode. If you don't see all these signs, than your display is set on 16 colours. To change this rightclick on desktop, select properties and the display settings window will apear. Select "Settings" tab and change the colour drop box to 16/24/32 bit. This will require windows to restart.
