Hi, I am running XP Pro SP2, and after installing a new sound card in my PC I turned my PC on to test it out. I saw the usual motherboard manufactuer screen, but then I got a screen that said somthing like "your computer did not start normally" and I could select which way I wanted to start Windows up. I told it to "start windows normally" and then I saw the windows loading screen. After it was finished loading, I saw the motherboard screen again! After that I saw the same screen I had before that said somthing like "your computer did not start normally." This time I chose to start Windows in "safe mode," which worked but I didn't know how to fix anything from there (I did it mostly out of curiosity) so I rebooted my PC. The same screens appeared in the same order as before, except this time not even safe mode would work, it would just display the Windows logo loading screen, and then reboot itself in an endless cycle! My best guess is that I fucked somthing up while I was installing my sound card. But I have installed many other PCI cards without any problems, and I don't think I ripped or pulled any cords or anything while installing my sound card, but anything is possible! Any help through suggestions or any other means would be greatly appreciated! Thank You!
SypherTek: I will try removing the sound card and see if that fixes the problem, thank you! ddp: How do I reset my cards, ram and cables? Thank you for your help SypherTek and ddp! I really appreaciate it! -iamsam43
do you have onboard sound? and if so, did you disable the card/delete the drivers before installing your new card?
Auslander - I do have onboard sound but I did not disable it or uninstall the drivers before installing my new card. I did, however, try disabling it through the BIOS about 10 minutes ago (after I installed my new sound card) but that did not fix it. I'm now thinking it's a problem with Windows (XP Pro) instead of a hardware problem, so I'm going to try and repair Windows with the Windows intallation cd (I can boot from it) as soon as I find it. I very much appreciate your help, THANK YOU! ddp - That sounds like it could work, but I would probably break somthing else if I tried doing that. And I don't think the problem is hardware related anymore anyway. But thank you very much for that helpful suggestion!
I haven't tried it yet cuz my PC is at a friend's house and my mom won't let me go there cuz I have the flu I will provide a status update when I get better I was just wondering if anyone thought of somthing else. Thanx Everyone for all the help!
i suggest backing up everything on your computer by hooking the main drive up as a slave in another pc and burning everything you need to cd/dvd. then do a total reformat/reinstallation of windows. just clean it all out. then, from the getgo, disable your onboard sound and install the new card.
Thank you, I think that's a great idea! I'm feeling better today and i'm going over to his house to work on it! Thank you!
Thanks Auslander! I wiped my drive and reinstalled XP. I had a few problems here and there redoing Windoze, but I found ways around them and my comp's working fine now! I tried taking my RAM out stick by stick and found the comp doesn't boot when one of them is in there. So i'm going to run memtest and replace the stick once i'm sure which one it is. Thank's for all your help, Auslander!!!
if your computer is trying to run the ram dual channel, then you won't be able to boot with only one stick of ram. so it might not be a problem at all, just a technical requirement. happy to hear it worked out; mehopes you stick around AD, and help to spread the knowledge
Sry Auslander, I meant to say that my comp didn't boot if the bad stick of RAM was in there (I would still have three sticks in there) not that my comp wouldn't boot with ONLY one stick in there. Sry, I should have stated that more clearly. As for sticking around AD, I loved AD after the first five minutes of using it! So I'm sure to stick around! And again, I can't thank everyone, and especially Auslander (who has been the most helpful of anyone I've talked to on all of AD!) enough for all their help! THANK YOU!!!
