PC freezes on Windows loading bar screen or Asus Logo

[akousticgroove]

These are my system specs;

Windows Vista-Ultimate
Asus P5B Deluxe
2G Crucial Ballistix
C2D 6400
8800 640mb GTS
X-FI sound Card
2 DVD-RW's
150g WD Raptor
2 250 WD's (7200)
Hyper 580 psu
Zalman cpu cooler
CM Stacker 832

I've been reading a lot of overclocking articles and getting familiar with my motherboard's Bios so I can get some experience overclocking. But before I do that I need to know why my pc is freezing up. When I started to see this problem I had G.Skill memory and basically my pc was running fine and one day it just started freezing up at the screen with the windows loading bar. Sometimes at the Asus Logo screen. Sometimes it would get a message that Overclocking failed but I had never tried to overclock. I would make some kinda change in Bios, it would work for a month or less and the problem would come back. I tried to set the timings on the memory to what they should be and It would only work for sometime. so it didn't matter if the timings/voltage were on auto or if I manually set 'em. I was so frustrated that I got rid of the memory and bought Crucial which is listed in their QVL. The timings on this memory are 4-4-4-12/2.2v. Same issue a week or two later. I've played around with timings and voltage but after a while I'll get it to boot to windows and then when I least expect it'll freeze. Right now everything is set up at default values but I know that one of these days it'll start freezing up. Has anybody experienced this with this motherboard. I hear this mb is very picky about ram. I didn't think it was gonna be this bad.

ps. I turn it off and unplug the power cable every time to reset and try something else. If it gives me the option to start windows normally it will freeze in the same spot. (at the windows loading bar)

 

[maximiza]

reset your cmos, start over

 

[fsa82]

could this be a software issue? i had a similar problem on a laptop, I reloaded windows xp and never had any other problems.

 

[Mondoman]

Try running memtest86+ for at least a few complete passes to make sure the memory is working correctly.

 

[akousticgroove]

I ran Memtest and it passed.

 

[akousticgroove]

resetting cmos didn't solve it either

 

[akousticgroove]

I've tried a few different things and the only thing I could think of is that there is something is Bios that is set to auto or other setting that is making my pc unstable. I don't know that's just me thinking!

 

[akousticgroove]

Today I plan on updating the bios

 

[sailer]

could this be a software issue? i had a similar problem on a laptop, I reloaded windows xp and never had any other problems.

I had a similar problem myself on two of my computers, both of which have ASUS boards. Reloading Windows hasn't helped on mine. I have suspected it has something to do with software, specifically a patch from M$ that is causing a problem as well as fixing one, but I haven' been able to track the source down yet. On my computers, the lockup has been sporatic. They will work fine for days on end and then suddenly lockup on startup.

Yes, the ASUS boards can be picky about ram, but I'm running "approved" Corsair ram in one and OCZ ram in the other and they have identical symptoms, The ram on both has passed all tests, so doesn't seem to be the source of the problem. I've also tested the motherboards, cpus, gpus, sound cards and power supplies and everything passes. So far, all I've found no answer to the problem and have simply learned to live with it.

 

[akousticgroove]

So do you have your bios settings at defaults or did you tweak the settings to make it as stable as it can be...(with lock-ups)

 

[sailer]

I have the ASUS splash screen disabled so I can read any information on startup easier. Nothing has shown up that indicates a problem. The BIOS is tweaked as best I can for stability. I do have teh cpu overclocked, with corresponding voltage increase, and the ram tweaked according to factory overclock standards. I also have downloaded the lastest drivers from Nvidia, making sure that I uninstalled the old drivers before installing the new ones. Nothing has helped to date.

 

[akousticgroove]

Is it safe to say that your pc is more stable overclocked than at factory settings?

 

[sojrner]

Not to say that it is not the mobo... but have you looked elsewhere?

How old is the hard drive? is it failing on you? If you hear clicking when the system freezes...

Power Supply? Is one of the rails to the mobo crapping out and not getting enough to the system?

Heat... you mention that it is only sometimes that you freeze... is it locking when it is hot in your house? Perhaps the ambient temp gets the inside of the case too hot which kills psu efficiency and makes all kinds of things fail?

one suggestion: Try unplugging all expansion cards (except video) and running only one stick of ram if you can. run for a while and see if it still locks... Also try reseating all cards and memory if that does nothing...

Just trying to look in places that might be forgotten... if none of this is true and updating the bios does nothing then you may just have a bad board. It happens.

 

[akousticgroove]

All hard-drives are about 6 months old and I don't hear any clicking. My case has 4 fans on the side door plus one in the front and I have the A/C on most of the time when I'm on the pc. I will try your last suggestion, and about the power supply, I'm not sure if 580 is enough for my setup plus 5 case fans not including the rear. If the 12v rail doesn't have enough amps for my 8800 gts will it cause my pc to lock up like that or will it just not display anything?

 

[sojrner]

I was not meaning your psu was not enough, rather that it may be failing on one of the rails.

 

[akousticgroove]

oh, ok. but I always wonder if it is enough....