Hi, I really need help. I just finished building a new system with Gigabyte MA74GM-S2 motherboard, Seg. 250, 2x2GB OCZ RAM, DDR2 800 and a basic DVD-ROM. This is my second build by the way, so please if I don't understand something don't yell at me or anything ^_^...

I started everything up and the BIOS part showed up, like it showed all the drives installed and gave me the "F10 - Boot Menu" options and stuff. But it never went into like searching my DVD-ROM and trying to install Vista, it keeps showing a blinking underscore. I tried it again and again and one time I got it load but it froze. Sometimes (like once in 20 tries) it does go into the POST and says "Press any key to load CD" or whatever its called.

I have tried taking everything out and putting it back and nothing seems to work. Could it by the RAM? I mean the specs say I can use up to 8 GB of RAM. Please, please help me I been trying to finish this build for the past couple of days. I have tried resetting the BIOS, CMOS and nothing seems to work. I can't it load up anything or setup Vista/XP or even Linux.

I tried to install the following OS:
Windows Vista - 32-bit
Windows XP - 32 and 64 bit
Ubuntu Linux

Thank you to anyone who helps me, its greatly appreciated.

When you enter the BIOS do you see the dvd drive?
Check that the the hard drive is all so recognized.

I assume you played with the boot order

If you have more then 3.5 gigs of memory you will need a 64 bit OS system to see and use it.

To change Boot Sequence in your BIOS

Reboot the system and at the first post screen (where it is counting up memory) start tapping the DEL button
This will enter you into the Bios\Cmos area.
Find the Advanced area and click Enter
Look for Boot Sequence or Boot Options and highlight that click Enter
Now highlight the first drive and follow the directions on the bottom of the screen on how to modify it and change it to CDrom.
Change the second drive to the C or Main Drive
Once that is done then click F10 to Save and Exit
You will prompted to enter Y to verify Save and Exit. Click Y and the system will now reboot with the new settings.


Hopefully you have already put the XP cd in the drive before all this. If everything is setup correctly you will get a black screen with the following message in the upper left corner:
"Push Any Key To Boot To Cd". When you see this then push any key and the cd will take over.

This post has been edited by rshaffer61: Jun 28 2009, 07:00 AM

Thank you for you guys replay. I actually tried a 64-bit edition OS, I tried Windows XP Pro and Ubuntu Linux. And yes I have played around with the Boot order but that doesn't help. I tried the CD first and then the hard drive and also the hard drive first and then CD, nothing works.

I actually talked with a Staff on this site, he was actually very helpful and told me my hard drive might be the problem since I changed my RAM, PSU and MB already, twice. But when I go into the BIOS, it does show the hard drive and my DVD ROM.

The problem is actually, the computer starts. It shows the screen like where it says "Press DEL to enter BIOS" and all the other options. But when it enters POST (I think that's when it is, not sure) it doesn't do anything. I have tried 3 different DVD ROM actually and 2 different HD. Sometimes, once in like 20 tries, when I put my CD in the drive it does show like "Press any key to continue", that option. But most of the time it just goes into the that flashing underscore screen.

Right now I just took everything off and going to re-built it. I actually put electrical tape on my case to see if that helps because I read somewhere the motherboard could be short-circuiting.

I'm sorry for this long post but I just want to make sure the people who are helping me know the problem and what I did... ^_^...

Thanks again to everyone for helping, its greatly appreciated.

Did you put mounting screws with plastic washers underneath the case before putting it in? Try taking the board out of the case and booting it up like that. Plug just the power supply and video card in. You can either attach the 2 pin power jumpers from the case or take a flat head screwer to the 2 pins to start the machine. This will eliminate the case as being the issue.

This post has been edited by diabillic: Jun 28 2009, 03:07 PM

Thanks guys but I just figured out the problem, it was the RAM, apprently I couldn't use my 4GB of RAM.

^_^....