[Picky]

I will write this slow so you can understand this story! This compaq S400V was in storage for aprox. two years. The motherboard was bad when put up. I replaced the motherboard and install the original hardware " CPU, ROMs, Power supply, Memory, Hard drive." I loaded XP on the drive with no problems and loaded all the drivers and programs. I'm thinking " This is Great" . The second day I start the pc and it stays at the biostar logo screen longer than I wanted and ten finally booted. This time it booted with no power to one of the roms.. I rebooted and everything was fine. I decided I would change the power supply and did so. The next day the almost same problem except it hung up at the logo screen again but went into a reboot cycle.. I loaded another Hard drive up with XP but have the same problem. I now have the original hard drive , original power supply and I could not start it after sitting all night, it stalled at the logo screen and stalled booting in to windows. I haven't replaced the memory but fail to associate the problem with memory. I will now replace the mobo board battery and try that. Any suggestions would be great. Bruce

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Picky,

When you say it's going into a "reboot cycle" - does Windows START to load then reboots -OR- is the system hanging up during the motherboards BIOS power-on sequence? Are you able to successfully boot from the Windows install CD or DVD? Have you set any BIOS settings different from their recommended factory defaults? Are you overclocking? Are you leaving and CD's DVD's or external USB drvies attached to the PC? I ask because I've seen machines hang up on power-up because they were attempting to "BOOT" from a USB device that was NOT bootable.

I think with some more detailed information - one of us here should be able to help. If Windows DOES start booting but immediately restarts or hangs up, it's the policy of this site to FIRST rule out malware as the culprit of your problem. That said - you'll need to get assistance from one of the boards admins, moderators or techs who are authorized to offer malware support as I do not have that authority here.

Hope this at least helps lay the foundation for getting your problem resolved.

- John

[John Hook]

Picky,

When you say it's going into a "reboot cycle" - does Windows START to load then reboots -OR- is the system hanging up during the motherboards BIOS power-on sequence? Are you able to successfully boot from the Windows install CD or DVD? Have you set any BIOS settings different from their recommended factory defaults? Are you overclocking? Are you leaving and CD's DVD's or external USB drvies attached to the PC? I ask because I've seen machines hang up on power-up because they were attempting to "BOOT" from a USB device that was NOT bootable.

I think with some more detailed information - one of us here should be able to help. If Windows DOES start booting but immediately restarts or hangs up, it's the policy of this site to FIRST rule out malware as the culprit of your problem. That said - you'll need to get assistance from one of the boards admins, moderators or techs who are authorized to offer malware support as I do not have that authority here.

Hope this at least helps lay the foundation for getting your problem resolved.

- John

[SRX660]

Locking at the logo screen is usually either a memory or hardware problem in that the computer does not see the hard drives sometimes. 75% of the time a module on the memory stick has gone bad so that the computer boots until it starts using that module for memory and then hangs. First thing to do is try different memory.

A side note is that after 2-3 years i consider any computer not working right as parts machines not worth fixing.

SRX660

[Picky]

When I say reboot cycle it would just try to boot into windows and restart. Yes I can boot to the windows install CD. All bios are factory defaut and there is no overclocking going on. There are no external drives attached to the PC or any cd's left in the drives. After Ileave the pc off for a day or over night is when I have the problem. It will stay at the logo screen longer than it should, maybe 30 40 seconds and then try to boot into windows. At this point it will go to the windows xp scroll page and you can watch the scroll move across the screen for several minutes some times 3 or 4 minutes, Some time the scrolling will stop and then it will boot into windows, but there are times it will reboot. OneceI get into windows I can restart it and it works fine. It only behave like this after being left off for a while.This is also a fresh install with AVG free installed right away. I will try different memory to night and let it stay off over night to see if the same happens. Thanks for the help. I will post Monday.

[Kazzoo]

Greetings all

Just a couple of observations,

The compaq presario desktop s400v on a search in HP does not exisit as reported by the OP and is probly a s4000v-xxxx. May want to confirm that?

If this truely is a s400v (maybe hp 9000 series 400 workstation) this might mean this is a business class machine and may have a number of different hardware configurations under that model name. It depends on how it was ordered. It was called a configure to order (cto)

HP desktops come imaged from HP with HP Splash screen and bios configurations that are TATOOED specificaly to work with HP provided recovery media.

Keeps HP media built for a specific model from being used on non-HP machines. A bit of code from the motherboard has to match a bit of code on the harddrive. Or you get all sorts of errors. Takes special software to clear this DMI information if that becomes an issue.

Seeing a BIOSTAR splash screen means this machine is not TATOOED with HP FIRMWARE. OP should not be seeing this. Should be seeing HP logo if using HP software/recovery media.

Should verify if the mainboard came from a third party, or purchased from HP. If the install media was a RETAIL purchased XP or the old HP RECOVERY DISKS. You really need to know.

If this machine has a non-hp mainboard, then it is not a HP anymore and should be refered to as a custom/home build, using a Retail version of XP.

Besure to use Biostar for the Main board/video/sound drivers and Not HP. Best not to refer to it as a HP model anything, when seeking out repair help computer to avoid confusion.

Good luck

Kaz.

[Picky]

Thanks, As I stated in the first message I had replaced the motherboard. I left out the "0" by mistake. It is a S4000V. I realize that you cannot use the original software after changing a motherboard " unless using the same exact board" so I used a retail version of XP. I have install the Biostar chipset and other drivers from the Biostar CD. I did put some new 2700 DDR in and had the same result after leaving the pC off over night. It will stall at the logo screen and take 4 or 5 minutes to boot. After that it will boot in 35 seconds. I just change the power supply again to see if this had any affect because I did notice that one CD Rom would not power on after stall at the logo screen an d then booting into windows. It is that last step before pulling the cpu. I know this sounds excessive but it has become a challenge to find the root of this problem and document it. Thanks Bruce

[Kazzoo]

Greetings Picky

First go around, look at what your boot order is. Wouldnt be the first time seeing a computer set to boot from NETWORK or PIXE first slow up the boot time.

Set order so the os drive gets booted first and see how you go. I wouldnt rule out a bad cable ide cable either. Have a look how the drives are pinned for master slave configurations too.

Also (Like John Hook a previous poster said ) if you have any usb devices (other than keyboard/mouse) plugged in while your booting. This has been known to cause hangs. Check to see if you left any media (cd's, memory cards, floppies, ect) in any of the drives. Unplug and remove those and see what you get as well.

Good luck

Kaz.

[Picky]

MY boot order is dictated from setup as the HArd drive first and then CD. I have already tried the cable swap. I always start with easy stuff first. No media is in the drives and no USB devices are plugged in. The drive is a western digital and have tried cable select and now I have no pin in meaning master drive no other drive attached. I have installed another power supply but will have to wait and see how it boots after staying off all night. That is when I have the problems when I shut it down for the evening and start in the mourning. Thanks