I've just recently upgraded Motherboards from a Soyo KT333 to an Asus A7V600-X, along with upgrading the heatsink for my CPU (AMD Athlon XP 3200+). My old motherboard never detected my cpu correctly (to later find out it couldn't fully support my cpu), however the computer still ran fine, and booted up with no problems. I did come across random crashes and reboots when running intense cpu programs.

Now that I've upgraded to a motherboard that can support my cpu, along with adding extra cooling to the cpu, I can't seem to boot my computer correctly. On the bootup screen, everything is detected corretly. It shows the proper name of my cpu, the memory (1 stick of crucial 512, which is compatible with my motherboard), the hd shows up, along with my 2 cd drives. But after that the message "Hardware Monitor found and error. Enter Power setup menu for details." shows up. Now I've done extensive search on that error, and many different problems seem to have prompted that error. So I'm having a hard time trying to pin down what exactly is the problem.

I press delete to enter the power setup menu/hardware monitor, and "almost" everything shows up fine.
MB Temp 35c
CPU Temp 46.5c (not really sure if this is too hot?)
CPU Fan Speed 1259rmp
Chassis Fan Speed 685-691rmp

And that's where I seem to be having the problem, is with the chassis fan speed (it shows up red, while everything else is blue, including all voltage settings). The case I have (Lian Li) allows me to change the speed of the case fans, and I have it set at high, I don't see how to increase the fan speed any more to fix the problem. I'm not really sure if the chassis fan speed is the true problem either. If I do not enter the power setup menu at the bootup screen, and just press F1 to continue, everything seems to load up fine. I go through 2 screens that I've never seen before on my old motherboard (not sure what they say, they change very fast). It then moves to the Windows loading screen, and then to the sign in screen. However, at the sign in screen, I cannot access the keyboard or the mouse (as if they were not being detected?). The icon in the password box blinks for about 5 seconds, then freezes up, and I'm forced to restart the computer where I get the same error screen.

I'm really not sure what the problem is, and I'd appreciate any help that can be offered.

Small update: If I choose to ignore the error, and go on with F1 to load windows, my mouse and keyboard stay lit up throughout the process. Once the sign in screen starts to load up, my mouse light dies, and my keyboard is stuck on NumLock light, both not being accesable. Not sure if this will help though, I still have yet to figure out what is wrong. :confused:

I find it is always best to begin assembly of any computer with a barebones setup, testing initially with the motherboard connected but outside of the case on a non-conductive surface...

My first question would be directed at what you have on the harddrive...are you attempting to run the previous motherboard's configuration? If so, Windose has been custom installed/configured to match the previous motherboard...that will of necessity create problems...


Oops, almost forgot, welcome tohttp://www.pcguide.com/ubb/pcgubb.gif Forums!

Thank you for the reply.

I had not reformated my harddrive before I installed the new motherboard, so it's still the same. I didn't know the old motherboard config was on the harddrive. There was a discussion I was reading, about if you should or should not bother to reformat your harddrive before installing a new motherboard. The argument seemed to flow both ways, so I wasn't really sure if I should reformat or not.

Should I reformat my harddrive before I go on? Or is there another way to erase my old motherboard configuration?

If you have your data backed up, I would strongly suggest giving your new setup a clean slate to build upon. Some folks slave the old drive and add a new one as master, transferring the old data back to a separate partition.

There are some folks who have offered information on how to "force" windose to reconfigure to the new motherboard. You could try that...however, I would still make sure all pertinent data has been backed up...

One of our members, Sylvander has some very good information on how to do a "lean and mean" windose installation where Windose is actually installed on a separate partition with most other programs and data separated to other partitions.

The value of such a setup is that if Windoze does need to be reinstalled for what ever reason, reformatting only affects the partition Windoze is installed on. This then protects all other programs and data...

If you let us know what you situation is regarding your data, and access to Windoze OS we can perhaps offer more solutions...

Yep, I've saved all data that I needed beforehand, just in case something did go wrong. I was eventually planning on reformatting the whole drive, I just wasn't sure if I should wait til everything was installed, or before.

I'm not too computer savvy. I'm somewhat confused on the "lean and mean" OS installation. When you mention separate partitions, does this all take place on one harddrive?

I have no problem if I do have to reformat my drive. I was just curious if there was any other way to go about it, without getting a new harddrive too:) I'm currently running XP Pro.

I'll PM Paul Komski and bring his attention to your thread. Paul is one of the resident experts in this regard. I'll also PM Sylvander who recently posted his "lean and mean" partitioning for which I cannot find the link...

My saved spiel:
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RECOVER USING BACKUPS
The easy way to recover from all software [including configuration] problems [without even having to discover the cause], is:

1) As you proceed forward in time, make backups of everything on your C: drive.
Do this at regular intervals, particularly before making software changes [un/installing programs or changing configuration] and keep a log of all this.
2) When you hit trouble caused by a bad configuration change and no hardware or software changes have been made, [use "scanreg /restore" in Win98, or a restore point in WinXP, to] restore a previous good configuration.
3) When the trouble involves more than just the configuration, and involves the files [including the configuration perhaps] but no hardware has been changed [this is important because the software must match the hardware], then:
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Re-format the C: drive and restore your latest good backup.
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Mine takes only 15 min to restore. Paul Komski only takes 6 min! :D
The software will "jump back" to the way it was when the PC worked.
If this doesn’t fix things, then it probably is not a software problem but a hardware problem.

It helps if you keep the C: drive "lean & mean".
I move as much as possible off the C: drive [and keep it as small as possible].
The "Windows" & "Program Files" folders account for 95% of the 1.7 GB of used space on my 3,000 MB C: partition holding Win98SE.
All the data that changes day by day [or are considered vital] are re-homed on another [small, about 1GB] physical drive [although another small partition would do]. This might be your D: drive/partition.
When I "jump back" I still have up to date:
a. My Documents. [Use “TweakUI” to move their home]
b. E-mails for all identities. [use the email client to move their home]
c. Internet Explorer Favourites. [Use “TweakUI” to move their home]
d. Temporary Internet Files. [use the browser (Internet Explorer) to move them]
e. Re-home the Windows Address Book as shown here http://tinyurl.com/24q6l . Use the key “HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\WAB\WAB4\Wab FileName” to specify its new address. [Its normal home address [in Win98] is C:\WINDOWS\Application Data\Microsoft\Address Book\(the name you gave your PC).WAB]
f. Any other storage of data files you wouldn’t want to “jump back” could be held on other partitions according to type/file size. Perhaps E: & F:
g. You might make a partition [perhaps G:] to hold backups and [Windows and/or MS Office] installation files.


These can be backed up separately and more or less often as suits their needs.
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If you'd like suggestions on how to make and restore backups just say. :)

It's not quite clear if we are dealing with a software or hardware prombem but if you can boot to and use your WinXP-Pro installation CD or any boot floppy diskette then it is probably a software related problem.

It is sometimes possible to successfully "reuse" your old software on a new mobo but I agree with Whyzman that it is preferable to clean install the OS onto your new hardware. An alternative to a clean installation would be a repair installation as per http://www.michaelstevenstech.com/XPrepairinstall.htm

I was eventually planning on reformatting the whole drive, I just wasn't sure if I should wait til everything was installed, or before. To be precise one only formats partitions. It is possible to "zero" a whole drive (or partition) after which new partitions need to be created and formatted.

All of this can be done by booting to your WinXP installation CD. Follow any prompts carefully and post back if anything becomes unclear. A stage will be reached when you make decisions about where to install the new installation. At this stage I would first delete all existing partitions. Then choose the unallocated space as the source for the new installation. You can of course use all of that space or just use say 5 to 10 GB for you initial partition. I would just use 5 to 10 for now. Then choose that partition as the source for the installation and also suggest you choose Full NTFS rather than FAT for the type of format.

Allow the installation to complete and post back. If at that stage you have a successful installation on 5 to 10 Gig, you can then decide on how to partition the rest of the drive using WinXP's boot management and consider backup strategies in the cold light of day.

I was just curious if there was any other way to go about it, without getting a new harddrive
A new hard drive shouldnt be necessary unless the current one is damaged or not big enough for your purposes.

Well, a clean reformat saved the day. I can now log onto Windows with no problems. I still receive the "Hardware Monitor" detection when I first boot up the computer, but I can usually F1 right past that and have no problems with Windows. I'm assuming the case fans are not getting enough voltage to them? That's the only thing I could think of, as to why their rpm's are showing up red, and therefore causing the hardware monitor detection. I haven't had an overheating problem yet though, so I'll just assume all is good.

Thank you all for your fast replies and help. Much appreciated :)

sounds almost like my problem,i to have a error show up and have to hit f1 and windows comes up just fine,but my computer will sometimes freeze and i have to reboot,it should not be doing this,my computer is 2 months old and i have reinstalled windows 3 times i believe its a mobo problem,i had to take out my memory cause it started to beeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeep and after i changed my memory and re did windows it works ok,it still freezes and i still have a boot up problem but i can now get on windows im going nuts im about to throw this computer out the window,it cant be a over heating problem cause i have so many fans in there that when you put your hand in it it feels like a frig

Might be wise to run Windows XP Upgrade Advisor (http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/pro/upgrading/advisor.mspx) just to check that all hardware and software is XP compatible.

As I said before:
If you EVER manage to get your software to work just as it should, then preserve that setup in a backup.
Then as you move FORWARD [software-wise] provided all's well, make copies of good software arrangements.
If you hit trouble, "jump back" [by restoring a backup] to eliminate it.
If that doesn't fix the problem, it isn't a software problem, look elsewhere.

Getting to that happy situation is the trick [helps if you avoid getting into trouble in the first place (by making those backups, and restoring them)].
Try to clean up your system.
Scan for infection.
Check that everything [in the BIOS Setup and Device Manager] looks ok.
Do a "Repair Re-installation".
If that doesn't work, save your data, reformat and re-install afresh.
And [of course] make backups along the way.