System Problems

[chiphead23]

I upgraded our computer in April, 2001 with a Zerus motherboard and AMD K6 500Mhz CPU. When I installed the motherboard it would not even boot up, so I called the motheboard manufacturer, and they told me to take it out of the case and try it. I took it out of the case, and I got it to boot up ok, although, it seemed kind of slow. I installed it into a plastic case and it seemed to work ok even though it seems to take quite aa long time for it to recongnize the Primary and Secondary storage devices. I have put up with it untill just a little while ago we started having trouble dialing up to the Internet. The modem is a onboard modem. There is a snapping sound when the modem starts to dial up and it has a hard time connecting. The popping sound comes over the speakers. I tried to install a different modem, but it does the same thing. I called the ISP and they said they thought it had to do with a damaged modem, and not the phone line. I called the motherboard manufacturer, and they think that it is the phone line, and not the motherboard. So I am stuck and don't know what to do. If anyone has any ideas, I would be gald to try them.

[ski]

After installing a new MB, it is a good idea to reinstall the O/S. The reason is the O/S can get confused when trying to recognize a slew of new MB hardware.
Start in Safe Mode, open Device Manager, remove any hardware that may be left from the old MB(IDE, FD, USB controllers, system devices, etc.), and restart. If this does not help speed up startup, then reinstall the O/S.

For the modem problem, check the phone line with a phone. If you hear static, then the problem is in the line.
If there's no static, then the MB may be the problem.
Did you check to see if any of the screws or standoffs were coming into contact with the MB's circuitry when you first installed it in the original case when the system would not boot?
What kind of plastic case did you install the MB into in order to get the system to boot when you first installed the new MB? Is it a standard computer case? Is there any metal that the MB may be coming in contact with in the existing plastic case?