I have had a problem I thought was taken care of on my computer, seems I was wrong.

info:

WinXPpro
512mb PC2100
amd athalon 1.4gig
asus A7M266 mb
GeForce 4 ti4200

-shutting down computer, no problems. (as long as the computer is plugged in)

-when physicly pulling the plug on my computer and starting it up the next day, It boots upto the login screen and then locks up.

-boots ok into safe mode and/or booting into linux (from another drive)

-I found that if I uninstalled the video driver, and reinstalled it after reboot, all is well.

-all hardware has the latest bios/drivers.
-OS is current (updated)


-I've also had issues where some times the devices pluged into my USB ports go unrecognized at startup (usb drive, card readers and mouse)

-mb and heatsinks are clean

-system is hooked up to a UPS (conditioned power)


does this sound like a MB related issue or exclusive to a driver?  I'm thinking software as with linux, it comes up ok.  But, seeing how win is dependant upon information supplied to it by the mb ?????

what BIOS revision ? Check here:
http://www.asus.it/support/download/item.aspx?ModelName=A7M266&Type=BIOS

The BIOS battery may be getting close to being dead!!

I was thinking CMOS battery.
Did you get your 'beep' at start up?? The beep means your video card is ok.

Yea, the CMOS battery --- duh what was I thinking!!!  

Dosnt that board have a on board vid card.
Have you tried it useing just the onboard?
NoKarma

Asus - That's your problem.
I have had nothing but problems with those pieces of shit.

Get an Abit, MSI, Intel......

I have had excellent results using ASUS boards, and recommend them to lots of people who have good results too.

I would be checking your video card, and your Memory.

I had a computer that did the same thing and it was a memory issue, the DDR Ram wasn't liked by the MB, it was an Intel MB, and it was using Kingston Ram. Never had a problem with that combination before or since. But that MB didn't like any Kingston Ram......


go figure......

thanks for the replies [:)]


bios is current as I already mentioned (ref to asus website)

I do get a single beep on POST.
memory is checked on boot also. (checks ok)

no onboard video for this mb (onboard sound-yes)

I can see bios battery, but then again, no.
It only does this going into XP. If I go to linux, it boots, if I come out of linux and go back to XP (not having deleted the video card driver) it still hangs at the login prompt.

and wouldn't a memory problem effect BOTH OS's ?



I'm just carrying on the dialog until I can position myself for a time to tear down and get tested/replace what ever components

remove every extra card/turn off sound in bios. if it still locks up, you have motherboard problems. if it doesnt, turn on/plug in devices one at a time and test until you find your culprit.

is your xp patched up?

I wouldn't rely on that POST memory check, it's not really thorough.  There's a special RAM tester that'll do the job though, lots of PC places have 'em.  As you mentioned though, RAM causing a problem under XP but not 'nix sounds fishy.. But RAM problems can often be about as fishy, intermittant, and bizzare as can be.  I'd be suspicious of the video card myself, especially if the Linux environment you're booting into is a non-GUI commandline.

I'm leaning toward a corrupted driver file...
or maybe the file that has the start up screen image in it. That can cause lock up problems- but usually at shut down.

If you can boot in safe mode- you didn't load all your drivers- try the selective startup
start>>run>> msconfig
load your drivers one at a time- easier then unplugging stuff.

>> the start up logo used to be in
logo.sys

does XP have an io.sys file???

or replace that damn battery for $5.00


>>>> oh yeah- why are you unplugging the box???

>>>>>OK, one more

HOW TO: Perform Advanced Clean-Boot Troubleshooting in Windows XP
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;316434

I'll check on some of that stuff..

linux =  Mandrake 9.1 (kde desktop)

as I get ready for bed, I'm not going to look for my MB manual... whats the deal with bios battery replacement?   will I loose all my settings or do I have a limited time to replace it w/o losing them?