XP Freezing, not booting up.

I recently got a new PC:

Gigabyte GA-7N400 Pro 2 Motherboard
Athlon 3200+
Radeon 9600 XT
1GB DDR RAM

The problem I have is that it seems to like to freeze on me quite a bit. Particularly when I play Battlefield 1942. I have another PC with Win XP and this has never happened on that machine. I have the most up to date drivers for my video card, and have scanned for viruses so I really don't know what the problem is.

Also, Windows sometimes just doesn't boot when i turn my pc on. The screen just stays black and I have to hit my pc's reset button.

Any ideas guys?

There has been discussion about this, I read a link somewhere I will have to figure out where i heard it. Has something to do with windowsXp corrupting the registry.

BRB.

K, don't know if this is your problem, but might be a solution:
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=KB;EN-US;307545

hmm....the problem: windows.
think different dude.

umm...marble is pretty good w/ this stuff if i recall correctly, so he might be right. i was guessing maybe your heatsink on the gpu or the cpu...but then i'd assume your comp would shut off (although I dont know anything detailed about your mobo). i need to take A+ certification again or something...
good luck

Thanks guys. I'm not sure if that's my problem, Marble, but it can't hurt to give it a try. For the most part windows boots up fine, it's just these annoying freezes that are really bugging me. I should also mention i've had three or four blue screens. I didn't even think you could get these in XP :p

*edit*

On closer inspection to that article, it says you should not try it if you have an OEM version of Windows, wich i do :(

Can you swap the memory with another machine? Sometimes a bad stick of ram can cause all sorts of weird problems like this.
Otherwise? You can always download this drive scanning utility from Maxtor:
http://www.maxtor.com/portal/site/Maxtor/?epi_menuItemID=3c67e325e0a6b1f6294198b091346068&epi_menuID=976d37cd478c5826433f226075b46068&epi_baseMenuID=976d37cd478c5826433f226075b46068&channelpath=/en_us/Support/Software%20Downloads/ATA%20Hard%20Drives&downloadID=22

(dang that was a long link - lol)

I use it on any drive before I install (these days) - points out any possible problems.

ok, thanks a lot for the help Marble, i'll give that scanning utility a try.

Also, after looking around on the web I came across some people having the same sorts of problems due to their cpu overheating. I checked mine at it runs between 65 and 80 degrees celsius, is that ok?

Thats pretty hot. That could definitely cause some problems (esp. the 80) Your mobo will power itself down (or should) when it reaches too high a heat. What you should do is unplug your box, open it up, pull off the fan and heatsink (sometimes a pain) and clean it real well. Before you do this go buy some new heat sink goo (name?) and spooge some on your cpu before you put your heat sink/fan back on. If you can spare 15-30$ you might just go buy a new heat sink/ fan combo, get a copper core one.

I would say when the temps start hovering above 120 F it's too hot. AMD's notoriously run hot, my Athlon XP runs about 114 to 109 F last time I checked. (not sure what cpu you have.)

I have a Athlon XP 3200+

I think i'll invest in a new fan/heatsink and see if that works, as it is generally hovering around the 148F mark.

Thanks for all the advice, Marble.

[QUOTE=duo flip]ok, thanks a lot for the help Marble, i'll give that scanning utility a try.

Also, after looking around on the web I came across some people having the same sorts of problems due to their cpu overheating. I checked mine at it runs between 65 and 80 degrees celsius, is that ok?[/QUOTE]

That's WAY too hot dude. That's your problem for sure. You NEED to get that temp down. It should be under or maybe around 50°C at idle and definitely no more than 60°C at full load.

Did you build the machine yourself? Are you sure the heatsink/fan you have on there is up to the job? Might be a good idea to get a better one. Or maybe you can improve the temp just by installing an additional case fan to improve air flow and help get some of that hot air out of the box.

Or if you're ambitious enough, you could definitely improve temps by putting a blow-hole in the case. That's what I did. Look here. Just having the hole there brought my cpu temp down about 8°C. And when I put a 80mm fan in the opening blowing down on the CPU I get a 12 - 15°C drop.

[QUOTE=duo flip]I have a Athlon XP 3200+

I think i'll invest in a new fan/heatsink and see if that works, as it is generally hovering around the 148F mark.

Thanks for all the advice, Marble.[/QUOTE]

No Problem... Sounds like that is the problem. If you are using the stock fan that came with your cpu you should definitely get a new fan / heat sink