Crashing halfway through OS boot.

[goatmale]

My friend got a new mobo, power supply, and case. He installed it just fine. but as soon as he boots an OS, (either XP or Ubuntu) the computer crashes.

I probably need to post more info but I don't know what to post.

[patio]

As much info as you can...

Are all the fans spinning up ? ?

Did he use the standoffs when mounting the MBoard to the case ? ?

Have him dis-assemble this build and do the following on a rubber mat.

Hook up only the CPU, RAM, Vid Card and PSU. Hook up the monitor keyboard and mouse and see what happens.

patio.  8-)

[Raptor]

With the amount of information you've provided us it could be about half a million different factors causing the crashes.

How is Windows installed? What are the mainboard temperatures? How long has the Windows installation been run? Is it virus free...

C'mon, be creative!

[Track]

Booting strains the hardware, so its likely that its an overheating issue, or a problem with the PSU.

But then it could be pretty much anything with that ammount of information.

Next time, dont post a question if u dont have the info needed, because there is nothing that we can do to help without it.

[Steve4774]

Well, I think I have a shoddy heatsink/fan. It will turn off at any given stage of a live CD, and turns off earlier every time I reboot in a row. I took off my heatsink and I saw this black residue on the heatsink and processor (on the corners). This one was a cheap $20 one, and I'm pretty sure it's not capable of handling the pentium 4 I have. So, do you guys think it's time for a new heatsink?

EDIT: It's not a power supply problem, because it worked just fine in my other computer.

[ab30494]

it wouldn't hurt to get a newer/better heatsink, abigger one with a bigger fans will cool the cpu  better

[Steve4774]

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=2135206&Tab=2&NoMapp=0

That good?

[Track]

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=2135206&Tab=2&NoMapp=0

That good?

You took off ur heatsink??? That "residue" was thermal paste, and the cooler that is on ur CPU is the one that came with it, so obviously its good enough. How did u put it back on? I doubt u can do something like this and not ruin it.

That cooler is not good. The Zalman CNPS9500/9700 is my recommandation.

[Steve4774]

But it was black. I would assume it turned black because it overheated.

EDIT: The device that held the heatsink on broke when I readjusted it, and I used what I had to fix it, but it didn't exactly help. It didn't come with that heatsink, either. I bought that independently.

[Track]

All CPUs come with heatsinks, unless it was open box, and in some extreme case.

There is such a thing as black thermal paste, they are not all white or blue. I doubt white thermal paste would turn black in any case involving heat.

If its broken and u cant fix it then get it to a shop before its ruined. Its important.

[Steve4774]

I'll just get the new one. The one I have now seems kinda shady.

I had a Dell, and I got those new parts, and so the Dell heatsink turned out to be too big for the new parts.

Sorry about being so vague about the paste. If this new heatsink doesn't work, then I'm definitely taking it into a shop.

[Track]

You bought an already built PC from Dell.

Then u replaced the motherboard and there was no more room for the fan, so u bought a new one but u think its not doing so well?

Depends why its not doing well.. i dont think u know enough to be messing around with that. And if u installed it urself then there is a higher chance that its not working well or broken. But if u didnt know that the paste was always black, then u must not have put it on. So does that mean u just changed the fan without re-applying new paste??

[Steve4774]

I did buy the PC from Dell, but decided to upgrade some of the parts.

The past was white to begin with, and then turned black, and I did reapply it. Sorry about the vague information again.

I think I have enough knowledge to install a heatsink, but my makeshift setup didn't cool it well enough. The screws they gave me stripped, and the part under the mobo I screwed it into came undone, and it was just a huge mess. The heatsink seems to be of cheap quality, and thank you for the reccomendation. This heatsink will hopefully install without the problems I had with my current one.

Sorry about all the misunderstandings.

[sneakers]

Hey Steve.

This link will take you to instructions for applying thermal paste.
Just make sure you do not turn on the machine without paste and heatsink. Cpu will fry fast.

http://www.arcticsilver.com/instructions.htm

[patio]

I think I have enough knowledge to install a heatsink, but my makeshift setup didn't cool it well enough. The screws they gave me stripped, and the part under the mobo I screwed it into came undone, and it was just a huge mess. The heatsink seems to be of cheap quality, and thank you for the reccomendation. This heatsink will hopefully install without the problems I had with my current one.--

Sounds like you are using too much muscle here...

EDIT: It's not a power supply problem, because it worked just fine in my other computer.

This can also be a bad assumption...

patio.  8-)