sorry im retarded sure you guys can help me - computer wont start

[coxy]

hey im really new to anything even remotely technical about the actual way my computer works behind what i can see so please be gentle with me, i think i have read some thing like my problem on here as i have tried my hardest searching for some thing to help me but didnt follow a word of it, so can some one please help me, ok my problem is i wished to upgrade my computer so bought a new mother board an processor upgrading from pentium 3 to pentium 4 processor running windows xp sp2, i try an start the computer but all i have ever managed to get is usualy to some where after bios where the computer tries to boot an just very quickly flashes up a blue screen with some writing on then restarts, i have tried making an ms-dos boot disk as a friend advised me but when i got to ms-dos didnt know what i was doing tried to read on here what to do but didnt make any sense to me does any one have any ideas of how to get my computer to actually get past bios thanks for any help you can give me by the way sorry the title is so pointless an unrelated to my problem i just dont have a clue what the problem is

[DeltaSlaya]

Sounds like your computer is BSODing, (Blue Screen Of Death). Which is Microsoft's way of saying it's stuffed, either due a hardware or software change. Seeing as you have changed the Processor I would suspect that, maybe it is not supported by the Motherboard or the BIOS requires an update.

It sounds like you have got past the BIOS and it has POSTed correctly, as it would not show you a BSOD.

If the PC worked correctly before the CPU update I'd suspect that.

[street1 (RIP)]

Assuming your hard drive already has your operating system on it,what happens if you boot with your install disk?

[coxy]

thanks my friend did inform me today of the BSOD  i have tried booting with the install disk an even made the 6 floppy boot diskettes from windows an tried them but still go right back to the BSOD! im pretty sure the processor is supported by the mother board my friend suggested it could be due to a lack of RAM as i only have 128 mb would booting a pentium 4 to window xp require more than this? as i can get to ms dos would there be any way of well creating a back door to get into some where in order to boot it up?

[contrex]

my friend suggested it could be due to a lack of RAM as i only have 128 mb

Here's What You Need to Use Windows XP Professional

PC with 300 megahertz or higher processor clock speed recommended; 233 MHz minimum required (single or dual processor system);* Intel Pentium/Celeron family, or AMD K6/Athlon/Duron family, or compatible processor recommended

128 megabytes (MB) of RAM or higher recommended (64 MB minimum supported; may limit performance and some features)

1.5 gigabytes (GB) of available hard disk space*

Super VGA (800 x 600) or higher-resolution video adapter and monitor

CD-ROM or DVD drive

Keyboard and Microsoft Mouse or compatible pointing device

128 MB RAM is the minimum that Microsoft recommends. It's a tiny amount, and you really need much more, four to eight times as much. Otherwise your performance is GOING TO SUCK.

The RAM module may not be seated properly or it may not be compatible with the motherboard. Or your psu could be crapping out or it could be 101 different things.

[coxy]

thanks again for the help yeah i know i should have a lot more RAM but instead of spending money on that was trying to get the actual thing to work first before i start worrying about proformance, i have made sure to the best of my knowledge it is compatible with the mother board an believe it to be seated correctly i was just enquiring as to wether the 128MB minimum recommended could mean that the computer wont well do what ever it wont do that im experiencing?

[contrex]

XP will work on 128 MB RAM. The blue screen of death will not be caused by the quantity of RAM, which is small but sufficient.

[coxy]

thanks atleast thats one more thing i can rule out it being, im thinking just giving up an going back to using the always working but always working slowly mother board an processor i originally got with my tiny computer about a decade ago now.

[contrex]

You are running a P4 motherboard and CPU in a 10 year old case and PSU?

I hope you were exaggerating when you said a decade, because, man that's OLD hardware, and the PSU might be too feeble for one thing.

Is Tiny the brand name? The UK firm that went *censored* up?

[coxy]

it went *censored* up then was taken over by time which also went *censored* up, there is no case i got fed up of it so just stripped the parts out an got a 650w new PSU a when i first got the new mother board an processor as i thought that could be the reason it wasnt working

[iceaxe]

it went *censored* up then was taken over by time which also went *censored* up, there is no case i got fed up of it so just stripped the parts out an got a 650w new PSU a when i first got the new mother board an processor as i thought that could be the reason it wasnt working

Are we saying we have NO CASE? do you have mother board laying there and cards are stuck in board
without anything to hold them in place. That maybe a problem by itself.

[coxy]

this mother board is cardless as of the moment, you dont need cards for the mother board to actually run do you? i know with my old one you did as there was no screen socket in the mother board so a graphics card had to be used, an it has been sat on my desk for about 6 months with a graphics an audio card happily just sticking out of it

[contrex]

you don't need a case. A pizza box will do or a sheet of sponge rubber

[coxy]

yup thats what im doing soon to be tupper ware box, i have my MS-6323 ver:1 mother board with my graphics card an sound card sat here on my desk humming away nicely, although micro star wont take credit for this board any more seems it doesnt exist in the mind of big industry ahh well