[BJD88]

Hello all, in abit of a tricky situation with my PC at the mo, hopefully you guys can shed some light on this..

Basically I have just recently added a new cooler to my graphics card (followed instructions carefully) and also installed an extra 2Gb of Ram (total RAM now 4Gb).

Now the problem is - my pc starts up normally but when windows begins to load (i.e. just before the login box appears) I am recieving a message simply stating "Preparing to Configure Windows" please wait..

I believe this is standard procedure for windows updates to be installed however after around 3-5mins my pc will 'sleep'? and enter what seems to be sleep mode which is non-recoverable from. so basically a black screen with the monitor status light flashing as if its on standby or no input etc.

I have no idea why this is doing this.. the new RAM modules, im sure are definetly compatible with my system board and the Video card cooler is definetly compatible.

On my first attempt to run a recovery from the windows CD, I had to hold the power switch obviously to shut it down - however I did get a BSOD stating a 0x0F4 error message. This has only appeared on one occasion.
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So far i've tried...

1. starting the pc up in safe mode to see if any errors can be found - Nothing!

2. using the windows disk to run a recovery - unable to do anything when the windows background appears from the cd. The pc again appears to enter a sleep mode state except it doesnt go to a black screen and the mouse curosr can be seen and moved etc.

3. changing the Ram back to the previous set - no change.

4. unplugging a few case fans just in case its a power issue.

*i have also checked all cables etc are correctly plugged in and no faulty / weak connections.
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Here are my system Specs: (Before upgrades)

OS: Windows 7 Professional 64bit
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-P35C-DS3R
RAM: 2Gb DDR3 1333(pc-10600) XMs3 Corsair
Graphics: nvidia 8800GT 512mb (standard cooler)
Audio: Integrated Realtek High def. Audio

After Upgrades:

8800GT with: Akasa Neo Vortex (blue glow if that helps identify)

RAM: 4gb OCZ gold series DDR3 pc-10666 (1333mhz)

*So all i've added is an additional cooler to the video card and new Memory.
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I should add that i can enter safe mode for a 'limited' time period before the system will enter the dreaded safe mode state, if thats the best way I can describe it, with a black screen. Also when this happens my screen 'settings' will switch from analog to digital as a message on-screen as if its trying to determine which state to use, but stops after a few changes on analog.

On a last note, the graphics card seems to be displaying everything correctly though! So i'm really unsure what to narrow the problem down to.

Any helps guys would be really appreciated. Thanks loads in advance!

Ben (BJD)

[maynardvdm]

Hi

I don't think a cooler would affect windows, so that should be fine. You said you tried removing the new RAM and still the same.

Is that the only changes you made? Did windows download any updates just before you upgraded the PC?

If all else fails i would try a repair install or system restore to a previous date.

[BJD88]

Hey maynard,

Yes the only changes i've made to my system physically is the new ram and graphics card cooler.

I forgot to add to my previous post - when i first started up the system i noticed on the windows logo screen some update text could be seen as if windows was updating / adding changes to the registry.

The problem is I have no way of finding out what exactly was done here due to having a 'time limit'. I managed to log into windows normally earlier with a ray of hope the problem had gone but soon noticed the system stopped responding to requests and eventually entered a power-down state. My actual system is still running, just the monitor and any peripherals turn off (i have a special anti surge plug socket that powers everything off when the system suts down).

I have also managed to attempt a system restore but to no avail.

Another thing i've noticed is having 2 BSOD's - both have only appeard once at different times:

0x0F4
0x0DE

Abit of research says the 0x0DE error is to do with the 'system pool' and read some very complicated instructions about registry hacks to get around this which I dont quite understand. (only know some basic registry) However these BDOS's have only every appeard once and i've powered on the system numerous times now with 90% having the usual issue.

I have a strange feeling this could be a power issue but very doubtful as i've read a similar article on this problem and a new power supply solved this. The point is the system allows me around 3-5mins usage time before saying 'No not working anymore' - I would consider doing a format but of course theres the issue of losing some data.

Any ideas?

[BJD88]

Problem Solved... Overheating

As embarrasing as it is to admit to a mistake I will have to pin the blame on me for this one guys. So I went back to the start trying to figure out what the hell I must have done to cause this and...

Basically when installing the new coller on the video card.. following the slightly misleading pictures, I happened to put one of the rubber pads on the GPU core instead of just the thermal grease.(doh!) and also forgot to remove a clearly labelled "please remove before use" plastic sheet!

So hands up for being a numbnut! Lesson well learnt from this as it could have had a rather fatal result if the card was damaged, thankfully it seems to be ok although overclocking may be out of the question now lol.

anyway cheers for your help maynard, appreciate it.

[maynardvdm]

Thanks for letting us know.

Good to hear you have it sorted

BTW when do we ever read the manual lol