[deftor]

I was using my pc today like normal when 70% of my apps stopped responding..I can't really do much to it at this point..so I hit the reset button.

It booted into the windows loading screen and even finished loading..but then it will stall at a black screen forever...not getting into windows.

Safe mode crashed before it even try to load windows

Then I decided that I sorta needed a format anyway...I booted up the winxp cd and everything was running fine till it stopped at the "Setup is starting Windows" screen. It would stall there forever, just like the black screen.

I've tried swapping memory since I have extra lying around..clearing out the bios, unplugging different harddisks...none of it helped..but i didn't expect it to, I was just trying anything.

It doesn't seem software oriented..since I can't even boot from a CD..and it doesn't seem hardware oriented since everything is always detected and all works well till it needs to load into windows.

Any ideas, suggestions, comments..? Any response will be greatly appreciated..thanks.

btw...i'm at a point where no overclocking is involved ...

[David]

1) Check PSU, RAM, heat as the main culprits for locking up

2) This shouldnt be in general discussion. Probably would be better off in General hardware.

EDIT: Thanks for moving the thread Luta

[deftor]

hmm..yeah..it seems sensible...

but then I have the AC on in my room. I've swapped the ram out but didn't help. I've also tried another psu...which had a slight result. It booted into windows before it locked up. But then after a restart..it just froze at the black screen again.

After that, I thought that it would either be the psu or the heat since it took me a while to swap psu's..i figured the pc might've cooled down a bit. But after a few retries..letting it cool down and retry again...there has been no progress...so I think it might have just been a 1 time fluke.

yes...can someone please move this thread to a more relevant section...thnx

[JimmyG]

You need to remove all cards except the video card. Disconnect all drives except one hard drive and one CD rom drive. Remove all but one stick of RAM. Boot up on Windows CD and try to install windows. If successful, you know that something you removed or disconnected was bad. Try them one at a time until you find the culprit.

If above not successful, then disconnect hard drive and CD rom. See if you can boot to bios. If successful, then check temperatures in bios. If normal, then one of the two drives you disconnected is bad.

If above is not successful, then you know that your problem is either mobo, cpu, psu, or video card. Try borrowing one of each and trying them to eliminate the culprit.