Windows Corrupt File when OC?

[wumeeks]

Here is what I got running: ABIT BD7-II RAID w/ 2ghz northwood. OK I finally get the damn computer to run at 120 FSB..started up fine and everything. So I started to use sandra's burn in wizard tool to burn in the cpu at that speed...it helped me out when 119 fsb was not running stable..but after running the burnin wizard deal it stablized somehow and was able to complete 3dmark en such..anyway all goes smooth so i reboot and prepare for 3dmark test and after POST it gives me this error: The file C:\Windows\System32\Config\System
is either missing or corrupt. Insert your windows XP disk and press the 'r' key at the first screen....I've seen the error before and I just lower the FSB and it worked fine..but not this time..heheh..anyway is there someway around this error? HELP! I'm goin to reinstall XP pro on it anyway, but for future reference to avoid this error?

 

[macklin01]

No, don't reinstall. Reduce your FSB.

Just back off on the FSB. I'm assuming that you have a PCI divider of 1/3. (So at 100 MHz FSB, you run the PCI and IDE bus at 33 MHz, as it should.) When you reach 120 MHz, you're running your bus at 40 MHz. Many hard drives (I've noticed this on WD drives, for example) start to corrupt data something after 39 MHz PCI/IDE bus speeds.

This has happened to me consistently. If I adjust my FSB over 158 MHz, because I have a 1/4 divider, my PCI/IDE bus runs above 39... MHz, and the hdd and/or IDE controller starts to corrupt data. All you have to do is reduce your FSB a few MHz, and you'll be fine. In fact, you'll find that the "corrupted" files aren't corrupt anymore. The corruption wasn't on the hdd, but in the data transmission.

If you can, changed your PCI divider to 1/4 to continue your overclock. Otherwise, stay at 119 MHz or below.

Please let me know if I can offer any more help. -- Paul

 

[wumeeks]

I have the PCI bus locked at 33mhz and AGP locked at 66. The error occurs even when i back down to 100mhz FSB. so i 'have' to reinstall? Lemmie know...i normally do just lower the FSB settings and it does fix the problem just fine..but this time it doesn't want to boot correctly...gives me the same error no matter what FSB i set it on..maybe i pushed the FSB a little too far heheh..you think i shold use a different divider next time? I know i can get 120 fsb outa the CPU but windows just doesn't like it..heh..anyway..uh..help..heh

 

[macklin01]

Hmm, now that's strange ... I guess you really do have a file corrupted.

That's a nice feature that you could lock your PCI and AGP bus speeds. This complicates the issue.

It certainly sounds like the PCI/IDE bus being run too high for the liking of the hdd, but I could be wrong. Is there any way to verify that it really was indeed running at 33MHz? (I think SiSoft sandra might tell.)

Ordinarily, what I've seen in this case (with PCI bus too high for the hdd), is that windows will fail to load at some particular file or another. At that point, instead of continuing the boot (or attempting to), I find it best to immediately hit restart and back down on the FSB. I've never had the error persist in that way. However, I have found that if I continue to boot farther into windows, then it's trouble.

Another thing could be corrupting files: your RAM. If it isn't stable at that particular setting, the data (windows system files) could be corrupted once it's there, and then if that data makes it back to the hdd, your files might be corrupted.

Did you test your memory for stability? I recommend memtest86. I usually require that my RAM gets 0 errors on all tests through and including #9.

Well, it looks to mek like a win reinstall is in order, but before that, why not try clearing the CMOS, just in case some setting is the problem.

It just seems to me that either your RAM, PCI/IDE bus, or hdd is running at too high a speed and is corrupting data.

Good luck! -- Paul

 

[wumeeks]

I had thoughts that the memory was the problem too...when I had problems keeping it at 119 fsb stable, i figured to up the voltage of the memory to 2.6 (using the 3:4 ratio..so it was ocing my memory pretty good considering...hehe) anyway it did all kinds of crazy crap after that...soon as i dropped it back to 2.5v the computer booted fine...using a 256 stick of micron pc2100 memory..that a bad company or something? I got a 512 stick of pc2100 from kingston in another comp of mine....maybe i'll do a trade experiement to see what happens...thanks for the quick replys, much appreciated!

 

[wumeeks]

man i just realized i need to watch my spelling..lol..(shold = should and replys = replies..hahah) i think being at work right now on friday no less is affecting me a little bit....heh

 

[macklin01]

No problem, but I'll be heading out of the day soon.

On the contrary, micron is one of the best companies out there. You might want to check on the memory board about memory settings and voltages. Let's see ... PC2100 is supposed to be rated to 133 MHz. You should be able to run the memory fairly well at those settings, without memory voltage increases.

As a rule of thumb, I would keep all voltages at their default, stock values and only increase the voltage as a last resort.

I had PC133 micron SDRAM (CL3) overclock to the high 130's at CL2 and into the high 150's at CL3 without any voltage changes. So, you probably don't need to increase your RAM voltage anytime soon. You might have been screwing up the RAM with too much voltage.

What are your current settings, and what is your status? Have you tried clearing your CMOS (use the jumper), or at the least restoring all BIOS values to their default settings? I think that there's a voltage or timing setting that's screwed up somewhere ...

Good luck! -- Paul

 

[fritzman]

Don't forget to check CPU temp..... I was having all sorts of problems like you are describing, but thankfully never ended up with total corruption.

Keep us informed.

 

[wumeeks]

Bah..I gave up! I can get it to boot at 120fsb but after a while windows does weird things like it loads but shows nothin on my desktop...i can ctrl alt del and access everything tho..hehe..and crap like that...I've had people get that error and were just able to lower the FSB and everythin works just fine...that trick worked for me like one time...then it doesnt matter what fsb i set it at...that file is corrupt. So at 119FSB it boots at 2.38 and sandra/mycomputer say its 2.39...close enough for now i suppose. Gonna order me a new moboard shortly to replace this matsonic 2.0ghz p4 setup i got hehe..hopefully i get more success. thanks.

 

[Merkor]

Do you use the Highpoint or the Intel HD controller?

Merkor