Oh, Why Must It Not Boot?.....

[Jafo]

I have been having some temp issues with my graphics cards so I buy a can of compressed air clean out my cards. Afterward I turn on my pc and guess what? It doesn't boot. I get sptd.sys error message when I try to boot into safe mode. Well, I search around and find it's related to Daemon tools. I go into Windows repair console and disable this file and reboot. It still doesn't boot and I try a bootfix and mbrfix without any luck. I then try a windows repair with no luck. I decide to do a full windows install and it works to start with. After I installed SP2 windows stopped recognizing both the keyboard and mouse, so I use my ps/2 adapters to be able to update USB controllers. After that update I restart and now the damn thing doesn't boot, it just freezes at the Windows logo. I've had so many problems with this system(psu, MB, and now?), I'm at the point of total frustration and would like nothing more than to shoot it with a Bazooka . Anyways, I hope you guys can help.

[onebxr]

Jafo,
Did you reset the CMOS?

[screwballl]

I would check for a BIOS update first and foremost
Second I would go to the Asus website and get as many of the latest drivers as possible and get those installed the first time windows is at the desktop. It is always best to install the drivers before anything else (including SP2).

[Jafo]

Originally Posted by onebxr

Jafo,
Did you reset the CMOS?

I didn't reset the CMOS but I'll try that.

Originally Posted by screwballl

I would check for a BIOS update first and foremost
Second I would go to the Asus website and get as many of the latest drivers as possible and get those installed the first time windows is at the desktop. It is always best to install the drivers before anything else (including SP2).

I've actually never updated the BIOS before and wouldn't know how to do this. When I download the BIOS update and unzip it, it is a .bin file. How do I apply this update for my A8N-SLI Deluxe?

Here's the link to my motherboard BIOS page. I'm not sure which one to select.
ASUSTeK Computer Inc.-Support-

[polobunny]

I would test the RAM with Memtest86+ first.
And check the hard drive. Change the IDE/SATA cables just incase. Then see how it goes. ;)

[Jafo]

I re-installed Windows last night and for some reason my drivers for my motherboard are not recognized by Windows even though I'm using the driver disc. My second drive doesn't show up either after re-install. I wanted to try to update all the drivers before installing SP2 but when I am connected to the internet, I get annoying pop-ups, one which shuts the computer down. I need to download SP2 but the pop-ups don't allow me to stay connected.

What is the best place aside from Microsoft to download SP2? I have another computer I'll have to use for this download.

[Jafo]

Ok, I installed all drivers except the RAID driver which for some reason refuses to install correctly. I got it to install but then the computer wouldn't boot so I uninstalled. I set it aside for now and went to the chore of installing windows sp2. I downloaded it from Download Windows XP Service Pack 2 (SP2) - Microsoft Windows XP Service Pack 2 addresses the latest updatest and fixes for Windows XP. - Soft32.com. After installation, I lost internet and haven't been able to regain a connection. I uninstalled my network drivers several times, took out the card and re-seated it and re-installed the drivers with no luck. I even tried the on-board ethernet without getting a connection. Any ideas?

[stinger608]

Originally Posted by Jafo

Ok, I installed all drivers except the RAID driver which for some reason refuses to install correctly. I got it to install but then the computer wouldn't boot so I uninstalled. I set it aside for now and went to the chore of installing windows sp2. I downloaded it from Download Windows XP Service Pack 2 (SP2) - Microsoft Windows XP Service Pack 2 addresses the latest updatest and fixes for Windows XP. - Soft32.com. After installation, I lost internet and haven't been able to regain a connection. I uninstalled my network drivers several times, took out the card and re-seated it and re-installed the drivers with no luck. I even tried the on-board ethernet without getting a connection. Any ideas?

Well damn Tom, for one GET RID OF THE RAID CRAP!!! That is probably a lot of your problems. You don't need to raid your dual 200gb drives. If anything, just partition one of them into....say a 120gb or there abouts, and use the other 80gb of that same drive for your OS and all of the apps.
Now take the 120bb that is the second partition and use that for your games and such.....This of course leaves you with a empty 200gb drive to use for system back ups, file storage, RACING SETUPS , or anything else that you may need!!

It could very well be that the raid driver disk that you have is corrupt and this has been the steam of all of your problems from the get go!!!!

[Jafo]

The problem I was having was that the second drive wasn't being seen by windows. I finally got it working though. Turns out when I first installed windows, I had my system connected to the internet and I immediately picked up a few trojans, malware and the such. I disabled them and installed my antivirus and am running a full scan as I type. I will then get everything installed for tomorrow.