Guy; I've got a big problem (Windows XP big)

[Flashie]

The machine is a clients'. They need XP for the software they run. There was troubles with a noisy PSU fan; And after fixing those and rebuilding the computer, It started up normally - went to the windows XP start up screen; and restarted. It did this in a loop. Over and over and over. I've tried every possible hardware fix in the book from there. A complete rebuild. Same thing.

Keep in mind the system was working fine before i started work on it that afternoon.

WhatsApp Video 2017-09-09 at 17.45.11.mp4

 

From there i spent legit from 10pm; till now (5:30am) finding a working XP CD Iso with the recovery command line. I've tried:
Fixing a (possibly) corrupt Boot.ini

Fixing a (possibly) corrupt Partition Boot Sector

Fixing a (possibly) corrupt MBR

 

I have yet to run HirensBootCD; But i feel if the windows CD didnt achieve anything; what will HBCD? 

 

Please help me! What must i do D: I only have like half a day left and i still need to study

[KeenOn]

did you replace the psu with a new one? and whats the specs of the pc?

[Flashie]

Just now, KeenOn said:

did you replace the psu with a new one? and whats the specs of the pc?

I did not replace the PSU; It was just a konky fan; But i can test with another PSU to. Specs are to follow:
--------ACER ASPIRE AX3910------------
- Windows XP Professional

- 2GB DDR3

- Intel E3400

[KeenOn]

hmm if its the same psu but u just replaced the fan its unlikely its that i would still try a different psu just incase somthing went wrong while replacing the fan

[KeenOn]

then i would try different ram... then a different cpu and if that still doesnt fix the problem its most likely a faulty mobo as with the steps you have taken it doesnt seem like the os is corrupted or any issue there

[RadiatingLight]

XP reached EOL years ago. it's time to move on.

I'd hazard that the majority of people on this forum are either too young to have troubleshooted XP, or have forgotten most of the windows XP troubleshooting tricks.

[Flashie]

1 minute ago, RadiatingLight said:

XP reached EOL years ago. it's time to move on.

I'd hazard that the majority of people on this forum are either too young to have troubleshooted XP, or have forgotten most of the windows XP troubleshooting tricks.

It may be time to move on; But until the software these people run move on to windows 10; they ain't. I've tried all the basics of XP troubleshooting to no avail.

[RadiatingLight]

Just now, Flashie said:

It may be time to move on; But until the software these people run move on to windows 10; they ain't. I've tried all the basics of XP troubleshooting to no avail.

Just curious, what software is it?

[Flashie]

Just now, RadiatingLight said:

Just curious, what software is it?

I didn't ask names when i asked her. She told me it was accounting software. I asked because i had offered her an upgrade to Windows 10 while i was there on a previous job

[Flashie]

12 minutes ago, KeenOn said:

hmm if its the same psu but u just replaced the fan its unlikely its that i would still try a different psu just incase somthing went wrong while replacing the fan

PSU is out; Doing the same with a second PSU; Going on to ram now.

[Flashie]

12 minutes ago, KeenOn said:

then i would try different ram... then a different cpu and if that still doesnt fix the problem its most likely a faulty mobo as with the steps you have taken it doesnt seem like the os is corrupted or any issue there

Has just out-right rejected my brand new DDR3 test dimm. Long beep for ram error; But its own ram works fine. Will go grab a different 1333 mhz chip from another pc real quick

[NoRomanBatmansAllowed]

Does booting to "last known good configuration" work?

[NTDaws]

I highly doubt that the software won't run on other versions of windows.

[Flashie]

Just now, bob51zhang said:

Does booting to "last known good configuration" work?

No, All those options you see there (Safe mode; Networking; Config; Normally; Last known good) all do the exact same loop. Safe mode starts launching things and as soon as it gets to about 'AVGBID' then it restarts. There is supposed to be a BSOD when it does restart (but it doesnt happen because the disable restart thing keeps turning off) and the error it gives is 'STOP' and then references to what looks like HDD or Ram hashes

[Flashie]

1 minute ago, Being Delirious said:

I highly doubt that the software won't run on other versions of windows.

Thats beside the point right now. If i dont manage to fix her PC; she wont be able to do her businesses invoices from next week. And its all probably because of something simple and over-looked most likely.

[Evolution.]

it's most likely the ram I had a similar issue with a PC and putting a pair of matching ram fixed it

[Flashie]

1 minute ago, VenomZ_ said:

it's most likely the ram I had a similar issue with a PC and putting a pair of matching ram fixed it

Tried that. It completely rejected my 1866MHz dimm; Did the same error with its own 2GB 1333MHz dimm and then did the same error with my test 4GB 1333MHz dimm

[Evolution.]

Just now, Flashie said:

Tried that. It completely rejected my 1866MHz dimm; Did the same error with its own 2GB 1333MHz dimm and then did the same error with my test 4GB 1333MHz dimm

wait it's giving the error with its own dimms? the motherboard may only support up to 2gb per slot 

[Flashie]

Just now, VenomZ_ said:

wait it's giving the error with its own dimms? the motherboard may only support up to 2gb per slot 

Sorry; i meant its giving the windows looping thing. Starts up and loops with its own 1333MHz 2GB stick as well as the test 1333MHz 4GB stick; But gives a ram error on my 1866MHz 4GB stick and doesnt even boot with that one,

[Evolution.]

Just now, Flashie said:

Sorry; i meant its giving the windows looping thing. Starts up and loops with its own 1333MHz 2GB stick as well as the test 1333MHz 4GB stick; But gives a ram error on my 1866MHz 4GB stick and doesnt even boot with that one,

Try a new 1333mhz 2gb stick from another computer The slot may be limited to 2gb per slot

[Flashie]

Just now, VenomZ_ said:

Try a new 1333mhz 2gb stick from another computer The slot may be limited to 2gb per slot

I have; That one also does the loop just like the computer did originally

[Flashie]

5 minutes ago, VenomZ_ said:

Try a new 1333mhz 2gb stick from another computer The slot may be limited to 2gb per slot

 

54 minutes ago, KeenOn said:

then i would try different ram... then a different cpu and if that still doesnt fix the problem its most likely a faulty mobo as with the steps you have taken it doesnt seem like the os is corrupted or any issue there

 

Tested with different in-working condition RAM; Tested with different in-working condition CPU; Tested with different in-working condition PSU; Tested with different in-working condition SATA cable - All of these did not work

 

Tested with a different motherboard of the same socket but of the DDR2 flavour. - this worked. it boots and loads all the way into windows fine. 

How do i go about diagnosing whats wrong with the previous motherboard? I need to have a solution and it up and running by Monday. The mobo i have now will not fit their chassis as theirs is a custom Acer OEM case/mobo/PSU

[Evolution.]

12 minutes ago, Flashie said:

 

 

Tested with different in-working condition RAM; Tested with different in-working condition CPU; Tested with different in-working condition PSU; Tested with different in-working condition SATA cable - All of these did not work

 

Tested with a different motherboard of the same socket but of the DDR2 flavour. - this worked. it boots and loads all the way into windows fine. 

How do i go about diagnosing whats wrong with the previous motherboard? I need to have a solution and it up and running by Monday. The mobo i have now will not fit their chassis as theirs is a custom Acer OEM case/mobo/PSU

Id say give her a temporary computer that works and order the replacement motherboard

[Flashie]

13 hours ago, VenomZ_ said:

Id say give her a temporary computer that works and order the replacement motherboard

 

14 hours ago, bob51zhang said:

Does booting to "last known good configuration" work?

 

14 hours ago, RadiatingLight said:

Just curious, what software is it?

 

14 hours ago, KeenOn said:

did you replace the psu with a new one? and whats the specs of the pc?

Tried everything hardware wise (Even CMOS resets); But working from 10pm to 10am i decided it was time to call a friend. So i hit him up on Discord and we discussed things; He decided I should check the Bios settings even though cmos reset would have set it to default values. There; It turns out that the Onboard Sata Controller mode was set to AHCI. That was not necessary as it is a 7 and a half year old computer. Default values should have been IDE. So I changed it to IDE after being informed and advised by my friend. Lo and behold. It booted. Straight into windows. Straight through that Dank Windows XP starting chime; and straight onto a stable desktop.

 

I thank everyone who tried to help  I appreciated the efforts