PCTech Forums

Hello everyone new to the site and hope to be around for a long while. Hopefully someone can help me. Please keep in mind I am not computer savvy as far a pc terms go. I am more of a take something apart and see how it goes together kind of guy. With that in mind let me get into my questions and problems.

I built a pc for the first in my life. I did a lot of research and price comparisons before I bought anything. I eventually bought most of everything from Tiger Direct. My signature includes the specs. Everything went together nice and smooth. After about 2 hours I was ready to go boot it up. It fired on the first try with no problems. Now I didn't buy a new OS as I wasn't planning to use this pc online. So I used an old Windows XP disk that came with my wifes Dell Laptop back in 01 or 02. I installed it with no problems. I was amazed how fast it got to the desk top on a cold boot. 20-25 seconds. Which was better than my old pc. Everything seemed to be great until I tried to do stuff. First thing I did was delete all the stuff you would need to go online. Figuring I wouldn't need it since I wasn't going to go online with it. Then I tried to install a few games. On every game the installation process freezes at different percents. When I tried to move the cursor I realized my whole pc has freezed. I was getting discouraged. I managed to get Rollercoaster Tycoon (The very 1st original) to work with no problems. So I figured everything need to be updated. However I realized I deleted my online stuff so I scrapped the idea and decided to try my hand at burning a dvd. The first one went off without a hitch burnt perfect. The next one froze my pc. Much like the games. So now when I try to burn a dvd or a copy a game my pc freezes. I just figured I didn't have everything up to date. So I ordered Windows Media OS. I am still waiting for that to come in. So I guess my questions at the moment is.

1. How do I uninstall the current Windows OS off my hard drive so I can get a clean install with the new one. (The current XP is Dell specific so it has all that Dell Support which I really don't want on. Also I tried doing what the help folder tells you to do. Go to add/remove programs. But the OS isnt listed.)

2. Once I install it and update everything and the problem persist is there anything else that could be wrong that II am missing?

Basically I wanted to use this pc to play games and burn cds/dvds. Also I dont have the key to use the current OS. So I have 30 days use anyways. Any suggestions or ideas? Thanks in advance.

Nocturnal

First, let me welcome you to the site. New members are always welcome and we hope to have you around for a while also. Congradulations on building your first machine and welcome to your new addiction. It sounds to me that you were on the right track with toubleshooting your problems. Updating is going to be key in having your machine run smooth and im sure when you get the new OS in, alot of your problems will be solved. Concerning your question about removing the old OS, the Media Center disk should install pretty close to the same as the XP disk you already used. For a clean install ( recommended) you need to boot from the Media Center disk. The easiest method ( in my opinion) will be to delete the partition that currently has windows xp on it and allow Media Center to create and format a new partition. You should have had to do close to the same when you installed XP. You may save some time by downloading updated/newer drivers while your waiting for the OS to come in. You can also download the newest version of but you will need to use a computer with a valid copy of windows to do so. I dont know how well Media Center acts with games but DirectX will be necessary in any case. I strongly suggest looking at antivirus protection in advance, download on another machine and transfer to yours before you ever hit the internet. Without it, your a sitting duck. This day and age, all you have to do is be connected and your subject for infection. I suggest or . Both are free and work well. Remember to update whatever you use as soon as you get online.

Once you get installed and updated, let us know if the problem does continue and we'll go from there but i dont see you having the same issues with a fresh updated OS. Hopefully this will help you out, let us know how it goes.

It looks like your going to have to download XP motherboard drivers, they should work with Media Center.

hey there noc!can i call you noc?I'm in the same boat,but i haven't done it yet!what kinda cost for parts?my guy says i can build a monster with lottsa bells,whistles,and accessories for around 5bills.is he rite on?(this includes his services)..peace,arty

I managed to install Windows MC by overwriting XP. I downloaded all the drivers and updated my windows through microsoft. I can now install games however when they load up my computer freezes on the games main menu. This has happened on the 2 games I have installed. I also tried to install sims 2 and it completed then said please wait and my pc froze. It also froze when I tried updating as well. I cannot figure out why it keep freezing. It did it before when I tried to rip dvds but I figured it was because I havn't updated anything and I was using an old XP. I am getting kind of frustrated at this point. Any and all suggestions are welcomed, Thanks in advance.

I did some google searching to find out my power supply could be the problem. I went to my bios to check the readings and here is what I got.

Current System Temp 33c/91f
Current CPU Temp 37c/98f
System Fan Speed 0 rpm
CPU Fan Speed 3125 rpm
Northbridge Fan Speed 0 rpm
CPU Vcore 1.42V
+3.3V 3.26V
+12.0V 11.67V
+5.0V 4.96V
Battery 2.94V
+5VSB 4.99V

I am not sure what all this means. I just checked all the fans and they all seem to be working fine. I have the PS exhaust fan, a fan on the side panel, a HSF on the processor, a HSF on my graphics card. Everything seems to be working so I am not sure why those two readouts say 0 RPM. Also is the temp of the case ok? I am not sure what the norm should be. Also is my PC weak? It seems to be. It is probably a cheap one that they included with the case. Again any and all suggestions much appreciated.

Your temps are fine/normal

Your voltage looks ok but amperage could be hurting you. There should be a label on the side of your power supply with the wattage, voltage and amperage info. See if you can locate that label and post the specs.

Your getting 2 zero's in fan readings probably because they connect straight to the PSU. The bios can only read a fan RPM thats connected to the motherboard.

Here is what the side of the PS reads.

The Best Power
Model Number : MT-500P

AC Input 115V-230V (Voltage) 6A - 4A (Current)

DC Output
+3.3V/ + 5V/ +12V___________-5V /-12V /-5V(SB)
32A /34A /28A_____________0.6A / 0.8A / 2.5A

Another thing is when I has XP my DVD drive worked fine. I was able to copy DVDs if my PC didn't freeze and was able to use it to read games. I updated to the Windows MC and it worked at first then when I installed the Roxio and DVD43 it went bonkers. My computer froze I restarted and it said it wasn't shut down properly and ran through this long thing where it looked like it was deleting files then restoring some. When It came back Windows didn't reconize my DVD an error code of 19. I tried to troubleshoot but also found this to be be strange. My troubleshoot or Windows Help options do not work. I press the button and nothing happens. I eventually got the Roxio and DVD43 deleted and my burner worked but everytime I restart my comp after freezing windows keeps reconizing it as new hardware installed. I updated windows again and when I restarted it said new hardware found I went to install again and said Windows Could not install. Something about the registry and the error code 19. I went to microsoft and it says use the troubleshoot wizard but like i said when i click the button it does nothing. I am stumped.

Windows cannot start the hardware device because it's configuration information (in the registry) is incomplete or damaged (Code 19)

This is the message I get.

Like I said clicking the troubleshoot button dosn't bring up another box or nothing. My computer acts like I didnt click anything. Also me Windows Help does the same thing.