MB turns off during win2k install - Will xp bios work for 2k

[kellj]

So I guess it wouldn't hurt to update the bios and see if it makes a difference? Problem is the only bios upgrade offered on the hp site is a windows based bios upgrade which I guess you can't just throw onto a floppy for a dos style upgrade.

[edwin]

Post a link to the upgrade and we'll see if we can "reform" it into something useful.

[kellj]

That would be great, Thanks!

http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/soft ... 28&lang=en

[edwin]

an award bios, now to find something to flash it with and some sort of flashing platform like a bootable floppy image... working...

[kellj]

I have discovered a hairline fracture in the mounting plastic piece for the cpu fan. I believe that this may have allowed the fan to mount improperly on the cpu and that is probably why it was shutting down. I have been able to reinstall win2k in the older drive that I was previosly using and it boots up fine. I will upgrade the bios using the windows installer so Edwin, I hope you haven't done too much work converting it. If you have I apologize. When I previosly took off the cpu cooler it looked like there was good continuity with the cpu. The thermal grease was very even and there was a bit of pulling required to remove it. I'm wondering if I might have broken the mount while removing the fan which would invalidate my entire theory here. Now I am preparing a newer drive for an attempt at win2k installation after I update the bios. I will report the results back here, Thanks.

[kellj]

My apologies to Wim's Bios for taking up bios unrelated space here. And my thanks to Edwin and all who have read this thread. What I initially thought might be a bios update problem really was only a cracked cpu fan mount problem. There is probably no forum addressing that issue!

Maybe I should start one... Jack's Cracks. But seriously folks...

Edwin was right when he suggested the possiblility of cpu overheating

"CPU overheating is always possible. Did you check the cooling for proper fitting (no air gaps)?"

I think this must have been the issue because after fixing the mount I was able to install the operating system on a fast maxtor drive which I will use for the system. I also put in a 250gb Seagate drive for extra space. There hasn't been a single shutdown in my work today which lasted about 3 hours.

Incidently, I used a instant bonding chemical that I purchased at a hobby shop. It's called Tenax-7r and I think it bonded the plastic fan mount back pretty much like new. I am going to replace this fan anyway with an Intel fan I replaced off of our new dual core rig.

As a final note I was, after all of this, able to update the bios to the latest version that I got from the HP site. And that update, which was the second time I have attempted a bios update, went with no hitches.

Bottom line... I now have a reasonably fast, and free computer, and it is working thanks to Wim's Bios and Edwin.

Many thanks to you because my children will now be screaming at 100 decibels instead of 120.

Have a great weekend!

Jack

[edwin]

Oh the joy of recognition!!!

I have been there. Well, in my case the heatsink wasn't mounted properly so although there was no visible airgap, there was no real pressure either so the end result was improper cooling.

[kellj]

After reading your reply I realized that I really meant to say heat sink mount instead of fan mount. My fan was mounted fine but the heat sink mount was cracked. I probably had the same situation as you where the heat sink did not have enough pressure against the cpu. Thanks again!