Windows 7 and ASUS Motherboard

[wc_hao]

Hi All,

I am one of those guys who reads the "Computers/Overclocking for Dummies" and tried my limited knowledge to fix my computer. I am not as knowledgeable as many people on this forum, so please bear with me for my dummy questions

My Computer specs are as following:




The situation is like this: I have this desktop for 2-3 years and it was running smoothly and perfectly until one day it gives me this weird message. "American Megatrends: Overclocking failed. Press F1 for BIOS setup. Press F2 for default set up" I did press F2 for default setup. However, after few minutes, it turns to black screen and it gives me an error " DVI no sginal". I kept restarting the computer but it kept gave me this message. It's pretty unstable in terms of showing that error message. Sometimes it gave me the message, sometimes it didn't.

My first approach is to check if my computer power supply is strong enough for my system. I did go to the website and put my systems in those options. It turns out that I need 900W of power to run my system. Then, I checked the power supply I have. It was 1000W so I am pretty sure the power supply is not the problem.

The only two options that I can think of is overclocking and graphic card problem. As for the overcloacking, I use OCCT to check my CPU temperatures and voltages and etc. I have many images but I don't know which one I should post on to solve the problem. I did do some research about overclocking and I know the serious damage that can do to my computer. That is why i don't want to adjust the overclocking by myself.

The reason why I think it has to do with the graphic card problem is because sometimes I have thick white bars across my screen when I open my computer. But then again, I think my graphic card is pretty good.


I have done the following:

- Update BIOS files to windows 7 (originally my machine runs for Vista)
- Update Chipset BIOS
- Update Motherboard BIOS

However, the problem has not been solved. I am running the lowest frequency for my computer and this is what I have got:

First, after ROG screen comes up and the bios is loaded. This shows up:



Then, the safe mode selection shows up:



Then, the windows shows up:



Finally, the famous bluescreen of Death shows up:



It's hard to not notice the blue bars in the middle of the screen. Maybe I should not install Windows 7? or Should I upgrade my Rampage II Extreme to meet the requirement of Windows 7?

Once again, I am no expert of overclocking. But I don't think the problem is overclocking. This is not the matter of screen or video card. I hope whoever has come across this problem and found the solution can help me.

Thanks

[MaDef]

The issue seems to be either the display drivers, or the video card itself is defective. since the screen is showing those blue lines during post, I'm leaning toward the video card being damaged in some way.

Try reinstalling the video drivers.

DL/install driversweeper
(you'll need it after uninstalling the display drivers)

uninstall the display drivers via add/remove programs (uninstall Catalyst Control Center too).

Reboot the system into safe mode, run the driversweeper program to remove any remnants of the display driver that didn't get removed during the normal uninstall.

***Please use caution when using driversweeper, since it does remove other drivers as well if you aren't careful. Just read the instructions and you should have no problems

Reboot into normal mode and reinstall the latest display drivers from AMD.

American Megatrends: Overclocking failed. Press F1 for BIOS setup. Press F2 for default set up"

This is a concern, and may be the cause of the video card failing. If you were overclocking, it generally means that a bios setting is wrong or there isn't enough voltage to the components for the overclock. If you aren't overclocking, then there may be an issue with the mainboard, the cpu, the ram, or the PSU.

Your first pic seems to show that your running at stock speeds, and since the system is 2-3 yrs old, I would start checking hardware.

First, make sure the case is clean inside (dust on components shorten the life of the hardware.) Make sure the heatsinks and fans are dirt free, use compressed air (canned air) and a small paintbrush (if needed). While you're in there, check the mainboard for any scorch marks, or discoloration. Check the components on the board for any residue, or bulging capacitors. (check the link so you know what you're looking for) bad capacitors.

FYI: if you use canned air, shut the system down and wait for about 20-30 minutes to give the components a chance to return to room temperature or you run the risk of damaging the electronics.

Then use memtest86+ to test your memory modules. It's simple to use, burn the iso image to a cd/dvd and boot from it. (just follow the instructions on the memtest site).

Post the make/model of the PSU, 1kw seems a bit overkill for the system, but not all PSU are built equal and their output does degrade over time. (and while I'm thinking about it, when you clean the rest of the system, go ahead and blow the dust bunnies out of the psu.)

[wc_hao]

Thanks for your detail instruction and explanation. I have done what you told me and uninstall/reinstall the drivers. Right now, I am using it to see if there is any error with it. I will keep it posted. Once again, thank you for your help.

[MaDef]

Glad we could help, let us know how it turns out.

[wc_hao]

Hi, it's me troubling you guys again.

It was working fine for a couple of days, but today when i turn on the computer. It has the same error again with the blue bars in the middle of the screen.

I am in safe mode right now, however, i don't see any blue bars in the safe mode. which is better than the previous state.

I did run Memetest+86 with 7 runs. It gives me no error whatsoever. As for the overclocking, i keep everything in auto so the system is running at the minimum frequency.

I am thinking instead of using Windows 7. I want to switch back to XP and see if the problem is still there. The reason why I want to do that is because the machine is built for Windows Vista. However, I did upgrade my motherboard to Windows 7.

I am almost tempting to buy another graphic card if the problem is truly the hardware's malfunction. If I want to buy a new graphic card, what is it that I should be considering? Voltage? Frequency? Operating System? even the resolution of the monitor?


Once again, thank you for your patience and help for my beginner problem.

[MaDef]

It was working fine for a couple of days, but today when i turn on the computer. It has the same error again with the blue bars in the middle of the screen.

Did you clean out the inside of the pc with canned/compressed air?

You ran Memtest with no errors, so I don't think the memory is the problem.

How are the system temps? Particularly the video card. You can find the video temp in the graphics overdrive page of CCC (Catalyst Control Center). You can get your other temps from PcProbe II (Asus' monitoring software), it should have shipped with the motherboard driver disc. Or you can get it directly from Asus' website.

Since the video worked ok for a few days after reinstalling, I'm wondering if the drivers are getting corrupted somehow.
Try this:
1. Press the windows key + r (the run box should popup)
2. Type cmd in the runbox and press the enter key (the command window should open)
3. Type chkdsk /r in the command window and press enter
4. Answer yes to any prompts and reboot the system.

chkdsk will run just before windows starts and check all the files for corruption, and it may take awhile Depending on the size of the drive and number of files.

** FYI: You need to be logged in as an admin to run chkdsk.

One more thing, I need the specs on the PSU. If you could pop open the case and get me a make/model number from the sticker on the PSU, I can go find the output specs.

[wc_hao]

I did clean out inside of my pc.

And, Wow, I don't know what you manage to do that, so far, i haven't seen any white/blue bars crossing my screen after I did the 4 steps as you instructed. IT TRULY WORKS. I guess the files are corrupted for sure. I cannot believe you manage to solve this problem. I will post my temperature and my PSU on once I have a chance. Thanks again, i am truly grateful for your help.

Originally Posted by MaDef

Did you clean out the inside of the pc with canned/compressed air?

You ran Memtest with no errors, so I don't think the memory is the problem.

How are the system temps? Particularly the video card. You can find the video temp in the graphics overdrive page of CCC (Catalyst Control Center). You can get your other temps from PcProbe II (Asus' monitoring software), it should have shipped with the motherboard driver disc. Or you can get it directly from Asus' website.

Since the video worked ok for a few days after reinstalling, I'm wondering if the drivers are getting corrupted somehow.
Try this:
1. Press the windows key + r (the run box should popup)
2. Type cmd in the runbox and press the enter key (the command window should open)
3. Type chkdsk /r in the command window and press enter
4. Answer yes to any prompts and reboot the system.

chkdsk will run just before windows starts and check all the files for corruption, and it may take awhile Depending on the size of the drive and number of files.

** FYI: You need to be logged in as an admin to run chkdsk.

One more thing, I need the specs on the PSU. If you could pop open the case and get me a make/model number from the sticker on the PSU, I can go find the output specs.

[MaDef]

Don't thank me quite yet, you need to now check the drive to see if it's starting to go bad and is causing the data corruption.

Download a copy of Western Digital's DataLifeguardTools for Dos (get the ISO version to burn on a cd), burn it to cd and then use it to boot and run the tests.

* the directions for doing that are on the download page.

Run the short and long diagnostic tests. The short test will take only a few minutes, the long test may take a few hours, so you may want to run the long test overnite. (the long test checks each cluster of the drive and if it finds one marks it as 'BAD' so it isn't used anymore. Too many bad ones, can be an indication that the drive is starting to fail.

[wc_hao]

so apparently the blue/white bars came back when i started to use Western Digital's DataLifeguardTools. I have this error "Unable to locate the license agreement file, DLFLICE.txt" like many people do. Right now i am trying to find the solution for solving this error. I will keep you updated. thanks

The following is the error i have got when i use DataLifeGuardTools:



The PSU spec that you required is here:


Cannot read some of the characters on that image, but i think it means the same thing


Thanks again

[MaDef]

I have this error "Unable to locate the license agreement file, DLFLICE.txt" like many people do. Right now i am trying to find the solution for solving this error.

Strange, but after a quick check, the error may be due to your cd/dvd drive. Seems that the bootable cd of the DataLifeguard Tools may not be compatible with some SATA optical drives (cd/dvd drives). link to western digital forum post

You can try using Ultimate Boot CD, It has a copy of DataLifeguard Tools (and usually works), plus other diagnostic tools in case it doesn't. Plus it's handy to have all the different utilities on one disk.

Antec has a reputation for stable/quality psu's, however like all hardware they are subject to age (and I'm guessing this one is close to 3-4 years old, since that model hit the market in 2008). The thing I noticed is that psu's label showing 25A on each 12v rail yet the max (total) wattage across all 4 12v rails comes out to 17.5 Amps, so the psu may be a bit weaker than indicated by the label.

Go ahead and run chkdsk /r again, and if the drive is dirty(has corrupted files) again, then the problem is either the drive or the psu.

[wc_hao]

Hi, it's me bugging you again.

Sorry i couldn't be able to replied back to you in time

I have successfully download UBCD and I am able to boot it from the CD. Everything went well until the home screen where i need to select some stuffs. I did check out the instruction as you provided. However, non-of the option are available in the menu. I checked again and realized that the version of Data Lifeguard is different. The one that i am using right now is v11.2 where the instruction that you provided is for v5.43.



I am pretty dumb in the way that i cannot figure it out. I did try to select some options. But, it seems to me that i have to install the program first. However, if i want to do that, it said that the data in the driver that i want to install the program in will be wiped out. When i select install the program, there are two two taps. One of them is empty; the other has my three main hard drive space (when i installed Win7, I made the partition into boot system and then half-half of the remaining) In this case, should i empty one of the driver and do my work in there?





I kept using chkdsk /r whenever the blue bars come on. It seems to me that the driver will get "dirty" once a week. You did mention to me if it's the driver's or psu's problem. I am thinking the driver is the main reason why it's acting up.

I started to feel guilty of bugging you and asking you more questions. I hope it will come to the end soon so it can help other people who have the same problem. Once again, thank you for all the helps

Originally Posted by MaDef

Strange, but after a quick check, the error may be due to your cd/dvd drive. Seems that the bootable cd of the DataLifeguard Tools may not be compatible with some SATA optical drives (cd/dvd drives). link to western digital forum post

You can try using Ultimate Boot CD, It has a copy of DataLifeguard Tools (and usually works), plus other diagnostic tools in case it doesn't. Plus it's handy to have all the different utilities on one disk.

Antec has a reputation for stable/quality psu's, however like all hardware they are subject to age (and I'm guessing this one is close to 3-4 years old, since that model hit the market in 2008). The thing I noticed is that psu's label showing 25A on each 12v rail yet the max (total) wattage across all 4 12v rails comes out to 17.5 Amps, so the psu may be a bit weaker than indicated by the label.

Go ahead and run chkdsk /r again, and if the drive is dirty(has corrupted files) again, then the problem is either the drive or the psu.

[MaDef]

OK, your using the wrong part of the DataLifguard. When you boot using the cd, select HDD then select Diagnosis. You'll then see the utilities for the different drives. Western Digital will be listed twice, use the one for sata drives rather than the EIDE drive version. Run both the short test and the Long test (these are non destructive tests, but you should always have a backup handy just in case).

I kept using chkdsk /r whenever the blue bars come on. It seems to me that the driver will get "dirty" once a week. You did mention to me if it's the driver's or psu's problem.

Not the Driver, but the drive itself could be the issue, thats why you're testing the integrity of the drive. Since you are having to run the checkdisk on a regular basis to "fix" corruption, it's becoming evident that the issue is the drive itself or the psu.

[wc_hao]

Hi

I have successfully done both the long test and the short test. An this is what it's showing to me:




Does that mean i have no error? There are weird thing going on. Whenever i go full screen of something (even youtube), after few mins, the computer will freeze and the the screen will go black. After i restart the computer, it gives me the blue bar situation again.

Another thing is, whenever i plug in an external hard drive and do my regular backup, it has the same situation as well. My external hard drive has it's own power source. Come to think of it, the blue bar situation started after i bought the external hard drive. Maybe i should consider this as well?

Thanks

Originally Posted by MaDef

OK, your using the wrong part of the DataLifguard. When you boot using the cd, select HDD then select Diagnosis. You'll then see the utilities for the different drives. Western Digital will be listed twice, use the one for sata drives rather than the EIDE drive version. Run both the short test and the Long test (these are non destructive tests, but you should always have a backup handy just in case).

Not the Driver, but the drive itself could be the issue, thats why you're testing the integrity of the drive. Since you are having to run the checkdisk on a regular basis to "fix" corruption, it's becoming evident that the issue is the drive itself or the psu.

[MaDef]

Status code shows the drive is clean with no bad sectors.

Another thing is, whenever i plug in an external hard drive and do my regular backup, it has the same situation as well. My external hard drive has it's own power source. Come to think of it, the blue bar situation started after i bought the external hard drive. Maybe i should consider this as well?

Wouldn't hurt to check the disk. But you'll need to use the windows version of DataLifguardTools since the dos version cannot "see" usb drives.

Whenever i go full screen of something (even youtube), after few mins, the computer will freeze and the the screen will go black. After i restart the computer, it gives me the blue bar situation again.

This here leads me to think the card or the psu has an issue. What are the temperatures for the card? You can find it in the CCC (CatalystControlCenter) under the overclocking page. I'm thinking the card is either running hot and overheating when you watch videos in full screen, or the psu is having issues suppling enough power to the card when you watch videos.

Is there any way to put the video card into another system to see if the same thing happens? If it doesn't then the card should be ok and it's the psu that is probably the problem.

[wc_hao]

Hi,

Seems to me I cannot open the CCC for some reason, but i did manage to find my GPU temperature from another program. The temperatures are shown as followed:



The blue bar situation is acting up again. Either way, i think i am going to replace a new PSU or graphic card, if i understand the situation correctly?

thanks

Originally Posted by MaDef

Status code shows the drive is clean with no bad sectors.

Wouldn't hurt to check the disk. But you'll need to use the windows version of DataLifguardTools since the dos version cannot "see" usb drives.

This here leads me to think the card or the psu has an issue. What are the temperatures for the card? You can find it in the CCC (CatalystControlCenter) under the overclocking page. I'm thinking the card is either running hot and overheating when you watch videos in full screen, or the psu is having issues suppling enough power to the card when you watch videos.

Is there any way to put the video card into another system to see if the same thing happens? If it doesn't then the card should be ok and it's the psu that is probably the problem.