My AMD Athlon 2600 CPU Died

My comp was operating for 1½ hours then it just froze. I had to shut down by holding in the Start button for 5 secs. When I switched on again all fans, LED's functioned, Black screen on monitor and NO POST.

I tested quite a few items and thought I had a mobo problem as someone on "Google" search had found his mobo was the cause. I found another CPU (AMD1300) in my bits and pieces and fitted it and the comp started up. It got to the Windows is starting screen then told me that Windows\System32 was missing.

I had 2 CD's I had burnt when suggested by Mike Flynn early last year. I tried the Slipstreamed XP SP3 CD and it wouldn't do last known configuration run so I tried the Repair install and it went as far as setting Files then stopped and displayed message that the 'ASMS file' was missing. I tried the ultimate CD the UBCD4Win XP SP3 and it showed the same message. I "Googled" again and found that this is a common problem and I tried all the suggestions including the MS Article ID: 311755 which wouldn't proceed with the Load Hive method.

I decide to reinstall my original XP CD and loaded SP3 after installation and all Drivers for mobo etc. and it functions again.

Can I get my previously installed Software and Programs / Files / Photos back or are they lost forever? My 80Gig HDD shows 32Gigs used and 45.2 unused. Sorry about the long Post and I hope it's in the right area. Neil.

Also my BOOT.INI shows:
[boot loader]
timeout=30
default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS
[operating systems]
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS= "Windows XP Home Edition "
/fastdetect/tutag=g5xujl/NoExecute=Optin

What is the tutag=g5xujl ?? I "Googled" and got no info at all.

 

About the hardware failure - was there any warning, or did it suddenly brick itself? And I'd be careful with the 1300, as it is only barely strong enough to run XP without lag...

 

Sorry Pete about wandering in Post. I used the Genuine Windows XP Home Edition CD and did not Format. My concerns are whether I can recover the 30Gigs of info obviously still on the HD. I will try the Recuva as you suggested. Thanks. Neil.

Lukeno1, The AMD 1300 was tried to confirm whether it was a mobo or CPU fault. I have since purchased another AMD2600 CPU which is in THIS comp I am using. I was fully aware of minimum operating requirements and it was the easiest way to diagnose which component was kaput. Thanks for your concern. Neil.

 

Lukeno1:

Although its got some age on it, an Athlon 1300 will do just fine running XP provided there is enough resident memory installed.

Retired Learner:

Me thinks your error message as quoted was incomplete. Was it perhaps more like Windows could not start because the following files is missing or corrupt \WINDOWS\SYSTEM32\CONFIG\SYSTEM

It is always best to post complete information and in this case, its unfortunate that you didn't because there is a pretty simple fix that works in most cases. If you do a search for \WINDOWS\SYSTEM32\CONFIG\SYSTEM on this board, you should get quite a few hits as this is not an uncommon problem. Microsoft also has written a couple of KB articles on this subject. BurrWalnut wrote a great post on this several months back and you will find several others by using the search function.

I'm not trying to salt your wound, just wanted you to be aware that quite often, its a lot easier to invest some time on the front end of a problem and avoid all the wasted time on the back end.

 

Rockster you are so right - I did not take full note when it first appeared. I wil try and follow up on your suggestions.
Pete yes it was a fresh install and anyone recognise what the BOOT.INI tutag=g5xujl means and should it be there? When I have a look in our 3 other XP comps they don't have that entry. Neil.

 

Nice piece of work there Pete - I trust your sister gave you a double billed hat during your last visit. We'll just call you Sherlock from here on out if that's OK. Nice find and nice info from Wannabe.

 

Thanks Pete for the link. There is one heap of info to read up and sort out. Going back to my original post, has anyone had the experience with the slipstreamed XP SP3 not having the "asms file" on it? This brought me to the state I'm in as I couldn't get anything to work other than install XP without format. I would like to recover all my original programs if possible. Neil.

 

Thanks Pete I hadn't seen that particular one on asms but most of the problem posts mentioned the fact that the speed of the write/burn may have been the reason why the file was missed. I had 1 slipstreamed XP SP2 and 1 UBCD4XP and both had the asms file missing. I thought I had the answer when I burned these discs but I made the mistake of "assuming" they were OK. I think it might be time to slave the HD and try from there. Thanks for the links. Neil.

 

We can close this Post as I have slaved the HD and taken the necessary data from it and Formatted the HD and since that I have installed Win7 RC to try out till June 2010 and it's working OK. Thanks for all the inputs. Cheers Neil.