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really odd boot problem

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Howdy guys,

This is the problem I have. When I turn on my pc it goes to windows is loading then after that just blackness, no hdd activity or anything. I hit the reset, tell windows to load normally and all is well.
This also does not happen everytime I boot the computer but only occansionally.

My machine is xp pro, 2 120gb drives, sony dvdrw, athlon xp 1800, 512mb pc2100 ram(though windows reads it at 480mb), audigy sound card, onboard video 32mb ati based. motherboard is at31 fusion.

I’ve haven’t seen anything like this on all the web. please help.

By the way why does my ram only read at 480mb and not 512mb in win?

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The video card is integrated with 32MB, that means it is stealling it from your RAM. 512MB-32MB=480MB.
Do you see anything in the Event Log?
Try a memory tester such as Doc Mem at http://www.simtester.com. Just a couple of thoughts,
Peter

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Good to know where my memory went. The event log shows nothing seemingly related and your link wasnt correct. Thanks.

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Yeah, nothing it the event viewer that would seem related or at the time of the problem.

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As Pierre stated, the RAM value is because some of your system RAM is dedicated to the on-board video.

What monitor are you using?

I had a problem with an older monitor and XP. It seems that the monitor could not handle XP’s default refresh rate, and went black screen as soon as XP loaded.
Once I set XP for the correct monitor, all was well.

Make sure that in display properties, settings, advanced your monitor is properly listed.
If your monitor is not in the default list of monitors, you may need to download the driver for the monitor.

Chas

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That’s an interesting idea, however windows is already setup to detect it correctly. My monitor is old, perhaps just that it itself is part of the problem. Thanks.

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My monitor is an Acer Acerview 56e and it is set right recgonized in the display settings.

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First 2 are correct about memory size reporting.

Usually when Windows balks during bootup, it’s a driver issue. Sounds like you are intermittently having a driver fail to load. First suspect is always video driver. Try updating your video driver if an update is available or remove and re-install. Current drivers are available on ATI website.

Troubleshooting drivers can be time consuming. You may just want to live with annoyance.

Dalton

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That could be a possibility, however I’ve updated all my drivers prior and the issue has occurred since I installed windows. Thanks.

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Can you boot into SafeMode on startup?
If yes then most certainly it is a video driver problem.
If you have an AGP slot available I suggest you gou out and find a cheap Nvidea or ATI AGP card.
The drivers for these cards are way more stable and the card, also the cheap ones (if not tooo old ) outperfor built in Video adapters.

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Sorry, but I can boot into safe mode. The thing is my video is built by Ati and utilizes the same drivers as the cheap cards. My video actually runs quite nice, just with only 32mb.

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