Dell Optiplex 745 would boot normally until XP tried to load the desktop ("Loading system settings"). At that point, the display would go to one of the 8 DOS-mode colors with whatever attribute it happened to like at the time (bright, flash, etc.) and the PC would lock up. I originally thought it was a software issue because the display adapter passed the hardware diagnostics and the PC booted into Safe Mode normally.
Fought the sucker for two days until I had the bright idea to verify that it [u]was[/u] a software issue by booting to a live CD. Started with Ubuntu 9.04. Same issue. SimplyMepis, OpenSusE, Gentoo, even FreeBSD, same issue. Linux Mint halted on an address not found error on /dev/sr0 (guess I got a bad CD). PCLinuxOS had no trouble whatsoever. WTF?
Called a friend who has more day-to-day with PCs than I do. He recommended a utility called "Video Memory Stress Test". Unfortunately, it requires Windows to run. Booted back into Safe Mode and ran it, test failed. Ran it again, test failed.
H3ll with this, called Dell on Saturday morning. They ran a dispatch for a new main board. Good thing I did it Saturday, though. Warranty on that PC expires April 18, 2010! :0
Talk about bringing it in under the wire... :)
