I'm building a second computer out of mostly used parts and have run across a tough problem after loading the video driver.
In the beginning I found Smokey at the curb and it is obvious that it had been on fire and exposed to water. After several part replacements it worked well. After many upgrades I have enough parts for a second machine.
Smokey started with these components.
Mainboard: Gigabyte GA-P55A-UD3
Proc: Intel Core i5-750
Hard drive: Seagate Barracuda 200GB, SATA
Optical Drive: LG Super Multi, SATA
Power Supply: Cooler Master 600w
Ram: 4 2GB sticks
Video card: misc PCI
Operating System: Windows 7 Pro 64 bit
I replaced the video card with an EVGA GTS 450. No problem.
I added a second EVGA GTS 450. No problem.
I upgraded the Hard drives repeatedly and removed the Barracuda. No problem.
I replaced one of the EVGAs with an ASUS GTX660TI OC 2GB. No problem.
I replaced the other EVGA with a second ASUS. At the same time I had to upgrade the power supply to a Cooler Master GX 750w Bronze. No problem.
I upgraded the Processor to an Intel Core i7-875k. No problem.
I added a Netgear WNA3100 wireless USB wifi stick. No problem.
The Gigabyte mainboard failed on Christmas day last year. I replaced it with an Intel DP55WG. No problem.
That's when I realized that I need a spare computer and that I had nearly all of the parts needed. I replaced the mainboard again with an Intel DP55KG. No problem.
I replaced the RAM with a pair of 4GB sticks. No problem.
I replaced the Optical drive with a Blu-Ray. No problem.
I bought another copy of Windows 7 Pro 64 bit.
I bought another Netgear WNA3100 wireless USB wifi stick.
I bought a used ANTEC ATX case.
The only pieces that had never worked together are the EVGAs and the DP55WG. Every part works.
Mainboard: Gigabyte GA-P55A-UD3 Intel DP55WG
Proc: Intel Core i5-750
Hard drive: Seagate Barracuda 200GB, SATA
Optical Drive: LG Super Multi, SATA
Power Supply: Cooler Master 600w
Ram: 4 2GB sticks
Video card: misc PCI 2x EVGA GTS450
Operating System: Windows 7 Pro 64 bit
I put it together and it booted to the Optical drive. No problem
I installed Windows 7. No problem.
I installed the newest mainboard drivers from Intel. No problem.
I installed the Intel lan driver. No problem.
I installed the Intel audio suite. No problem.
I installed the Netgear wifi driver and stick. No problem.
I connected to Windows Update and installed 104 updates. No problem.
I installed the Nvidia driver from Windows Update. Problem.
It boots and the monitor flickers a bunch of times but Windows doesn't appear. The LED on the Mainboard blinks as if Windows is running and the hard disk is clearly in use.
When I boot to the Windows install disk for startup repair it reports that Windows booted properly and it offers me the option of rolling back to a restore point. That boots and I have done it half a dozen times. I installed the driver that the EVGAs came with, the latest driver from EVGA, the latest driver from Nvidia and none have worked.
What should I try next?
UPDATE: It's a hardware issue. I damaged the mainboard whilst trying to install the wrong size processor fan. Meh!