Big problems - help!

Have just done some upgrades to my PC and am now having major problems with SL. Upgraded RAM from 512 to 1024; put in brand new hard drive: 160Gig from 80 Gig previously. Brand new graphics card: Nvidia GeForce 7600 GS for AGP. Installed the latest drivers from Nvidia. I have an Intel P4 2.66GHz processor.

My problem is that as soon as I log in to SL it crashes - without fail. I can't even stay in long enough to change any preferences. The PC either immediately re-boots itself, or the screen locks up so the only thing I can do is turn it off at the power. I've uninstalled and re-installed SL from the website several times

I have given the inside of the PC a real good clean with the air duster - particularly the slots where the RAM goes and the fans as I've read this can cause problems. I really don't know what else to do.

Also as this is now a brand new hard drive, there obviously isn't very much on there. It doesn't need defragging.

If anyone can give me any tips as to what else I can try, I'd be really grateful.

First thing that comes to mind. You have upgraded the power consumption of your pc. did you install a new heftier power supply to compensate for the power needs of these new components?

Also, did you do a full uninstall then reinstall of Sl to see if this remedies the situation. Your Sl location could be out of whack with the new hard drive.

do you have these installations?

directx 9- after install, you can check it in START>RUN>dxdiag
quicktime
did you uninstall the old graphics card from ADD/REMOVE PROGRAMS.
You can check if your driver for the graphics card is correct by going to
START>MY COMPUTER (right click and hit MANAGE) > DEVICE MANAGER>DISPLAY ADAPTOR> should see your graphics card in this sub category.
Maybe your new graphics card has update? check with nvidia or your cards manuf.

check your firewalls and run no antivirus while logging into SL

you can change your preferences at the log in window before you hit connect.
If you are not getting that far, could be from above installations not in place.

not sure if i was of any help.
as i sit on opposite side of SL too.
The joy of being the 24,752 avi in a 1.4 million populated world, with issues of not being able to get in. sigh

No, I didn't change the power supply. This may be something I need to do. Yes, I did do a complete un-install of SL on the 3 or 4 occasions I downloaded it again.

However, I'm thinking now that this may not just be an SL problem, as I have started to crash/lock up doing nothing more than trying to open my hotmail account, or browse any other internet site. This was one of the reasons I upgraded the machine in the first place as I was beginning to have lock ups on the old setup. I figured at that time, it could have been a RAM problem, so I changed it, and added a new hard drive for good measure. But it still seems to be doing exactly the same thing.

I will check the power supply tomorrow. What would be your recommended spec on the power supply? and if the power supply is to blame for the SL crashes, does it make sense to assume it would be to blame for the more general lock ups?

Sorry CoCo - didn't see your reply until I'd posted my last one. But yes, all my old drivers were un-installed. I actually fitted a brand new hard drive, so there were no drivers on it. I also physically removed the old graphics card at the same time before re-installing Windows. I do have the latest drivers - downloaded from Nvidia and I have tried running SL without AV running. Nothing helps. But, as I'm now thinking, this may not be an SL issue.

Thanks for that Govindira. You guys really are a source of invaluable information!! I will check that too, but don't feel particularly confident in doing a BOIS update myself, so may need to get someone to do that.

Have now checked the power pack and it's 300W. Is this too low for what I'm running?

Re-cap: Intel P4 2.66Ghz (not changed in upgrade)
1024 RAM - upgraded from 512
Nvidia GeForce 7600GS 256mb - upgraded from Nvidia MX400 128mb
XP Home SP2

Sorry for not replying. Oddly enough I could not find this post. Yes 300w power supply is much too low for todays standards. My recommendation (if you can afford it) is 500w. This should be ample power to run your current setup and still have some to spare. The others' suggestions are also good things to check. Driver update and BIOS updates are very important. Please try these things and let us know the outcome. If you need further help just ask away.

I couldn't say what the "official" NVidia GeForce 7600GS requirements are, but one page I found on my search was this, for a MSI GeForce 7600GS:
http://www.msi.com.tw/program/products/vga/vga/pro_vga_detail.php?UID=735

It says, under system requirements, "Power supply of 400 watt(550W is recommended for SLI mode) is highly recommended for system stability."
Personally I'd go a bit futher, something more like 500 watts, even if 400 is the "requirement".

In my search, I also found an EVGA GeForce 7600GS that wants a minimum 350 watts, and another one that wants a minimum 400 watts.

Yes, the 500w was the minimum I was recommending not only due to the video card but also inrelation to all other devices installed. P4 processor, 160g drive, memory sound etc. The combination of all of those together can drain a system with too small a power supply. I learned this myself the hardway as i had a 400w running a amd 3500+, 3 gig ram, 200gig drive, ati x1300 512mb agp card, win tv tuner, and a 5.1 surround sound card... I was running into the same issue with random shutdowns due to power drain. upgraded to a 550w and it is much better now.

Not sure where you live but here we have a place called microcenter. they are pretty good with pricing. picked up the 550w there for 50$US if I remember correctly and it has individual power cables so you only plug in what you need and dont have a ton of extra cables crowding the case which can cause heating issue as it restricts airflow. Check around and see what your local stores have.

Also, I can not stress enough proper cooling. If your case has any places for fans..put them in..as many as possible and make sure to set them for airflow. This means not all of them blowing inward as most seem to believe. any front and side fans point in to bring in cooler air. any fans near the back face outward to exhaust the hot air being caused by the power supply, vid card and cpu. proper air flow like this is extremely important, especially in todays systems. They generate more heat then you think.

Thanks everybody for their support in this. I finally gave up and took the machine into my local computer shop who basically linked it to a possibility of 3 issues: Faulty motherboard, power supply or processor. They also wanted £45 (UK money) to even look at it. So, I bit the bullet and got a new machine - kinda drastic, but something I had been thinking about for a while as spares/upgrades are becomming difficult on the older systems. Specs now are:

Asus P5VD2-MX Core 2 Duo ready motherboard
Intel P4 3.2GHz processor
1024MB DDR II RAM
Nvidia 7600 GS PCI-E graphics
160Gb Hard Drive (rescued from old machine)
450W power supply
Nice shiny new case and DVD Writer which I never had before

All this for just over £300 - and I have to say it absolutely rocks!! SL is performing better than I have ever seen it - it's like a whole new experience. Everything rezzes almost immediately, and the details on plants/trees is astonishing. Finally I can enjoy SL as it's meant to be. I am now a happy bunny!

Excellent. Glad to hear that it went well for you. Feel free to ask away should you end up with any issues down the road.

Just in case anyone read's this thread... PSU's...

Do NOT go purely by wattage. A 550W QTec PSU is a waste of space for instance. Quality matter's in PSU's and as such a quality 450W is suitable for most people. Something from the likes of Tagan, Seasonic or Enermax @ 430W-450W is fine.

For example my system runs rock solid on a Tagan 430W modular, uses a X1800XT graphics and X3800+ X2 CPU - i.e. far from low end.