My system has a server board with expensive ECC and max error correcting is
enabled. My board also has the extra 24v server PS connector and a 550W
PS.

I didn't say the ONLY cause was XP. I said it was a combination of XP with
the video drivers, etc.

Absolutely NOTHING changed in my 4 months old stable system except updating
the ATI drivers. The infinite loop problem then began manifesting itself
within 15 minutes.

Since uninstalling the ATI drivers, manually removing the ATI registry
entries, and reinstalling the 2/28/03 drivers, the problem has not
reappeared. With somebody else perhaps the cause was bad memory, but not
me. I would even go so far as to say that in this case, there are probably
multiple possible reasons on different systems. However, when you have a
perfectly stable system and make one software change which immediately
manifests an issue, you can be pretty sure you don't have a hardware
problem.



"Nick Le Lievre" wrote in message
...
"RickB" wrote in message
...
They sent me the same email. Since I posted I've done hours of research
on
the net. Here is what I've found:

1) The problem is not confined to ATI. Nvida cards have the same issue.
2) The problem is most prevalent on XP, although it can show up on 2000.
3) The problem is aggravated by video drivers that "push" a card to its
limits.
4) There is currently a lot of finger pointing going on between the
video
card companies, Microsoft, and the MB manufacturers.
5) Some people think it's a power supply problem. I tend to doubt this
for
2 reasons. 1 - if it were a hardware/PS problem, the OS wouldn't matter
and
2 - I have a 550W power supply. 550W is way overkill for a machine with
a
video card, a controller, 4 DIMMs, and a sound card. I have monitoring
software that shows plenty of capacity to spare.


I had this problem sometimes its caused by BIOS settings sometimes by
defective memory in your case as you haven`t changed the BIOS settings I
suspect your ram is going bad try these BIOS settings and test with prime
95;

1. BIOS Fail Safe Loaded (sometimes called Load Setup Defaults)
2. AGP set to 2x
3. Change memory DRAM clock from SPD to match CPU`s fsb
4. Command Decode set to Normal (as per fail safe settings)
5. AGP Aperture at 64MB (as per fail safe settings)

If infinite loop still occurs with above check the ram in another
board/try
a brand new stick it could be shafted. Note BIOS settings aren`t available
on all boards.

I had it happen with a bad memory stick and also with good stick and some
more aggresive BIOS settings a good way to check stability is with prime
95
http://www.mersenne.org/prime.htm run it for 12 hours.