Weird hardware bug

[Bing]

I have had some very strange problems recently. I recently upgraded my processor, mobo and ram to the stuff in my sig. My MSI KT3 Ultra mobo uses an AMIBIOS, which I'm not completely familiar with. Anyway, After formatting my harddisks I decided to install WindowsXP. It's a copy of my parent's WinXP CD, so it would be in the grey area, but what the heck. Anyway, when I start the install procedure; format the disk (still using FAT32 because I might need to switch over to WinME for a bit), copy the files needed for installation... That's where the trouble begins. I get an error, saying I can't copy a certain file to harddisk, because the CD cannot be read correctly. The thing is, I thought I just had a scratched CD, but when I tried a warezed copy from a housemate, it gave the same error. I even tried using a different CD-ROM, but nothing would help. In the end I just had to install WinME again. IS this some sort of weird anti-piracy thing that's been built into new BIOS versions? It's puzzling me anyway.

Alright, there are some more weird problems. After having installed WindowsME i started installing my programs. When I came round to installing Nero Burningrom, I found that after having installed it, it gives me an error saying that somehow the .exe file has been modified and can't run. It says to check for virusses (which I did, using two different virus scanners, they both couldn't find anything) but somehow I cant find anything wrong. Nero isn't the only program I have found giving me problems. After I had installed Unreal Tournament, I tried installing the official Epic Bonuspacks, which have always worked fine before I upgraded. Surprise surprise, they won't install either. Am I using a wrong BIOS setting (I have tried loads of different stuff, from MPS Table versions to BIOS caching to PCI Latency tweaks to RAM tweaks)?

What I half think it might be is faulty RAM. I have read some stories of RAM being able to give really starnge problems if it's faulty. Also, when I turn on SPD in the BIOS, the RAM just sets itself to exactly what I have it on at that moment. For instance, when I was running it at 2,2,5,2, it stayed exactly as it was. When I lowered it to 2,5,3,6,3 that's what it stayed at. Nobody else in my house is using DDR Ram atm so I really have not got an easy option to test different stuff. I have got some PC 133 lying around. Should I go try that?

[Bing]

Updated my profile to give you all the latest info. Also, I am running the latest BIOS, drivers, etc. I am not using any USB devices and have USB turned off in BIOS. I currently have only one CD-ROM hooked up to lower the load on my PSU, but that doesn't seem to be the prob. Anyway, please help, this is really pissing me off!

[Jikx]

I had this error.. twice!

Do you have a copy of norton system works 2000? If you do, try running Speed Disk with the varify write option turned on. If you get crap loads of "blah blah blah, written bite not the same as original blah blah" then you probably have the same error as me.

How did i fix? I couldn't.. first my Duron 750 did this.. got a Athlon 1G and that fixed it up.. for a while. When i banged in a AthlonXp 1600+, it started doing this again (you get lots of CRC errors when unpacking exe files? eg like running the nero install program?)..

Spent yonks trying to fix this problem, no one seemed to be getting it.. it all went away when i got this K7S5A..

Hopefully ur mobo isn't broke.. sorry can't help much. Since no one else is posting anyway..

[Bing]

Thanks for the reply Jikx, apreciate it

I don't think it's a broken motherboard to be honest, altho, when I think of it I realize that there might also be a problem with the IDE drivers or something. Both the CD-ROM players and now the harddisks are on the IDE channels, so they would be prone to giving errors. The weird thing is tho, that nothing else is giving me errors. Not my FTP programs, not mIRC, nothing. Just Nero, the UT Bonus Packs and WinXP during install. Ofcourse (maybe with the exception of UT Bonus Packs) all those devices use the CD-ROM in some way... Ah well, I guess I just have a long road of eliminating problems ahead of me...

[cbsboyer]

Is everyone with this problem running Nero? I ask because I just installed it and now my system is a little flaky (nothing installs properly from CD).

Chris.

[rboot]

Bing, is it isolated to the rom that burns or is it in general? Try isolating that first. Try running a non'graphical cpu/mem tester, like folding@home (distributed computing forum) for 24 hours and see if the number/memory cruncher works if you can't isolate it. Also download some of the free memory testers if you can find one.
Does your puter run mp3's, avi's, mpegs fine? These are cpu/memory intensive and would also give an indication.
I cracked a cpu before and it's number cruncher bit the weeny first and I couldn't do the above.
Just some ideas,
rboot

[Bing]

Nero pretty much won't do anything at all... It gives the following error message: "The Nero executable was modified! Maybe your PC was infected by a computer virus! We recommend to use the latest antivirus software...blabla..." That's the Burning ROM part. The other Nero programs will run, strangely.

I can run MP3's, AVI's etc. no problem... I'm more and more beginning to suspect either my 8,4 HDD or my CD-Writer, because they are both on the same IDE channel and IDE cable. Maybe I should try switching those things around a bit more. Anyway, I think I'm gonna try copying the WinXP to my Maxtor HDD and try installing it from there, to see if that works.

[rboot]

Are you using M$ Outlooke for your home email? When a proggy says the executable has been modified, that is a good source of info dood....
If you can run compressed files fine, I would look at a nice little virii like klez or another that modifies the .exe files on the puter.
Wipe the drive with a fdisk and start fresh....
rboot