Out of ideas on how to fix my computer

[GBRRICCI]

a while ago i installed some xms corsair pc3200 (512mb) and so i o/ced a lot and decided after a while to wait until i formatted my computer to do anything else and put settings back to 140fsb (ram at ddr200 setting) because it started to crash a bit.

i don't know if this started before or after installing the ram but windows started crashing...a lot. so i decided to format and re-install. the problem is whenever i install windows it says files cannot be coppied/are missing....yet they are right on the cd. at first i thought my xp cd was bad so i got a copy from a friend of mine but so far that has had problems too with not being able to copy some files (2-3 so far). next i thought it might've been because of the cd-rom i was using (sony dvd/cd burner combo, fairly new) and swaped it with my dad's sony burner which is a bit older than mine but the same problem occured as with my cdrom.

i'm pretty much out of ideas right now, i'm thinking that my hd might just be screwed completely for some strange reason, or maybe a virus that even when i format doesn't go away (scanned with norton antivirus cd but it detected nothing), or maybe my recently purchased ram is the cause. i doubt it would be my cpu (1.4ghz amd thunderbird) but it is still a posibility. heh in other words "help me oh god's of hardware, i begeth for your un-dieing wisdom tweaktown"

[wayout44]

Have you tried raising the voltage of the memory to about 2.75-2.8v?

[GBRRICCI]

Have you tried raising the voltage of the memory to about 2.75-2.8v?

not yet, but it's suposed to be the speed that i set it too, why would i need to raise the voltage?

EDIT: this problem also occured when i was installing my video card cd. first it said that it did not pass windows's certificate crap or whatever it is then one of the files said it couldn't copy over and so i couldn't install anything from that cd at all.

[GBRRICCI]

not yet, but it's suposed to be the speed that i set it too, why would i need to raise the voltage?

EDIT: this problem also occured when i was installing my video card cd. first it said that it did not pass windows's certificate crap or whatever it is then one of the files said it couldn't copy over and so i couldn't install anything from that cd at all.

EDIT2: i'm on my computer (the one that's having problems) and i don't know how long it'll last. i put fsb back to 133 (default) and put the dimm pwr setting to +.1 v or whatever it was.

[wayout44]

Ok I see know so, what sort of mainboard do you have under that Thunderbird?

Oh, and is that CPU unlocked?

[metallicat666]

you were trying to install windows on an overclocked system? always remove any overclock before installing windows

[amd_man2005]

It's either ya HD or RAM, or IDE cable, but most likely your RAM is bad.

[GBRRICCI]

thxs for that info metalica, i didn't know that. and amd man, i know it's not the cables because i swapped em and same thing happened. i have my old ram so i'll try using that, and if that doesn't fix it than i guess it is my hd.

i'm using a gigabyte 7vaxp ultra mobo

thxs tweaktown

UPDATE: ok i tested my old memory and the same problem occured so it's not my memory. i'm testing my old ide cables on my hard drive and if that doesn't work than it is the hard drive that has crapped out. hopefully i have another one laying around that i can test that theory.

update: blah, i have all the regular stuff in and when i installed only the sysmon.ocx couldn't copy(there were atleast 3 others that wouldn't copy before), and so i'm wondering what the hell is going on hehe. i'll see if windows keeps crashing and right now i'm on the computer that was/is having problems.

final update: everything seems to be working fine now for some reason...