Help! Reformatting doesn't fix it

[UF Jspec]

I built my sister a computer and installed Office 97 and Win98. Word 97 always crashes (BSOD) as well as other programs. I reformatted the damn thing twice and installed some new RAM. Word 97 still crashes after 5 seconds of use. This install of Word works fine on my computer and the RAM is new.

Do you think the hard drive could be at fault? Or possibly the old video/sound components. I'm out of ideas.


She has:
Celeron 433
Abit AH6
PNY 64 MB PC133
Maxtor 4.8 GB
Lucent 56K modem
Crappy video and sound card

 

[Pederv]

Try taking a look at the harddrive and see if it's at fault.

 

[GregMal]

That AH6 M/B might not be able to handle the 133 memory.
If you can, try 100 (or even 66) memory......
Greg

 

[UF Jspec]

The RAM before I put in the PC133 was crappy old SDRAM. The problem is the same either way.

 

[berwick]

Run a thorough scandisk on your hard drive. I have a hard drive with one bad sector near the begining. Win 95 installs great but WIn98 will not install at all.

 

[Yzzim]

Is it just word 97 that crashes or do other programs crash too?

 

[UF Jspec]

I know that Word 97 and AOL would cause problems. I am not sure if other programs had problems. I formatted the hard drive before doing a thorough test.

 

[sadb0i]

try win 2k pro...just a thought...plus try replacing all the parts one by one...see whats causing the problem...

 

[phigamman]

Why is PC133 RAM on a mobo with a 66MHz FSB?

 

[Yzzim]

phigamman - having PC133 RAM shouldn't matter...it will run at 66MHz just fine. PC133 just means that it's rated to run at 133MHz.

 

[GregMal]

Scandisk won't do much. I'd goto the Maxtor web site. Get their
latest harddrive utility and run it. It'll find any bad sectors
and flag them.........Greg

 

[UrineSample]

see if you can find spinrite analysis...it's a great HD utility. also, is the crash a hardlock or an error message? that could be a good clue.

 

[phigamman]

Yzzim, I wasn't asking about the RAM because I thought it wouldn't work - I was just wondering about the point. After all, how many under-clockers are there around here?

 

[UF Jspec]

Word 97 gives a Fatal Exception Error, whereas AOL would sometimes lock up the computer or even restart it. Thanks for your help guys.

 

[edblor]

Edblor here,

Actually, some RAM has been known NOT to run well "underclocked"....

PC133 RAM is timed to run at certain CAS...and at 66MHz FSB, that timing would be waay off.

It is true...And PNY is not exactly Mosel or Micron...

So, It may be the RAM..Try some higher quality stuff, or re-install...

Edblor