Crazy hardware (!?) error in Windows - please help!

Hi all, hope you're well - hopefully you can help me with this problem!

I've built a PC from scratch, everything went Ok. I've got a reclaimed 6gig HDD in there - BIOS autodetected the settings, Windows installed, drivers installed, all fine. But, everytime I try and install anything - ANYTHING - Windows crashes. I thought the HDD might be faulty - so I tried two more - the same error happens at exactly the same point whenever I try and install anything in Windows. I reformatted and FDISKed the HDD, same error. I changed OS. Same error. Sometimes the comp freezes, sometimes I get a BSOD FAT32 error, sometimes a Kernel32 error.

Anyone!?

Thanks in advance!

Firstly... can you answer these questions...

What spec?
What OS?
What BIOS revision?
and what drivers are you installing?

I would strongly suggest you check your memory & CPU for overheating or maybe a fault. Use Memtest @ www.memtest.com , and that should take care of the memory side. The CPU side could be a little more of a problem. Check your FSB. If this is too high, it could cause the CPU to be unstable in any situation.

If you can give the best detail about the specification, it'll help an awful lot with the problem solving ! :p

Regards,

Paul.

EDIT: I think i've got the URL wrong M8... so i'm looking for the right one now... brb

Hi - thanks *so* much for your help.

I've sorted it tho! I have 192mb RAM in there, so I thought "Mmm perhaps it's the RAM" - I removed two of the expansion cards in the RAM slots and it worked!

Must have been damaged by static or summit.

Thanks again.

http://memtest86.com might be what VisionIT wanted to link to. It's what I use - burn it onto a CD and boot from it. Also was recommended by Corsair.

Thats the one M8... cheers.

I saw one of your posts, and i've been using it since. You're a public service! :D

Regards,

Paul.

You can also get memtest86 on a bootable floppy. Be warned though - all of the tests took about half an hour on my Athlon XP 2000+..

Wow...

Mine took over an hour... depends how much memory you have though. Your CPU speed wouldn't make much difference.

When you've created your bootable Memtest disc, you will be unable to read it in windows... just in-case you thought it had wrecked your disc! :)

Actually... thinking about it... the CPU speed would make a difference! I'm off my head 2nite! :D

Regards,

Paul.