Any ? Thanks

I'd start by checking the RAM using memtest86+

And the hard drive

Is this a board from the capacitor plague era ?

weedeewee wrote on 2026-05-22, 18:31:

Is this a board from the capacitor plague era ?

What you mean? Bad caps maybe, it looks ok

Inspect the board carefully, look for bulging electrolytic caps, or leakage at their bases. Also check the CMOS battery for signs of leakage.

I'd boot "bare" DOS and confirms that the systems works. Run some comprehensive memory tests (MemTest86 is good) and hard drive checking tools (If this is a new install and you don't have to preserve anything on the hard drive there are some good comprehensive drive tests available).

If that doesn't turn up any suspects (and even if it does), I'd remove anything that Winblows doesn't need for a simple install, pull sound cards and any "extras" that XP doesn't need - if mainbord has video, remove video card, otherwose go to the simplest VGA card you have ... don't use anything that needs extra drivers for basic operation.

I'd also cut memory back to the bare minimum you need for XP, this might also let you easily swap sticks while testing.

You could also format the hard drive, remove partitions etc. The idea being to give Winblows a "blank slate" - so it's doesn't try to preserve anything odd that might be on the drive.

After making such changes, boot DOS just to see if the basics still works (ie: You've not messed anything up)

Don't worry about making the system "too limited" - you can always reinstall the way you want after you figure out what is going wrong.