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Any one know of any hardware diagnostic tools for a mostly custom built box? I have determined that my problem lies in the hardware somewhere, but am unable to pinpoint exactly which piece of hardware it is.... I need a tool that will work with no OS installed, off of a boot disk.
Thanks again
Cross: Does the system just refuse to boot? If your motherboard has a small two-digit display on it, check the numbers that appear against your motherboard manufacturer's error code listing. If not, consider borrowing or investing in a POST card, basically a PCI card which will fit into the motherboard and will give you a numeric code (which you then look up) if the computer refuses to boot due to hardware flaws.
I recommend the easiest (and oldest) trick in the book: Pull everything out except bare bones (Motherboard, RAM, Processor and Video Card). If everything seems to work, add your primary hard disk and boot into DOS. Continue along this path, adding each component one by one until your problem arises. You should be able to figure out exactly which component is giving the problem if it's hardware related.
By the way, what exactly is the problem you're expierencing?
AJ
best thing that works with no o/s installed is the system speaker, listen to the beeps.
look and listen to the devices (hard disk, fan whirring etc), and avdvens recomendation is gold dust, if it dosnt work on bare bones, its a more vital component failure (psu, mobo, CPu etc etc) and try another if possible
Preep
oh, how many time's havn't I wished I had a box JUST for that...