Question : Problem: GA-5AX + WD800JB 80GB Hard Drive = ????

Motherboard: GA-5AX Rev1.3
Bios: Award Modular Bios V4.51PG flashed to GA-5AX F4

Computer picks up the hard drive when it POSTs, it then asks me if I want to start windows normally, safemode, etc. but when I select any option the computer freezes and the keyboard goes 'dead'.

Background info:  I have a Quantum Fireball CX13.0A hard drive with Windows home edition upgraded from windows 98SE.  It started spontaneously restarting on me and when/if windows does load I have about a 1 minute window after which it restarts.  This hard drive checked out fine physically so I got the WD800JB 80GB to have more space and to get my files, etc off of the Quantum then format it and start over.
Oh! I tried uninstalling XP and re-installing but I get blue screen errors, etc and even during this process it would re-start...my patience wore thin so I decided to just get another drive and go that route.  
Now of course...I am still without a desktop.
I have formatted the WD800JB and installed XP professional on it...but it never starts.

After I updated the bios to GA-5AX F4 it picks up the WD800JB just fine but now I have a freezing issue.

Please help with what this problem could possibly be before I throw the computer out of the window.
Is the WD800JD too large at 80GB for the motherboard.....it is a 10 yr old board.

Answer : Problem: GA-5AX + WD800JB 80GB Hard Drive = ????

Ram problems:
Usual suspects are bad memory, dirty socket, bad motherboard, bad power to (or through) the board.

Drive problems:
Usual suspects are bad drive, bad cable, bad motherboard, bad power to (or through) the board.

Fan problems:
Usual suspects are bad fan, bad wire, bad motherboard, bad power to (or through) the board.

In common we have:
1) bad motherboard
- Barring static and power surge damage the 2 most common causes are bad PSU or bad capacitors.
2) bad power to (or through) the board
- Possible bad power supply (which is usually do to bad capacitors inside the power supply or damage from a power surge) or if the PSU is good and power on the board is bad the usual cause is again bad capacitors.

If the power to the RAM is bad it won't work right.
If the power to your drive controller (on the motherboard) is bad it won't work right.
CPU fan not working - obvious...

Two most likely problems are power supply and motherboard.
THEIR most likely problem is capacitors.

If I'm not mistaken you are working with an old socket 5 or socket 7 board so if you have to replace the board then it makes no sense to stay with anything that old. It would probably cost no more (or possibly less) to move up quite a bit.

Socket 478 boards generally have the same IDE and floppy port arrangement (two IDE and one floppy port) and with 478 they may additionally have a SATA port although it's often a max of 4 drives with IDE and SATA in combination.
(Someone may GIVE you P3 a socket 370 system if you ask around. One that is capable of using a 1GHz CPU would do quite well as a replacement for your old gear.)

Used/refurb socket 478 boards, CPU's, and memory have gotten very inexpensive as those folks that feel a need to keep up with the Jones' have moved on to other things.

I wouldn't be at all surprised if you found a complete working system with a CPU between 1.8GHz and 2.4GHz (maybe even 3GHz) for under $100 and then you can mix-match pieces from you new and old system (case/drives) to get exactly what you want.
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There has been a flood of early P4 socket 478 systems on eBay lately that are basically office computers that have been retired and replaced under maintenace contacts. - They go cheap simply because there more sellers than buyer.
They are usually name brands like Dell, HP, Gateway.
[Which means there is support online although it will only be files and document downloads.]
- And if you look for one with an XP COA attached (make sure you get either Home or PRO to match your CD) you will have a legal XP installation when your done.
[There is a free utility that will change the key to match the one on your case after you have XP installed. It's legal and free.]

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