OS Crashing.. Hardware Problem

[galanshi]

Windows xp/Vista crash

I am reparing a friend's Dell xps and I've never ran onto a hardware problem.
When he brought it to me, the computer would start with the

windows did not terminate correctly, Start windows normally or on safe mode blah blah blah

I tried to start windows normally and it crashed and a blue screen came up saying that there is:

A problem has been detected and windows has been shut down to prevent damage to your computer.
Check for viruses, remove any newly installed hardware, check hdd to check if it is properly configured
**** STOP: 0x0000007b (0xf78E1524, 0XC0000..............)

OK, then i tried it on safe mode, and I had the same error.
Ok my first conclusion was that the boot-sector was not working , so I preceded to fix it.
I repaired the windows boot sector and still had the same problem.
I backed up all the info from the hdd, then I formatted it, and installed a fresh copy of windows. Still the same problem.
I checked the hdd on another computer and windows ran fine.
Ok, so now what. Ok I figured maybe its something in sata conection, i plugged in another hdd with another OS in another sata slot. AND STILL THE SAME PROBLEM.
I tried installing windows Vista directly on the faulty computer.
When I run the OS from cd it crashes the same way.
So it has to be a harware problem.
I ran the harware diagnostics that comes in the service partition on the Dell xps, and found no errors on:
1: Mother Board
2: Memory
3: Processor

Can anyone recommend a Harware Diagnostics Tool that does not run on any OS. That I can boot from cd of USB jumpdrive. Or if you know what the problem is from the top of your head please feel free to tell me.

[madoverclocker]

this is what i see when i've overclocked a processor beyond it's capacity. what are the system specs?

[cguan_77]

check your memory sticks, or it could be also a faulty processor..

[galanshi]

Madoverclocker:
DELL XPS 410
System Specs:
Intel Core 2 duo 2.13 ghz, 1066 mhz Bus, 2mb cache
1 ghrz DDR2 2 x 512 mhz
300 gig HDD
400 watt PSU
DVD-rw
Windows xp media center

[galanshi]

c_guan77:
I also believe it is either memory or a fried processor.
How can i check if it's either?
System check yields no errors.
I don't have another pc with ddr2 socket and core 2 duo socket

[jbennet]

Check the RAM by using something called MemTest86. Google it, and chose free download. Download the .ISO image and burn it to a CD using an image burner program like DeepBurner (freeware) . Simply burning it as a file wont work, we want to burn the .ISO so that its bootable

[galanshi]

jbennet:
I found a couple of Memory Diagnostic tools.
Windows Memory Manager, and Micro-Scope.
I ran the memory test on both and found no errors.
I don't think it's the memory anymore.
I'm only left with the processor.
Any suggestions there??

[jbennet]

Download CPU-Z and post the data here

[galanshi]

I solved the Problem Thank you all.
The originally installed OS was 64 bit. And I fixed with a 32 bit OS. This messed up something somewhere. I did't realize that the OS was 64 bit.
I formatted the HDD installed a fresh Vista copy in 32 bit, and vuala. Installed smoothly. runs perfectly.
Now I have many technitian tools in my toolbox thanks to all of you.

[yude]

I solved the Problem Thank you all.
The originally installed OS was 64 bit. And I fixed with a 32 bit OS. This messed up something somewhere. I did't realize that the OS was 64 bit.
I formatted the HDD installed a fresh Vista copy in 32 bit, and vuala. Installed smoothly. runs perfectly.
Now I have many technitian tools in my toolbox thanks to all of you.

I was on a Dell Dimension 9200 with the same error. The problem is, I am installing Windows XP to a brand new SATA harddrive. The original hard drive was diagnosed as "Fail" Code & with Dell's Diagnositcs.

I booted from Windows XP CD-ROM disk, it copied some drivers. It would then give the STOP error 0X000000076 (0xF78E1524) immediately after it displayed "Starting Windows Setup". I had already swap memories, tired different cables/ ports. Any ideas?