Weird reboot problem

I just recently had my motherboard go out(well, close to, at least, it
was one of those Dell boards with the bad capcitors), and I replaced
it with a similar model board(the only difference was that the front
side bus was 533mhz rather than 800mhz). Windows didn't seem to have a
problem with this. Not being satisfied with a "similar part", I found
my exact model number and again replaced the motherboard. Windows
didn't have a problem with this either.

Problem is, now around 4 out of 5 times, when I reboot the computer
goes through the normal process(Windows is shutting down, etc) and
when it comes back up I get a black screen(basically, no video) and I
can hear the HD turning, I can see activity via the light, something
is going on. It won't come up though, and rather than having to hold
the power button down to shut if off, if I just press it in lightly
the PC immediately shuts off(makes me believe that whatever activity
is going on in the HD, it isn't boot-related as we all know when
Windows is active you have to hold the power button down for a short
while to get the PC to just shut down).

Sometimes it'll make it as far as the Windows XP screen with the
little status bar moving about(right before "Welcome to Windows" shows
up) and then it'll go black with the same results as above.

Other than this issue the PC runs fine, just like it always had before
the capacitors went out on the original MB.

I've tried uninstalling certain Roxio and Nero apps that are known to
cause this issue in the MS Support database, I have scanned for
viruses, spyware or anything else of that nature. I have checked the
Start Up section(via Hijack this! or just the simple MS Config) for
anything odd. I have run Disc Scans, I have Defragged, everything. I
am just about out of ideas.

Reading up, I have found some people with somewhat similar
issues(nothing exactly like mine though) and there has been some talk
of "Init" files needing to be rebuilt or "MBR" needing to be repaired.
Before I attempt anything like that though, I thought I'd see what
ya'll had to say.

Any help on this would be much appreciated.

On May 24, 10:30 am, "Haggis" <zedd... RemoveThis @Mnavnet.net> wrote:
> quite often a "repair" install is required after replacing the MB.

I thought about this, but the fact that both motherboards were the
same thing(except for that 533 FSB) and Windows didn't see any new
hardware, or have any issues with it leads me to believe that the
initial Windows XP installation is fine. It is definitely something to
keep in mind though, I am just doing my best to avoid doing a
repair(ugly stuff).