test old hardware

I am a software wonk; the hardware works,
doesn't it? I have an oldish box with an
ASUS motherboard, 80G hard drive, 1G ram.
I have Win2k on it and there have been few
problems until recently. I now see assorted
problems, especially when booting, that may
be hardware problems.

I intend to wipe the hard drive, and install
WinXP, but I would first like to test the
hardware. Can someone please recommend
test programs? Note, there is nothing on it
I expect to save.

Thanks,
Mike.

I use Prime 95 to stress test memory/CPU and even PWM chips/capabilities. Usually it report errors very quickly with "the right settings". The most stresfull test is for your old box probably a memory test.

From menu, select the Torture test, then set Custom and as Min FFT size set 1792 and leave the max at 4096. As memory to use, lower the amount of physical ram in machine by 100MB or 150MB if error and then let the test reach at least 2048 FFT size.

If error happen, you know. Caps are dying and the computer with them. Say hello to fake caps made in China.