I recently got a new system (HP Pavilion a1630n)-it came with Media Center XP.  I like to run a clean ship, so I immediately reformatted it to XP Pro.  Unfortunately, while tracking down the drivers for the system, I found that my built-in audio requires SP2.  So I upgraded, and after restarting, I got BSOD right after the Windows logo.  No clue why.

Nothing was working (safe mode, etc) so I reformatted again.  This time I tried plugging in my own SOUNDCARD and only installing SP1.  I'm getting FAR less lockups on SP1, but there are still major problems (my USB ports are no longer recognized, for example).  When I asked a friend, he said this could be driver issues.

Currently I am using the drivers from here: http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/softwareList?os=228&lc=en&cc=fi&dlc=en&product=3245027&lang=en
They're for my exact system, so I'm not sure why I'd have "driver issues."  As for hardware, I've added two of my storage hard drives, one IDE and one SATA.  However, upon removing them for testing, the problems persisted, so I'm not sure that's it either.

Mainly, I'm looking for the correct drivers or anything that will just get my system in good and working condition again.Oh, forgot to mention: I've tried numerous hardware configurations concerning the HDs, such as connecting/disconnecting the extra hard drives then reformatting again, trying with/without the extra hard drives while installing service packs, etc.

Also, the one time I got the computer to boot using SP2 without giving me the BSOD, everything worked fine--my USB slots were recognized, as was my cardreader, and sound worked well also.Have you tried XP then SP2 then the MBoard drivers then everything else ? ?Yup, I'm pretty sure I tried that.  Sorry I forgot to mention this, but right after my very first reformat + SP2, the computer ran fine for about a week before all this started.what happened before it started acting up?? any new software or hardware?? did it start after a certain update??ASIDE from what I mentioned in my last post (that it worked for two weeks after the initial SP2 install), here's how every other reformat WENT:

I typically just installed SP2, then my mobo/graphics/sound/keyboard drivers.  This usually led to a BSOD right after the next time I restarted it.

During all of the above, the extra IDE and SATA drives were plugged in, but I've tried repeating the process without them--no luck.Did you contact HP? Surely it is still un der warranty. There may be hardware issues.

Did you make a Media Center restore disc SET before wiping the drive? If so, reinstall that and see if the problems persist.