Despite the appearance that I might be inexperienced in dealing with the Athlon platform, I think you will find the material that follows will show a meticulous and analytical approach that everyone can benefit from when dealing with computers. The initial scope of the article will deal with imparting upon the reader what I feel is a good work ethic for troubleshooting a system. This article, the first of two, will deal with the tools you will need, such as specific configurations, drivers, Windows options, and most importantly, where your initial testing should start. You will find by the end of this first article the system as whole will be fairly bare in comparison to what it is supposed to look like in the end, much less what any normal system would look like. This was done for a reason, and it's something I urge you to mimic.
Patience is a virtue.
The second part of the article will deal with the quirks, dangers, and vital changes that will have to be made in order to accomodate the Athlon. Before anyone can reach that point though, one has to show that he can be stable in a near bare state. And if that cannot be acheived, your problem is far bigger than a matter of software or driver conflicts. Before I jump too far ahead though, let us start with the basics of what we are dealing with here. Explorer USB Items in parentheses were added during or after setup.