Test CPU with no OS?

So, my friend gets resets on his new pc while it is booting in to windows. It will not make it to windows at all, it just resets. I assume it may be his power supply or the cpu. I would really like to test the cpu but I can't get in to Windows. Any software that I can boot off a CD or floppy to test the cpu?

I've had a couple bad/fried CPUs and they usually won't even boot up. I just get a blank screen. Since you say the computer boots up, but keeps on resetting it could be a bad hard drive/ corrupted Windows installation or memory problem. I've had a resetting problem before and all I had to do was reinstall Windows.

You could also try downloading an OS that boots off CD like Knoppix Linux. If it can run that, you can probably rule out CPU, memory, and other problems. I usually keep a copy around incase my hard drive fails or my Windows installation gets corrupted I can still access my emaill/interent until I find time to restore Windows.

I tried Knoppix but I get an error saying, "only one cpu found" and it will not boot. I don't know how old that version of Knoppix is (3.2) but maybe it doesn't offer support for AMD64. Anyway, I am thinking it is the power supply since it is a cheap pos that came with the case. I ordered a new power supply and I'm hoping my friend will reimburse me since it is his pc. If the psu makes no difference then I am back to square one.

That being said...

I am off to find a newer version of Knoppix to dl.

The newest version of Knoppix is 3.7. You can get it here.