No!... No! Almost/Maybe!... Re-start! OK! Advice needed.

[ameerat42]

Hi, at last!
I am having some computer problems.
It has been taking me a while to get here in these last few days.

Earlier at Am's...
In the past say, 6 months the computer would occasionally freeze, needing a switch off, and then a re-start.

Since last week...
Switch on at back, press start button, some whirring sounds, and nothing more.
Switch back off, and repeat procedure (giving about 10 sec in between).
If lucky, it would boot up to Win XP desktop, and freeze there, so repeat switch off/on.
Usually by about the 4th go it stays up and running.

During this start-up drama, I might hear the OK system beep about half the time.

System: Intel Core2Quad, 2GB, Win XP SP3.

Any ideas/warnings/advice?

Ta.
Am(getting sick of it).

[ricktas]

Have you at any time added an extra HDD or other part? It could be a loose connection. It could also be a registry issue related to added hardware. Have you tried repairing Windows using the installation CD?

My Win 7 machine would freeze on start up, and it related to a BIOS upgrade and how WIN 7 allocates drive letters. A repair via the CD fixed it.

[Speedway]

+1 for Rick's suggestion, I have had similar problems with both XP and & WIN7 both fixed with this method. With WIN ME it was almost a weekly occurrence.
Cheers
Keith.

[ameerat42]

Ta to you both. I will clean out (about 1nce 2-monthly) and this time check all connections!!!
(It's making me feel like a screw-loose!)
Am.

[arthurking83]

The failed startups sound to me more like an intermittent PSU issue.

Could simply be that it's not supplying enough power on one of the voltage channels or something like that, and hence failure is the only way forward.

Had a mate many years back with intermittent problems on his recently built PC, with all new components etc. For a few weeks he persevered with re-installs, after re-install, and then new RAM and even another HDD

.... brought it back to my place, and left it on the BIOS screen at the power settings page, and eventually I noticed the warning that one of the 5v channels occasionally failed.

It every few minutes it would alternate from a reading of ..... OK for a time, then it would read .... FAIL!.

From there it was easy to work out how to fix it .. replace the brand new PSU with a better quality one

If you had some testing tools, like a multimeter, you could test each individual power line, rather than sit there looking at an all black screen for hours on end waiting for a power failure warning that may not eventuate. For me it was easy, I just had it sitting there near my PC, until I eventually looked at it and noticed the failure.


I suppose the point is, don't just look at the obvious! Your thinking needs to be concurrently running in multiple parallel planes, in a 4 dimensional universe when trying to sort some of these issues.

The switching, whirring, nothing ... switching ..... procedure is where I'd be concentrating my efforts first.

[Rattus79]

Sounds to me like it could be a perfect excuse to get a new editing machine!

I had one that did something similar, with the whirring noises and no beeps ... Turns out I'd fried the mobo...

Now I have a shiny i5 with 12 gigs and an ssd - Runs CS6 very nicely - Opens in under 3 seconds!

[arthurking83]

On the topic of mobos...

Even before this mates PSU issue, I also had another PC that occasionally played up with intermittent reboots and non starts.

Looked at many aspects, including a change of PSU in that box, just for the hell of it($50 PSU, that was re-used anyhow) .. and it did turn out to be a mobo issue.
Not seen at first, but at some point in opening the tower, I noticed a swollen capacitor on the board. On closer inspection, I then noticed about 5 of them all swollen!

AhA!! .. went to the local electronics shops to find some caps, but they weren't of the readily available types. Had to order them from a dedicated electronics store in the end.

Took a hell of a time to replace them all(desoldering wasn't as easy as I expected it to be), but eventually replaced them all .. and then the ex wife took the PC with her a few years later.

AFAIK, this box ran for a good few more years, and I think she's only just replaced it. From memory that was a 12 yo, or more, PC.


As Rattus said (and as the PC is a Core2) ..... maybe it's time for a parts upgrade, if funds allow of course.

[ameerat42]

Ta AK and Greg. I am tending to think you(se) may be right. When I start it, the HDD (now this is an impression) doesn't seem to start straight away.
When it (I guess) eventually does, I then get the OK beep.
Am.

[Rattus79]

and then the ex wife took the PC with her a few years later.

Sounds like a fair swap to me!!

I also replaced the PSU on my old one before I replaced parts. That PSU is now running my main system.

If you do go for a new PC Am, don't get an ASRock Mobo - I've had nothing but trouble with mine! Overclocking is a b!tch, (I setup the overclock, but windows reports that it's still a 3.2 gig processor) I can't install an OS from USB, It won't recognise my mouse/keyboard combination if the usb is in the front of the box (but won't enter into BIOS unless it is!)

Apart from that, I have installed all of the software provided on the website, but still have 1 unknown device that needs drivers, but it can't tell me what it is!!

[Warbler]

Sounds a bit like the problem I had with mine before I spat the dummy and replaced the bloody lot. Mine would run fine most of the time, but I couldn't switch it off. It would reboot if I used the front panel switch. If I turned power off at the back, it would boot up. It would go through the bios and get to loading windows and switch off again, then keep trying to reboot. I honestly believe it was possessed, so I exorcised it using a screwdriver and replaced all its innards. No problems with Satan ever since.

Don't know what the problem was, but who cares now. I have a Core i7 with 32 GB of DDR3 Ram and a 2GB GTi660 video card, and I'm pretty happy with that. You can get cheap MOBO's and other components delivered from a number of sources. If you make too many hardware changes though, you'll need to reactivate some of your software. Back everything up before going for the hammer.

[ameerat42]

Ta 4 the insights, R and W. (A hammer, eh! Well, not yet, because I'm still smarting from what it cost me.)
Am.