PC doesn't boot.........

andy_fozzy

andy_fozzy

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Sometimes.
Just re-formatted and reinstalled Windows, as the PC refused to boot up.
Could wait 30 mins + sometimes, and even then sometimes it wouldn't.

I needed a fresh install, so I done it yesterday.
Now this morning it's just happened again :'(
Although it only happened once.

It goes through the first couple of stages of the boot process, then just restarts. It doesn't get as far as the Windows XP startup screen (you know the one with the little progress bar with the little blue bars going across?).

When I'm in Windows, no problem at all.

Have made no hardware changes, except added a new hard drive yesterday, but it was happening before I added the drive.
I can if need be do another re-install on the new drive.......

God damn PC's :bang:

Would be very grateful for any advice.
 
I'd guess you have a bios or a RAM problem.

When the PC starts off it has a low clock speeds CPU, FSB etc. When Windows kicks in the clock speeds are ramped to full. At this point if there is a clash in the bios with the memory/cpu/graphics card/other card and it detects an error then it can/usually barfs and re-boots.

Sounds like what you have.

I'd remove any non essential PCI cards, check your memory is seated correctly and reset the bios to manufacturers defaults
 
oldgit said:
I'd guess you have a bios or a RAM problem.

When the PC starts off it has a low clock speeds CPU, FSB etc. When Windows kicks in the clock speeds are ramped to full. At this point if there is a clash in the bios with the memory/cpu/graphics card/other card and it detects an error then it can/usually barfs and re-boots.

Sounds like what you have.

I'd remove any non essential PCI cards, check your memory is seated correctly and reset the bios to manufacturers defaults
Click to expand...

Cool. Thanks oldgit ( :D we call my Dad this :D )
I'll give that a try :thumbs:
 
It's just all falling down on you, isn't it? ;)

Other than reinstalling Windows again, it could be a driver issue, a hardware issue or something else.

It would be appropriate to check whether you have automatic restart enabled.
To do that, right click 'My Computer' and select Properties or press win+pause(break).
In the window that opens, select Advanced and Settings for Startup and Recovery.
Another window should show up and there's a System failure part. If you have Automatically restart enabled, then the blue screen might not stay on long enough.

If you can't even see the blue screen, it's not good.

Go to "Control Panel"->"Administrative Tools"->"Event Viewer".
When it opens, select system and look for any error logs there.
 
Slapo said:
Yep, try turning it off, if there are no messages when a failure occurs and the system just reboots, then the problem is likely to be one of the nastier ones.
Click to expand...

Ok I'll give it a go.
So will there be a message, even it the system doesn't get into Windows, if you know what I mean?!
 
It could be a number of things, hard drive, ram, graphics card or PSU. Are there any motherboard beeps?, they often give a sequence of beeps (like morse code) if there is a hardware failure. Take all the ram out, put one stick in the first slot, boot machine. Test the other slots with the same stick of ram and then do exactly the same for any other sticks of ram you have. It's a slow process but it will tell you if you have a slot out or a stick of ram that is screwed. Do the same thing with the HDD's, put one in, try, then the other.

Other than this i would say from experience that it is either your graphics card (can you borrow one from someone to eliminate this), or it's your PSU. I had an issue with a similar problem a while ago and tried everything and eventually it came down to the PSU not being "man enough" for the job in hand.

I'm going for your PSU not being powerful enough or on it's way out! Not enough credit is given to that boring metal box sitting in the corner of your tower in making sure that your system is healthy.
 
Sarin said:
It could be a number of things, hard drive, ram, graphics card or PSU. Are there any motherboard beeps?, they often give a sequence of beeps (like morse code) if there is a hardware failure. Take all the ram out, put one stick in the first slot, boot machine. Test the other slots with the same stick of ram and then do exactly the same for any other sticks of ram you have. It's a slow process but it will tell you if you have a slot out or a stick of ram that is screwed. Do the same thing with the HDD's, put one in, try, then the other.

Other than this i would say from experience that it is either your graphics card (can you borrow one from someone to eliminate this), or it's your PSU. I had an issue with a similar problem a while ago and tried everything and eventually it came down to the PSU not being "man enough" for the job in hand.

I'm going for your PSU not being powerful enough or on it's way out! Not enough credit is given to that boring metal box sitting in the corner of your tower in making sure that your system is healthy.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the advice. I'll certainly bear it in mind, but it shouldn't be the PSU, as it's not cheapy one. It's a ThermalTake Toughpower 600watt, which cost a fair few ££££'s :D

I don't think there are any motherboard beeps either. If I remember correctly.
Although the mobo IS a cheapy one!!!!!
Not sure if it has a 'beep feature', or the LED status feature, which some boards do......

Not going to rule out the memory problem however.
Will keep that in mind. Thanks for the advice :thumbs:
 
I've had this problem a couple of times - I think it is a serious driver issue.

When you install windows you have an option to press a fn key to install extra drivers. You press a different function key and get an option to install for a 'default' or 'generic' PC. That does an install with really basic mobo drivers that should work on anything. Once you have windows up and running then get the correct latest drivers from the mobo maker on the web.

Off the top of my head it asks you to press F6 but you press F5 instead. I'm sure Messers Google & co will provide details.
 
Standard diagnostics:

1. unplug all cdroms and dvd drives
2. unplug all sound cards, network cards etc.
3. reduce down to 1 stick of RAM

If it is beeping, tell me what the beeps are doing

If not, Essentially we are using 1 HDD (the windows one) and the processor, and GFX if there isnt an onboard one

--

In this state, will the machine post and load into the BIOS? If so, load optimum defaults, save and reboot

__

Next - does it crash loading into windows, or not?
How about safe mode?

If it crashes loading into safe mode, and it is a clean install, reload windows again - presumably the MOBO, CPU, Memory is OK enough to load windows, format the drive etc..

If it loads into safe mode fine it is either the unplugged hardware causing the issue or a driver. The normal culprit is the VGA driver. This is what safemode (VGA mode) is for on the advanced boot menu

load into vga mode, and update the vga driver with the correct one, and reboot..

Let us know what happens next

___

if it loads into windows fine, install 1 bit of hardware at once & reboot untill it falls over
 
I had this and it was down to one of my memory sticks so its a good chance one of them is misbehaving
 
Cheers guys.
Typically, it's been fine today. Done a number of restarts and starts every time :bang:

I've had a good clean up inside the case today. Made sure everything was secure - sound card, graphics, SATA and power plugs etc........

I'll keep an eye on it over the coming days and see what happens.

Thanks for all the help and advice. I'll report back if it happens again.....
 
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