Computer Boot Problemshttp

man this is a real poser.
what you have described would lead me to beleive that your power supply is at fault. are you sure the supply is a known good one?

the next obvious thing would be your video card or more specifcally the driver.

third would be to insure the ram chips are known to be good.

if you are anything like me you probably have all kinds of computer parts laying around. (i even have some old ISA cards laying around)
if you have scavanged an old supply from a different computer and using it on yours it could still be intermittant. an intermittant supply will cause you all kinds of grief. your computer will crash, lockup, start to boot then hang, hang after you did some work to a program then crash, you name a symptom and an intermittant supply will cause it. RAM chips are the same way.

the classic symptom of a video driver problem is your computer will do the POST but as soon as windows starts it will hang and/or crash

 

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You already mentioned the answer to the question I was about to ask, and I said to myself "whoops" and quickly edited my post. I'm used to websites that keep posted messages. I keep forgetting that this place lets you delete messages.

 

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Well the power supply was brand new. The ram worked great and I would guess it would be unusual for both sticks for ram to go at the same time. What is stranger is that it only boots to POST about 1 in 5 times and then hangs at the windows logo screen. When it doesn't boot all my monitor states is no signal (which is what it does as standard and is not an error message). I will leave it for now, and when I get paid get a new PC. I would still be interested in ideas as I may make it my mission to fix it over the coming months (when I fix it, my son can have it - he is 6 now so by the time it is done he will be a teenager and need a PC for school

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I would suggest doing a CHKDSK if you get the opportunity to. If you have errors on your drive then certain driver files might be corrupted when loaded causing crashes after initial booting.

If it fixes the problem but the problem then reoccurs in the future, then your drive might be too old to deal with NTFS's abuse of read/writes.

The only other problem might be bad RAM where a certain area of the RAM is bad so when something is loaded to that area it becomes corrupted. Due to the nature of how the computer loads things to memory it's likely that a different driver could occupy the same space with each reboot, causing the problem to change everytime you boot.

Theres not a lot you can do about bad RAM other than replace it or learn how to exclude the Bad addresses from use.

 

Thanks for the suggestion I will give it a try if I can get it to boot up far enough

 

It really sounds like overheating. Try making absolutely certain of the contact between the CPU and the fansink. Make sure the fansink is clean by blowing it out. Make sure that the fan is rotating.

 

I was going to suggest overheating right from the start. It might not even be your processor overheating. It could be your video card overheating. Take a look at the card and make sure the fan and heatsink on it are both functioning properly.

 

I did not think overheating would be a problem from a cold start. If the PC has been off for hours then it stilll won't boot. To be honest it seems to boot better when the PC has warmed up a bit - usually takes about 5-6 boots just to get to POST

 

a loose or worn connection inside of the computer fits the symptoms.
i would check that the supply connectors are firmly inserted and tight.
also check the RAM chips in their connections.

as metal warms it expands which explains why you have better luck with a warm machine.

i would give your RAM chips and their connections a thorough going over maybe even replacing them.

 

I don't think it is the ram as I tried booting with no ram to see if it would beep, same thing as before took 4-5 attempts for the computer to beep that there was no memory

 

What model Motherboard is it? I looked in your list of system specs, but didn't see the model/brand.

 

I am not sure, I think when I have had it in pieces it is a northbridge. Just had a quick look and the L4S5M is printed on the motherboard if that means anything.

 

Right I am looking for a new PC and have found this for €499. What are peoples views on value for money and futureabiity.

http://www.surcouf.com/Catalogue/ficheproduit.aspx?idproduct=9612471

 

if you find out what the problem was with your old machine will you post the solution? that is if you can find the thread again

 

Hmm---- loooks like you may have this board......I think:
http://www.ecs.com.tw/ECSWeb/Produc...&LanID=9&DetailID=24&DetailName=Specification


OK--New question-
1. Can you get into BIOS?
2. If you pull up BIOS, and don't do anything (just leave it sitting there indefinately on whatever BIOS screen) does it crash after 20 minutes, or does it run without a problem?

 

Sometimes I can get to the bios, and if i can then it does not seem to crash at all. Also the same things goes for when I was trying to recover the system with the recovery discs, whilst in Symantec Ghost the system would run.

 

You said *sometimes* you can get BIOS to run? Does this mean that sometimes BIOS doesn't run? What does your computer do when you have difficulty getting into BIOS?

 

the computer will only boot at all about 1 in 5 attempts. If the computer boots then I can access the bios otherwise nothing happens so I cannot access the bios

 

I'm almost convinced that's a video card problem. Your motherboard and everything else is probably fine. You should probably just swap out the video card.

If you are in the US, I'd recommend this one (compatible with 4x AGP):
http://www.compusa.com/products/product_info.asp?product_code=316267&pfp=cat3

 

Thanks for all your help, I will get a new video card and see. I now have the additional problem of not having a complete operating system due to the corrupted recovery disc so when I get time I will sort that too. Is is legal for me to obtain a copy of XP from elsewhere and use my OEM licence as I will still be a licenced user