I was wondering there were any suggestions on how I can better identify what
could be wrong with my PC

It has just started hanging on a regular basis to the point where it is now
completely unstable. All of this has happened during the past week

Sometimes it hangs during the first stages of booting and doesn't even
switch the monitor out of standby

More frequently it fails during boot up phase while chkdsk is running. In
this case it just freezes and all disk activity stops

If I can get it to boot up and log in, it then freezes

In all of the cases above there has not been an error message or anything in
the Event Log

I haven't added any new hardware or loaded new software recently. We did
have a few power cuts during the past week and this may have caused
something to fail.

It's a dual boot system (win98) and has been since day 1. I was wondering if
there were any diagnostics of something I could run to help determine what
was wrong and help pin point where the problem is.

Thanks for you help

Q

This sounds like a hardware problem. Often they leave no traces in logs.

Power outages (which are often accompanied by surges) can damage hardware.

You can run diagnostics that are themselves DOS-floppy based and don't
involve the OS at all. They are usually a diskette image that you expand
to a floppy.

Drive manufacturers' websites have such downloadable diagnostics for
their drives (specifically); if you don't see one, call tech support.

DocMemory, a free download from simmtester.com, is a good RAM tester.

Various peripheral cards, particularly the video card, can also cause
your symptoms, as can mainboard damage.

It's arduous and lengthy, but if the downloadable drive and RAM
diagnostics don't see anything wrong, you can try removing cards and
even trying them in other machines, in order to pinpoint the problem.

If you can get into BIOS, you might check that no important settings
have changed.

Quiller wrote:

> I was wondering there were any suggestions on how I can better identify what
> could be wrong with my PC
>
> It has just started hanging on a regular basis to the point where it is now
> completely unstable. All of this has happened during the past week
>
> Sometimes it hangs during the first stages of booting and doesn't even
> switch the monitor out of standby
>
> More frequently it fails during boot up phase while chkdsk is running. In
> this case it just freezes and all disk activity stops
>
> If I can get it to boot up and log in, it then freezes
>
> In all of the cases above there has not been an error message or anything in
> the Event Log
>
> I haven't added any new hardware or loaded new software recently. We did
> have a few power cuts during the past week and this may have caused
> something to fail.
>
> It's a dual boot system (win98) and has been since day 1. I was wondering if
> there were any diagnostics of something I could run to help determine what
> was wrong and help pin point where the problem is.
>
> Thanks for you help
>
> Q
>
>
>
>
>
>

Thanks Dan

I've downloaded this and will give it a try. It will at least eliminate one
part

If anyone else has other suggestions or know of utilities to test other
parts of the system, it would be much appreciated. The processor is an AMD
2000XP on a Shuttle AK32A motherboard

Q



"Dan Seur" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:#(E-Mail Removed)...
> This sounds like a hardware problem. Often they leave no traces in logs.
>
> Power outages (which are often accompanied by surges) can damage hardware.
>
> You can run diagnostics that are themselves DOS-floppy based and don't
> involve the OS at all. They are usually a diskette image that you expand
> to a floppy.
>
> Drive manufacturers' websites have such downloadable diagnostics for
> their drives (specifically); if you don't see one, call tech support.
>
> DocMemory, a free download from simmtester.com, is a good RAM tester.
>
> Various peripheral cards, particularly the video card, can also cause
> your symptoms, as can mainboard damage.
>
> It's arduous and lengthy, but if the downloadable drive and RAM
> diagnostics don't see anything wrong, you can try removing cards and
> even trying them in other machines, in order to pinpoint the problem.
>
> If you can get into BIOS, you might check that no important settings
> have changed.
>
> Quiller wrote:
>
> > I was wondering there were any suggestions on how I can better identify
what
> > could be wrong with my PC
> >
> > It has just started hanging on a regular basis to the point where it is
now
> > completely unstable. All of this has happened during the past week
> >
> > Sometimes it hangs during the first stages of booting and doesn't even
> > switch the monitor out of standby
> >
> > More frequently it fails during boot up phase while chkdsk is running.
In
> > this case it just freezes and all disk activity stops
> >
> > If I can get it to boot up and log in, it then freezes
> >
> > In all of the cases above there has not been an error message or
anything in
> > the Event Log
> >
> > I haven't added any new hardware or loaded new software recently. We did
> > have a few power cuts during the past week and this may have caused
> > something to fail.
> >
> > It's a dual boot system (win98) and has been since day 1. I was
wondering if
> > there were any diagnostics of something I could run to help determine
what
> > was wrong and help pin point where the problem is.
> >
> > Thanks for you help
> >
> > Q
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
>

Open the case.
Using a good flashlight, inspect the motherboard for swollen/leaking or
burst capacitors.
Pay particular attention to those close to the CPU.
If you see any damaged capacitors, you'll need to replace the mainboard.

Capacitors are those tall cylinders that look like high-rise buildings on
the motherboard landscape.


"Quiller" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:(E-Mail Removed)...
> I was wondering there were any suggestions on how I can better identify
what
> could be wrong with my PC
>
> It has just started hanging on a regular basis to the point where it is
now
> completely unstable. All of this has happened during the past week
>
> Sometimes it hangs during the first stages of booting and doesn't even
> switch the monitor out of standby
>
> More frequently it fails during boot up phase while chkdsk is running. In
> this case it just freezes and all disk activity stops
>
> If I can get it to boot up and log in, it then freezes
>
> In all of the cases above there has not been an error message or anything
in
> the Event Log
>
> I haven't added any new hardware or loaded new software recently. We did
> have a few power cuts during the past week and this may have caused
> something to fail.
>
> It's a dual boot system (win98) and has been since day 1. I was wondering
if
> there were any diagnostics of something I could run to help determine what
> was wrong and help pin point where the problem is.
>
> Thanks for you help
>
> Q
>
>
>
>
>
>

Thanks for your suggestions.

It was the memory

Q


"Colon Terminus" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:bs6Vc.249469$(E-Mail Removed)...
>
> Open the case.
> Using a good flashlight, inspect the motherboard for swollen/leaking or
> burst capacitors.
> Pay particular attention to those close to the CPU.
> If you see any damaged capacitors, you'll need to replace the mainboard.
>
> Capacitors are those tall cylinders that look like high-rise buildings on
> the motherboard landscape.
>
>
> "Quiller" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
> news:(E-Mail Removed)...
> > I was wondering there were any suggestions on how I can better identify
> what
> > could be wrong with my PC
> >
> > It has just started hanging on a regular basis to the point where it is
> now
> > completely unstable. All of this has happened during the past week
> >
> > Sometimes it hangs during the first stages of booting and doesn't even
> > switch the monitor out of standby
> >
> > More frequently it fails during boot up phase while chkdsk is running.
In
> > this case it just freezes and all disk activity stops
> >
> > If I can get it to boot up and log in, it then freezes
> >
> > In all of the cases above there has not been an error message or
anything
> in
> > the Event Log
> >
> > I haven't added any new hardware or loaded new software recently. We did
> > have a few power cuts during the past week and this may have caused
> > something to fail.
> >
> > It's a dual boot system (win98) and has been since day 1. I was
wondering
> if
> > there were any diagnostics of something I could run to help determine
what
> > was wrong and help pin point where the problem is.
> >
> > Thanks for you help
> >
> > Q
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
>
>