Boots up SOMETIMES

[Day]

I turn off my computer every night. When I turn it on in the morning I
usually have to restart it 1-5 times. It gets stuck right before the
Windows XP startup screen appears. The little red light on my computer goes
out so I know it isn't just taking a long time thinking about it. But after
restarting it a few times it will work. And sometimes it just works the
first time. I searched the knowledge base and couldn't find any information
relating to this. I don't want to resort to re-installing Windows. Does
anyone have any ideas?
Thank You!

 

[Testy]

Sounds like a classic power supply problem to me.

Testy

 

[Day]

Could you explain further please?
Thanks

Sounds like a classic power supply problem to me.

Testy

 

[Testy]

When you power up it takes a lot of juice to get things going. If you need
to restart several times before it boots then most likely you are not
getting enough power. What are the specs on your power supply and how old is
it? It may be time to replace it.

Testy

 

[GSV Three Minds in a Can]

I turn off my computer every night. When I turn it on in the morning I
usually have to restart it 1-5 times. It gets stuck right before the
Windows XP startup screen appears. The little red light on my computer goes
out so I know it isn't just taking a long time thinking about it. But after
restarting it a few times it will work. And sometimes it just works the
first time. I searched the knowledge base and couldn't find any information
relating to this. I don't want to resort to re-installing Windows. Does
anyone have any ideas?

If it's that random it sounds much more like a hardware problem than a
software problem. You've had some suggestions about stripping out
whatever hardware is 'optional' (sound cards and the like), but before
you get all brutal, try:

a) memory test (www.memtest86.com). Need to boot this from floppy.
Easier and cheaper than swapping the memory out.

b) See if the problem persists if you boot in safe mode (where most
startup programs and drivers are not loaded). If it goes away, use
msconfig (instead of safe mode) to disable things selectively, until you
know what causes it. To get safemode option, hit F8 just after the BIOS
exits and before WinXP starts to load.

c) As someone said, it could be PSU, CPU, motherboard, or a host of
other problems. I assume you looked in the event log (my computer,
r-click, manage, event viewer) to see if anything was recorded during
these failed startups? If nothing these, try a 'logged boot', and see
what is loading at the point it hangs up.

 

[TonyP]

It could be one of your devices are going bad or there is a conflict. Try
taking all devices out except the video card and see if it boots up. If
that doesn't work, try replacing the RAM.

Hope this helps,

Tony

 

[Bruce Chambers]

Greetings --

Sounds like your motherboard's BIOS isn't WinXP-compatible.
Otherwise, it could be a piece of hardware that needs to get warmed up
before working properly.

Bruce Chambers

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