Computer crashes after turning on

[Markkk]

I have had a continuing problem with my computer crashing after I turn it on
in the morning. It usually crashes a couple of times in the first 15 minutes
or so. I cleaned out the dust from inside the tower a few months ago, and
that fixed it for a awhile. When it returned I cleaned out the remaining dust
I had missed before, and it was OK for a few days. But the crashing came
back. So I reloaded all my software and operating system, figuring a bad
virus might have corrupted something on the disk. Well, it ran a couple days
without crashing after that, but now the crashing is as bad as ever. It
doesn’t seem to matter whether I scan for viruses or not. I’ve run
Malwarebytes’ Anti-Malware and Semantic scans to no effect. Does anyone have
any other ideas about how to fix this problem?

 

[sgopus]

does it display an error code ie BSOD Blue screen of death windows stop
error code.
please post back the exact wording of the error and the numbers.

 

[Paul]

I have had a continuing problem with my computer crashing after I turn it on
in the morning. It usually crashes a couple of times in the first 15 minutes
or so. I cleaned out the dust from inside the tower a few months ago, and
that fixed it for a awhile. When it returned I cleaned out the remaining dust
I had missed before, and it was OK for a few days. But the crashing came
back. So I reloaded all my software and operating system, figuring a bad
virus might have corrupted something on the disk. Well, it ran a couple days
without crashing after that, but now the crashing is as bad as ever. It
doesn’t seem to matter whether I scan for viruses or not. I’ve run
Malwarebytes’ Anti-Malware and Semantic scans to no effect. Does anyone have
any other ideas about how to fix this problem?

If the system calmly writes an error reason in the Event Viewer, it
might be software.

If you disable automatic restarts, such that an error results in a static
blue screen, does the system actually stop with a blue screen ? Or does it
just restart anyway, and ignore the automatic restart setting in Windows ?

If no error messages are left, and it appears to be an unstoppable hardware
crash and reboot, it could be

1) Bad power supply (the fact it stops after the system heats up,
makes this the most likely culprit). (I have a bad power supply here,
where the capacitors inside are leaking, and that caused instability
when the system was cold.)

2) Bad RAM.

The tests remain the same in any case.

1) memtest86+ from memtest.org . I run this for two complete passes,
booting from a memtest86+ CD or floppy. Since memtest is not a very
sensitive test, I then move on. If you do see errors, then by all
means, you have a problem. But if you don't see any errors in two
passes, then continue to the next test.

2) Prime95 from mersenne.org/freesoft . This is a multithreaded program,
which does a math calculation with a known answer. It can detect corruption
in memory or by the CPU. It also tends to draw a fair amount of power.
If you adjust the max memory tested, such that you leave 400MB for other
software, you can combine other tests.

3) I like to run something like one of the smaller 3DMark benchmarks, to help
crank up the video card heating. This one is a 40MB download. I can
run this while Prime95 runs in the background.

http://majorgeeks.com/3Dmark_d99.html

Now, if the system "falls over" or reboots, when doing (2) or (2)+(3),
then that would again, point to the power supply.

You should also listen carefully, when the system starts. Do any weird
noises come from the power supply when it is cold and you've just
turned it on ? That is what warned me I had a problem.

Paul

 

[Markkk]

Well that’s just it. The crashes are all different. There seems to be no
pattern to them. Some are BSOD crashes, but with all kinds of different
wording such as:

Page fault in non-paged area
IRQL not less or equal
No more IRP stack locations
Driver IRQL not less or equal
An attempt was made to write to read-only memory
PFN list corrupt
Bad pool header

And sometimes I get the BSOD without any error message.

Naturally the numbers accompanying these messages are always different, even
though the same error message may be displayed.

Other times I get black screen crashes, and sometimes the computer will
automatically reboot itself after a crash. Sometimes it freezes up and won’t
turn off at the power button, so I have to unplug it to restart it.
Occasionally, it makes horrible screeching noises when it crashes, but mostly
the fan just starts blowing hard. There are probably a few variations on the
crash that I haven’t mentioned, but you get the idea. A tough one to trouble
shoot.

 

[sgopus]

How old is your system?

it sounds like it's a hardware issue, I suggest you follow the advice of the
other response, good advice there. and or take it to a good repair shop.

 

[Sardine]

First thing I'd do is to try a different power supply.

Sardine

 

[db]

you might first look towards hard
ware as a probable cause for the
occasional issue.

check out devices via control panel>
systems and see if you have any
highlighted marks indicating a
problem with a device.

-------------------

another factor that may cause the
occasional issue is "updating".

so you may want to turn off your
auto updates for a couple of weeks
and see if this resolves the issue.

that being said, some third party
programs may also be set to update
every few days.

so I would disable the startups in
msconfig as well.

also, if I recall windows media also
has some kind of ability to check
the net for downloads or updates.

--
db·´¯`·...¸><)))º>
DatabaseBen, Retired Professional
- Systems Analyst
- Database Developer
- Accountancy
- Veteran of the Armed Forces
- @Hotmail.com
- nntp Postologist
~ "share the nirvana" - dbZen

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

[Jim]

Printer files are corrupt ?

Well that’s just it. The crashes are all different. There seems to be no
pattern to them. Some are BSOD crashes, but with all kinds of different
wording such as:

Page fault in non-paged area
IRQL not less or equal
No more IRP stack locations
Driver IRQL not less or equal
An attempt was made to write to read-only memory
PFN list corrupt
Bad pool header

And sometimes I get the BSOD without any error message.

Naturally the numbers accompanying these messages are always different, even
though the same error message may be displayed.

Other times I get black screen crashes, and sometimes the computer will
automatically reboot itself after a crash. Sometimes it freezes up and won’t
turn off at the power button, so I have to unplug it to restart it.
Occasionally, it makes horrible screeching noises when it crashes, but mostly
the fan just starts blowing hard. There are probably a few variations on the
crash that I haven’t mentioned, but you get the idea. A tough one to trouble
shoot.

 

[Stefan Patric]

Well that’s just it. The crashes are all different. There seems to be no
pattern to them. Some are BSOD crashes, but with all kinds of different
wording such as:

Page fault in non-paged area
IRQL not less or equal
No more IRP stack locations
Driver IRQL not less or equal
An attempt was made to write to read-only memory PFN list corrupt
Bad pool header

And sometimes I get the BSOD without any error message.

Naturally the numbers accompanying these messages are always different,
even though the same error message may be displayed.

Other times I get black screen crashes, and sometimes the computer will
automatically reboot itself after a crash. Sometimes it freezes up and
won’t turn off at the power button, so I have to unplug it to restart
it. Occasionally, it makes horrible screeching noises when it crashes,
but mostly the fan just starts blowing hard. There are probably a few
variations on the crash that I haven’t mentioned, but you get the idea.
A tough one to trouble shoot.

Yes, you're right. This is going to be a tough troubleshoot. The
screeching could be a failing hard drive. Or a bad fan. Or you could
have a bad PSU. Check the voltages. Or any number of other things. All
the crashes could have even damaged important system files in your OS.

Case in point: My previous system had similar intermittent problems.
Fortunately, it didn't fail as often as yours: every few days or it might
run fine for a couple of weeks or just hang when booting. I initially
thought it might be an overheating problem. It took 6 months to finally
trace down the problem: bad CPU.

In the process, I checked for bad RAM (all good), replaced the PSU (the
fan had failed), graphics card (it was a really old one anyway), and hard
drive (I was getting write/read errors), and cleaned everything so
thoroughly it could have passed a military, white glove inspection.
Still the problem persisted. Fortunately, one day, I had the side panel
off when the boot stalled. I checked the set of POST diagnostic LEDs on
the motherboard. The combination indicated the POST stalled at the CPU.
A few more boots, and the same thing. I had initially check them when I
first started investigating the problem, but had misread the combo and
thought the graphics card was the culprit, and then never bothered to
check them again until that day. Anyway, I put in another CPU. The
system ran fine for two more years when gave it to a friend. That was a
couple years ago, and it's still running fine. It's about 7 years old
now.

FWIW, the bad CPU was also causing, or contributing to, the read/write
errors on the hard drive. I cleaned up the drive, badblock checked it,
reformatted, and it's been working fine for the past two years in another
system.

So, hang in there. And don't take it to a tech. With what they charge
these days, it would be cheaper just to build or buy a new system.


Stef