Motherboard causing problem?

[Guest]

Please help me certain questions I have.

Is there such thing as a hardware that fails but you cannot detect it unless
the OS has been reformatted/reinstalled and used for a while?

What I mean is, whenever my computer has a problem, the technicians cannot
detect the cause and always blame it on system corruption. They test the
hardwares and always say there is no problem. The problems I encountered over
the past few months include:

System corruption
Reboot and Select Proper Boot Device Message (in which after I restart
several times it boots properly again)
XP continuously rebooting after turning on and going to five options menu,
in which picking any would just restart again. However, after a while, it
boots successfully.

Please help. I've determined that it isn't the Hard Drive or drivers or
viruses/spyware causing this.

 

[Glen]

It is possible to have an intermittent problem but not one that only shows
after reformat and reinstall. That is, a reformat and reinstall would not be
the trigger, other than a driver that's incorporated into XP but that would
clear up on installing a stable driver. If the system is fine after reformat
reinstall and the problem always pops up after a few weeks that points to a
piece of software you are installing or a driver you install after a few
weeks of use.

Have a look in computer management event viewer to see if there is any
listed error pointing to the cause.

All I can suggest is strip the computer down to basics. Motherboard, CPU,
graphic card or onboard graphic chip, hard drive, mouse and keyboard.
Reinstall windows and install drivers for the listed hardware only. Do not
install any drivers for anything else including sound. Don't install any
software. Run the computer for a while. Only you know the symptoms so you
decide if it is now stable.

Reboots like you say are generally caused by driver problems or hardware
faults like something on the motherboard shorting out. See what event viewer
shows.

You say its not caused by a driver or virus spyware. Why do you say that?
What steps have you taken. List any and all steps so we can help. What AV
and spyware program have you run?

 

[Sharon F]

Please help me certain questions I have.

Is there such thing as a hardware that fails but you cannot detect it unless
the OS has been reformatted/reinstalled and used for a while?

What I mean is, whenever my computer has a problem, the technicians cannot
detect the cause and always blame it on system corruption. They test the
hardwares and always say there is no problem. The problems I encountered over
the past few months include:

System corruption
Reboot and Select Proper Boot Device Message (in which after I restart
several times it boots properly again)
XP continuously rebooting after turning on and going to five options menu,
in which picking any would just restart again. However, after a while, it
boots successfully.

Please help. I've determined that it isn't the Hard Drive or drivers or
viruses/spyware causing this.

Persistent and repeated corruption is most likely due to hardware faults.
Could be bad (or underrated) power supply, bad ram, motherboard problem...
and the list goes on.

Repeated failure to detect a boot device at POST (way before Windows even
loads) is also a cause for concern.

My opinion is that you need better techs checking the system. Most likely
your hardware problem is subtle instead of obvious. More extensive testing
than what the current techs are performing is needed to find it.

Example: A hairline crack that only causes problems when the component has
heated up from use. The heat expands the crack and the problem becomes more
pronounced. Or a wire or connection that is weak and gives contact
intermittently. Contacts might simply need cleaning but doubt that is all
of the problem. Just a few examples of what may be going on...

 

[Guest]

Ok that a lot of suggestions so thanks guys.

I use Trend PC-Cillin 2005 that gets updated almost everyday. I also used
their online scan one I think housecall something and detected none. I use
Windows Defender and it also gets updated. Event Viewer never ever writes
anything bad like errors or so.

After I get past the problems that stop to annoy me, for the rest of the day
(sometimes reaching 6 hours of use) the computer works just fine.

 

[Guest]

My hardwares are just barely a year old.

Pentium 4 3.0 Ghz
512 MB RAM 400 (1 stick)
Seagate Hard Drive 80 Gig ST380011A
Redfox ATI Radeon 9800 SE
P4P800-X ASUS Motherboard

Also contacts of both the RAM sticks and video card have been cleaned before.

 

[LS \(V\)]

Hello;
If you are using "Defender Pro" for Anti-Virus, I would suggest you get a
reliable Anti-Virus program and do another scan. That one just won't keep it
clean for you.
I have had several clients using it ( w/good updates), and it fails to
sucessfully find and clean some viruses, especially "Trojanhorse Downloader
viruses.
I would suggest AVG Professional by Grisoft.
(No I am not an employeee of theirs. just that theirs works the best I have
found in my 34 years of computer servicing.)
Also would suggest SpyBot Search & Destroy to find and clean adware /
malware from your system.

 

[Sharon F]

My hardwares are just barely a year old.

Pentium 4 3.0 Ghz
512 MB RAM 400 (1 stick)
Seagate Hard Drive 80 Gig ST380011A
Redfox ATI Radeon 9800 SE
P4P800-X ASUS Motherboard

Also contacts of both the RAM sticks and video card have been cleaned before.

Brand new hardware can be faulty too. If still under a year old and you do
track down a hardware problem, you'll want to follow up with any warranties
that are still be in effect.