PC can't reboot!

R

RC

My PC is Windows XP Professional Service Pack 2.
Recently my PC acts very strange as following:

1. When I reboot/restart, the PC keep rebooting,
never able come up the Windows login. Sometime
get the choose to boot, I have to boot as Safe Mode.
Sometime I MUST turn off the power, the restart.
By the way, I ALWAYS do shutdown, never just direct
turn off power.

2. Sometime the PC auto reboot when I working in the middle
of something! Then something happen as describe in 1.

Well, I assume have virus in my PC. Then I use McAfee anti-virus
software to scan the PC, found no virus.

Then I back up the OS, bought a new hard disk, replaced the old
disk. Reinstalled the Windows OS. It seems better, but the problem(s)
do not go away. I described in 1. still happen!

Well, the last thing I am going to try is buy new memory RAM, replace
them.

Anyone out there has similar experiences like that? Do you
have solution(s) for me? Because recently Microsoft had several
Windows updates.

Thank Q very much in advance!
 
M

Malke

RC said:
My PC is Windows XP Professional Service Pack 2.
Recently my PC acts very strange as following:

1. When I reboot/restart, the PC keep rebooting,
never able come up the Windows login. Sometime
get the choose to boot, I have to boot as Safe Mode.
Sometime I MUST turn off the power, the restart.
By the way, I ALWAYS do shutdown, never just direct
turn off power.

2. Sometime the PC auto reboot when I working in the middle
of something! Then something happen as describe in 1.

Well, I assume have virus in my PC. Then I use McAfee anti-virus
software to scan the PC, found no virus.

Then I back up the OS, bought a new hard disk, replaced the old
disk. Reinstalled the Windows OS. It seems better, but the problem(s)
do not go away. I described in 1. still happen!

Well, the last thing I am going to try is buy new memory RAM, replace
them.

Anyone out there has similar experiences like that? Do you
have solution(s) for me? Because recently Microsoft had several
Windows updates.

Thank Q very much in advance!

Instead of just doing scattershot troubleshooting where you run out and
buy new stuff, do more methodical troubleshooting. I would suspect the
RAM, or the power supply, or overheating. Here are general
troubleshooting steps. Obviously, not everything will apply to you. All
troubleshooting should be done systematically, only making one change
at a time and then testing after each change before going on to the
next item.

1) Open the computer and run it open, cleaning out all dust bunnies and
observing all fans (overheating will cause system freezing). Obviously
you can't do this with a laptop, but you can hear if the fan is running
and feel if the laptop is getting too hot.

2) Test the RAM - I like Memtest86+ from www.memtest.org. Obviously, you
have to get the program from a working machine. You will either
download the precompiled Windows binary to make a bootable floppy or
the .iso to make a bootable cd. If you want to use the latter, you'll
need to have third-party burning software on the machine where you
download the file - XP's built-in burning capability won't do the job.
In either case, boot with the media you made. The test will run
immediately. Let the test run for an hour or two - unless errors are
seen immediately. If you get any errors, replace the RAM.

3) Test the hard drive with a diagnostic utility from the mftr. Download
the file and make a bootable floppy or cd with it. Boot with the media
and do a thorough test. If the drive has physical errors, replace it.

4) The power supply may be going bad or be inadequate for the devices
you have in the system. The adequacy issue doesn't really apply to a
laptop, although of course the power supply can be faulty.

5) Test the motherboard with something like TuffTest from
www.tufftest.com. Sometimes this is useful, and sometimes it isn't.

Testing hardware failures often involves swapping out suspected parts
with known-good parts. If you can't do the testing yourself and/or are
uncomfortable opening your computer, take the machine to a professional
computer repair shop (not your local equivalent of BigStoreUSA).

Malke
 
R

RC

Malke said:
Instead of just doing scattershot troubleshooting where you run out and
buy new stuff, do more methodical troubleshooting. I would suspect the
RAM, or the power supply, or overheating.

Is/are there Windows XP diagnose softwares
to diagnose a PC's CPU, RAM, hard disk,
IDE controller, network card, motherboard, etc.?

In the old time, Windows 3.1 (during 80's)
came with diagnose software. Now we need to
download them each one individually from 3rd parties.
 
Y

Yeeeha

Try this, put your pointer on start, then on RUN and type in "msconfig",
then select the startup tab. UNCHECK all items and reboot. It should reboot
just fine at this point. after rebooting, go back to run and "msconfig
should still be there, click on OK, the one by one, put a check mark back in
each program that loads on startup. Continue until you start experiencing
the problem again. Once the problem reappears, I'd suggest uninstalling it
first and make sure you wipe out/delete the folder (if not already deleted)
after you uninstall the program.

Then I'd suggest trying to re-install the same program and reboot to see if
it happens again and if so, contact the sofware manufacturer and see if
there's an update/ patch for the program, if not contact their support dept.
for assistance.

If none of the above helps, then I'd take the cover off and remove one
memory module (system powered off) at a time, reboot and see which if any
causes the problem to go away. Is your memory module parity or non-parity?
You can tell simply by counting the chips on each side (if there are chips
on both sides). If the number is EVEN, then it is a non-parity
SIMM/DIMM/SDRAM or whatever. If it has an odd number of chips it is a parity
(meaning error correcting) memory module.

Although the first steps I suggested may be a bit time consuming, you're
more likely to find one of those to be your problem rather than a memory
module, but memory is not to be left out. I would not suggest that it's a
power supply problem, if it was you wouldn't be able to start the drive up.
Are you using any Y adapters to supply power to other drives or devices you
may have installed on the PC after you bought it? If so, maybe your power
supply isn't providing enough power for all of the demands placed on it by
your hardware.

Have you tried using the system restore feature and going back as far as you
can (date wise) and restore it to that point and see if that makes any
difference? Supposedly any applications/programs will still be functional if
you restore to an earlier date.

One last possibility could be the on board disk controller and if all else
fails find and purchase one by searching at
http://www.pricewatch.com, generally they have a good listing there with
links to dealers that offer fair prices but use a name brand controller,
like Promise Technology as well as others too. Don't try to buy the
cheapest one you can find as it may cause more problems in the long run.

Former Big Blue Tech Support Dude :)
 

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