G
Guest
I am at my wits end and any suggestions from an expert would be greatly
appreciated. (I'm sorry if this is the incorrect section of the forum to post
this question.)
1) I am on a PC I bought back in 2001 and I don't have the money to buy a
new one - because of no job and therefore no money.
2) At first, back at the end of 2006, I was just experiencing random
re-starts.
3) I saved my files and formatted my HD. The problem still persists.
4) Bought what I thought would solve my problem - a system optimizer touted
to be the best one according to some reviews, in order to diagnose my
problem. That was a really DUMB move on my part because it made things
worse, I uninstalled it but I'm sure it's down in the registry and after the
fact,
I've read other horror stories about the s/w crashing other peoples PC's and
losing all their data. Thank God that didn't happen to me.
5) I then did some KB research and thought that it could be my drivers,
chipset, a bad piece of hardware or heat issues.
6) I updated the drivers and chipset last week, even thought I didn't have
any "splats" in the device manager. I lost my sound for a few days, but I got
it back when I uninstalled the "new" culprit driver that was recommended from
Driver Agent's w/s.
7) I cracked open the case this past weekend and cleaned it thoroughly and
checked the power supply with a tester - it's still good.
8) I then thought that maybe it's just as simple as a heat issue, because I
had my tower in a desk cabinet. So, when I finished the cleaning and power
supply
testing, I put it on the floor, underneath the desk about 2-3" from the side
so it would get better air circulation. (BTW, I also know the fan is working
too and no unusual sounds at any re-starts.)
8) About the only thing I have left to check is to see if my RAM is failing.
9) It has also been suggested that I might need to upgrade my BIOS. That's
way too scary for me to even think about without consulting an expert on this
forum.
Because of all of these changes and I'm sure, that damn optimizer program I
so foolishly bought, I am now experiencing a double count of the RAM at first
boot-up, and "Windows cannot start normally" black screens twice at first
boot-up as well sometimes, and I'm STILL experiencing random re-starts during
the day.
So far today in 2 hours time I had 12 re-starts and it took me through the
double count of the RAM at boot-up again and the "Windows could not start
normally" black screen 7 times before I could finally boot-up today!!!
PC Stats - OS - MS Windows XP Pro Version - 5.1.2600 SP2
Processor - Intel (810) Celeron, 952Mhz
BIOS Version/Date - Award S/W Int'l., 6.00 PG, 08/28/2000
RAM -512MB
What should I do next? Check the RAM first? Upgrade the BIOS, and btw, can I
get it somewhere for free (from a reputable source please)? Should I do a
clean install first before the BIOS upgrade?
Or maybe I should just drop-kick it into the river and start over with
another tower? (even though I really don't have the moey to do that)
Please Help!!!
appreciated. (I'm sorry if this is the incorrect section of the forum to post
this question.)
1) I am on a PC I bought back in 2001 and I don't have the money to buy a
new one - because of no job and therefore no money.
2) At first, back at the end of 2006, I was just experiencing random
re-starts.
3) I saved my files and formatted my HD. The problem still persists.
4) Bought what I thought would solve my problem - a system optimizer touted
to be the best one according to some reviews, in order to diagnose my
problem. That was a really DUMB move on my part because it made things
worse, I uninstalled it but I'm sure it's down in the registry and after the
fact,
I've read other horror stories about the s/w crashing other peoples PC's and
losing all their data. Thank God that didn't happen to me.
5) I then did some KB research and thought that it could be my drivers,
chipset, a bad piece of hardware or heat issues.
6) I updated the drivers and chipset last week, even thought I didn't have
any "splats" in the device manager. I lost my sound for a few days, but I got
it back when I uninstalled the "new" culprit driver that was recommended from
Driver Agent's w/s.
7) I cracked open the case this past weekend and cleaned it thoroughly and
checked the power supply with a tester - it's still good.
8) I then thought that maybe it's just as simple as a heat issue, because I
had my tower in a desk cabinet. So, when I finished the cleaning and power
supply
testing, I put it on the floor, underneath the desk about 2-3" from the side
so it would get better air circulation. (BTW, I also know the fan is working
too and no unusual sounds at any re-starts.)
8) About the only thing I have left to check is to see if my RAM is failing.
9) It has also been suggested that I might need to upgrade my BIOS. That's
way too scary for me to even think about without consulting an expert on this
forum.
Because of all of these changes and I'm sure, that damn optimizer program I
so foolishly bought, I am now experiencing a double count of the RAM at first
boot-up, and "Windows cannot start normally" black screens twice at first
boot-up as well sometimes, and I'm STILL experiencing random re-starts during
the day.
So far today in 2 hours time I had 12 re-starts and it took me through the
double count of the RAM at boot-up again and the "Windows could not start
normally" black screen 7 times before I could finally boot-up today!!!
PC Stats - OS - MS Windows XP Pro Version - 5.1.2600 SP2
Processor - Intel (810) Celeron, 952Mhz
BIOS Version/Date - Award S/W Int'l., 6.00 PG, 08/28/2000
RAM -512MB
What should I do next? Check the RAM first? Upgrade the BIOS, and btw, can I
get it somewhere for free (from a reputable source please)? Should I do a
clean install first before the BIOS upgrade?
Or maybe I should just drop-kick it into the river and start over with
another tower? (even though I really don't have the moey to do that)
Please Help!!!