Sudden Shutdowns - Can't Restart

[Dave Wilson]

For the last couple of days my WinXP Home computer has been shutting
down on its own. When this happens everything looks normal and then
suddenly without noise of any kind, the screen is black and the
machine is unresponsive.

This has gotten progressively worse over the last 24 hours. At first
the machiine was usable for an hour or so. Now it happens during
startup. The Windows logo appears as normal, but immediately after it
finishes a blue screen appears for an instant and then the monitor
goes black before the blue screen can br read. On a subsequent
attempt, Checkdisk started and was verifying Drive C when the crash
occurred again. Since then when I try to start up, the monitor LED
continues to blink indicating that the monitor is turned on but the
computer isn't doing anything and the screen stays black.

Spontaneous shutdowns occurred back at the beginning of August. That
was solved with a good cleaning out of a lot of accumulated dust and a
new Antec True Power 400 power supply.

This time I opened the case and saw that there was some dust which I
cleaned out. All connections seem secure. CPU temp was 43c.

I don't think this is a virus/worm,etc. I run Norton A/V with
up-to-date definitions, Zone Alarm Pro, and Spysweeper.I,m also behind
the firewall built into the router and am running WinXP Home SP2.

On one of the successful boot-ups I got the "Windows has recovered
from a serious error message". This led to an MS web page suggesting
that the problem might relate to iomdisk.sys, an Iomega driver related
to a zip drive. I had uninstalled this drive and its software during
the August episode, but this driver stayed behind and had not caused a
problem as far as I can tell. However, when I managed to start
entering safe mode,I could see the various drivers being loaded. The
process stops when iomdisk.sys is reached.The hard disk activity light
continues but nothing further happens.

I tried running Memtest when I could still see the screen. It ran for
about 5 minutes, getting to test 23, pass 4, then seemed to stall. It
showed no errors to that point.

My machine:
FIC MB with onboard Raid 0.

AMD Athlon 2100.

A gig of Ram ( 2 512MB sticks)

Two WD 120 gig drives connected to the raid connectors.These drives
contain data. Another WD 120 gig drive for windows and programs. A
fourth WD 120 gig drive for backup.

Internal Plextor CDRW. External Sony DvD+/- RW. Maxtor one touch 250
gig for more backup.

What do I do?

 

[Malke]

For the last couple of days my WinXP Home computer has been shutting
down on its own. When this happens everything looks normal and then
suddenly without noise of any kind, the screen is black and the
machine is unresponsive.

This has gotten progressively worse over the last 24 hours. At first
the machiine was usable for an hour or so. Now it happens during
startup. The Windows logo appears as normal, but immediately after it
finishes a blue screen appears for an instant and then the monitor
goes black before the blue screen can br read. On a subsequent
attempt, Checkdisk started and was verifying Drive C when the crash
occurred again. Since then when I try to start up, the monitor LED
continues to blink indicating that the monitor is turned on but the
computer isn't doing anything and the screen stays black.

Spontaneous shutdowns occurred back at the beginning of August. That
was solved with a good cleaning out of a lot of accumulated dust and a
new Antec True Power 400 power supply.

This time I opened the case and saw that there was some dust which I
cleaned out. All connections seem secure. CPU temp was 43c.

I don't think this is a virus/worm,etc. I run Norton A/V with
up-to-date definitions, Zone Alarm Pro, and Spysweeper.I,m also behind
the firewall built into the router and am running WinXP Home SP2.

On one of the successful boot-ups I got the "Windows has recovered
from a serious error message". This led to an MS web page suggesting
that the problem might relate to iomdisk.sys, an Iomega driver related
to a zip drive. I had uninstalled this drive and its software during
the August episode, but this driver stayed behind and had not caused a
problem as far as I can tell. However, when I managed to start
entering safe mode,I could see the various drivers being loaded. The
process stops when iomdisk.sys is reached.The hard disk activity light
continues but nothing further happens.

I tried running Memtest when I could still see the screen. It ran for
about 5 minutes, getting to test 23, pass 4, then seemed to stall. It
showed no errors to that point.

My machine:
FIC MB with onboard Raid 0.

AMD Athlon 2100.

A gig of Ram ( 2 512MB sticks)

Two WD 120 gig drives connected to the raid connectors.These drives
contain data. Another WD 120 gig drive for windows and programs. A
fourth WD 120 gig drive for backup.

Internal Plextor CDRW. External Sony DvD+/- RW. Maxtor one touch 250
gig for more backup.

What do I do?

You've done a good job of troubleshooting. It certainly sounds to me
like you have hardware failures. If you can't even run Memtest, the
problems are occurring way before the operating system is loaded. Your
motherboard could be failing, the processor could be damaged, etc. You
might want to take the machine to a good local repair shop where they
can test the motherboard and processor for you.

Malke

 

[Alex Nichol]

I tried running Memtest when I could still see the screen. It ran for
about 5 minutes, getting to test 23, pass 4, then seemed to stall. It
showed no errors to that point.

My machine:
FIC MB with onboard Raid 0.

AMD Athlon 2100.

A gig of Ram ( 2 512MB sticks)

Two WD 120 gig drives connected to the raid connectors.These drives
contain data. Another WD 120 gig drive for windows and programs. A
fourth WD 120 gig drive for backup.

Internal Plextor CDRW. External Sony DvD+/- RW. Maxtor one touch 250
gig for more backup.

Try using just one of the memory sticks (try each in turn). This sounds
like a developing RAM fault

 

[Dave Wilson]

Try using just one of the memory sticks (try each in turn). This sounds
like a developing RAM fault

Just now I tried pulling one of my two ram sticks and I thought I had
it solved. Startup seemed normal except with the addition of checkdisk
running. But this time checkdisk completed and windows loaded up to
and including the login screen. But my wireless USB mouse and wired
keyboard hadn't come along for the ride and while I thought about what
to do, the computer shut down again.

Frustrated, I went about reinstalling the ram stick without paying
attention to what I was doing. I managed to put it back in without it
being properly seated. When I started it up, the monitor didn't
respond and as I fumed, so did the computer. I smelled burning and
unplugged it right away. I don't see any visible damage but something
most likely got fried. Since I can't see what's going on its tough to
troubleshoot.

I could use an upgrade anyway, so I'm thinking about a new MB,CPU and
ram. But that's a radical fix. Any ideas?

 

[Updoc]

Check the power supply and check the CPU fan. Sounds like either a thermal
issue or a voltage issue.