XP will not load on reboot...

[adelim15]

Here's the problem.

Working on my home pc, I clicked on an icon on my desktop
and my computer shuts off, like if someone hit the power
button.no warning at all.computer dead. Computer would
not boot again until either unplugging the power cable
from the supply or manually turning the supply off then on
again. I guess this eliminates the power supply issue, or
lack thereof, considering I've had this setup for months.
After that initial crash, I was able to reboot and run
WinXP. Out of curiosity, I ran a Live Update of Norton
Antivirus and scanned my comp for any viruses and found
nothing. Then after minutes of surfing the net, the comp
shuts down again. I reboot, but now when the comp boots,
it shuts off again automatically at random points at boot-
up.sometimes right after powering up, sometimes at the
motherboard splash screen, sometimes at the Windows XP
splash screen. Either way, it will not load up XP and I
can't get to my desktop. Although, it will let me boot to
DOS safely with a boot disk. I have also tried rebooting
after unplugging both secondary and slave drives to
alleviate the strain on the power supply, and still no
luck.

Definitely not a heat issue because of the following..

· I've had one of the doors off the tower for a few
months now (right-side door).
· Lots of fans inside the tower.input & output fan
on power supply, new aftermarket fan and heatsinks on the
Ti4200 vid card, OEM fan on the P4 3.06, and PCI cooler
blowing directly on my vid card.
· I let the POS cool down for an hour. I came back
and still.the same result.

That's where I left it last night. I have not had a
chance to try rebooting to Safe Mode yet or try running
Scandisk from DOS (I'm at work now). When I get home I
will try both. I still think I have an undetected virus,
but I don't know how to identify it.

Can anyone shed any light on my problem? Fixes? Virus
names? What should I do next? Any suggestions?
Any comments will be greatly appreciated.

 

[Cerridwen]

Here's the problem.

Working on my home pc, I clicked on an icon on my desktop
and my computer shuts off, like if someone hit the power
button.no warning at all.computer dead. Computer would
not boot again until either unplugging the power cable
from the supply or manually turning the supply off then on
again. I guess this eliminates the power supply issue, or
lack thereof, considering I've had this setup for months.
After that initial crash, I was able to reboot and run
WinXP. Out of curiosity, I ran a Live Update of Norton
Antivirus and scanned my comp for any viruses and found
nothing. Then after minutes of surfing the net, the comp
shuts down again. I reboot, but now when the comp boots,
it shuts off again automatically at random points at boot-
up.sometimes right after powering up, sometimes at the
motherboard splash screen, sometimes at the Windows XP
splash screen. Either way, it will not load up XP and I
can't get to my desktop. Although, it will let me boot to
DOS safely with a boot disk. I have also tried rebooting
after unplugging both secondary and slave drives to
alleviate the strain on the power supply, and still no
luck.

Definitely not a heat issue because of the following..

· I've had one of the doors off the tower for a few
months now (right-side door).
· Lots of fans inside the tower.input & output fan
on power supply, new aftermarket fan and heatsinks on the
Ti4200 vid card, OEM fan on the P4 3.06, and PCI cooler
blowing directly on my vid card.
· I let the POS cool down for an hour. I came back
and still.the same result.

That's where I left it last night. I have not had a
chance to try rebooting to Safe Mode yet or try running
Scandisk from DOS (I'm at work now). When I get home I
will try both. I still think I have an undetected virus,
but I don't know how to identify it.

Can anyone shed any light on my problem? Fixes? Virus
names? What should I do next? Any suggestions?
Any comments will be greatly appreciated.

I know what you say, but it's got 'overheating' stamped all over it. It's
defintely NOT a software issue.

 

[D.Currie]

Here's the problem.

Working on my home pc, I clicked on an icon on my desktop
and my computer shuts off, like if someone hit the power
button.no warning at all.computer dead. Computer would
not boot again until either unplugging the power cable
from the supply or manually turning the supply off then on
again. I guess this eliminates the power supply issue, or
lack thereof, considering I've had this setup for months.
After that initial crash, I was able to reboot and run
WinXP. Out of curiosity, I ran a Live Update of Norton
Antivirus and scanned my comp for any viruses and found
nothing. Then after minutes of surfing the net, the comp
shuts down again. I reboot, but now when the comp boots,
it shuts off again automatically at random points at boot-
up.sometimes right after powering up, sometimes at the
motherboard splash screen, sometimes at the Windows XP
splash screen. Either way, it will not load up XP and I
can't get to my desktop. Although, it will let me boot to
DOS safely with a boot disk. I have also tried rebooting
after unplugging both secondary and slave drives to
alleviate the strain on the power supply, and still no
luck.

Definitely not a heat issue because of the following..

· I've had one of the doors off the tower for a few
months now (right-side door).
· Lots of fans inside the tower.input & output fan
on power supply, new aftermarket fan and heatsinks on the
Ti4200 vid card, OEM fan on the P4 3.06, and PCI cooler
blowing directly on my vid card.
· I let the POS cool down for an hour. I came back
and still.the same result.

That's where I left it last night. I have not had a
chance to try rebooting to Safe Mode yet or try running
Scandisk from DOS (I'm at work now). When I get home I
will try both. I still think I have an undetected virus,
but I don't know how to identify it.

Can anyone shed any light on my problem? Fixes? Virus
names? What should I do next? Any suggestions?
Any comments will be greatly appreciated.


Sounds like a component about to fail. My guess would be motherboard or
power supply.

 

[adelim15]

Well, when I got home from work, the I tried rebooting
again after a full nite of "cooling down". The comp
flickered on, then completely shut down a few seconds
after powering up. I tried rebooting again and the same
thing happened...shut down in a matter of seconds. I
couldn't even get as far in the booting phase as I did
last nite. I had a spare 500W power supply, so I replaced
the unit in my tower. Bingo! My comp powered up with no
issues. I guess it was the power supply all along...right
in front of my eyes!

This was the 2nd 500W power supply (Real PC Power) that
failed on me, and within the same timeframe (approx 3
months). The 3rd one in the tower now is also the same
exact model, so I will expect it to fail in about 3 months
as well. In the meantime, I need to find a more reliabe
power supply.

Thank you both for your insight. Greatly appreciated.

 

[Plato]

last nite. I had a spare 500W power supply, so I replaced
the unit in my tower. Bingo! My comp powered up with no
issues. I guess it was the power supply all along...right

Use a surge protector?

 

[Borgholio]

I've rarely had power supplies fail on me, but a few months ago I had an
Allied 500w power supply develop a critical failure. It worked fine, unless
you bumped it. Even if you only nudged the computer lightly, the shock
would kill power to the entire system. The manufacturer refused to honor
the warranty since I didn't buy it directly from them (no kidding). I
finally managed to get my local store to replace it for free, but like
you...I'm not buying from this company anymore.

Well, when I got home from work, the I tried rebooting
again after a full nite of "cooling down". The comp
flickered on, then completely shut down a few seconds
after powering up. I tried rebooting again and the same
thing happened...shut down in a matter of seconds. I
couldn't even get as far in the booting phase as I did
last nite. I had a spare 500W power supply, so I replaced
the unit in my tower. Bingo! My comp powered up with no
issues. I guess it was the power supply all along...right
in front of my eyes!

This was the 2nd 500W power supply (Real PC Power) that
failed on me, and within the same timeframe (approx 3
months). The 3rd one in the tower now is also the same
exact model, so I will expect it to fail in about 3 months
as well. In the meantime, I need to find a more reliabe
power supply.

Thank you both for your insight. Greatly appreciated.

 

[Cerridwen]

I've rarely had power supplies fail on me, but a few months ago I had
an Allied 500w power supply develop a critical failure. It worked
fine, unless you bumped it. Even if you only nudged the computer
lightly, the shock would kill power to the entire system. The
manufacturer refused to honor the warranty since I didn't buy it
directly from them (no kidding). I finally managed to get my local
store to replace it for free, but like you...I'm not buying from this
company anymore.

I've had an Antec SP fail on me out of the box. But I'd buy another like a
shot, as this was the first Antec to ever die. I've got a blue TruePower on
order for my new system (500W with cool blue LEDs in the fans. Shame it's
this colourway only as my case is green).

 

[Borgholio]

I've had an Antec SP fail on me out of the box. But I'd buy another like a
shot, as this was the first Antec to ever die. I've got a blue TruePower on
order for my new system (500W with cool blue LEDs in the fans. Shame it's
this colourway only as my case is green).

I was disappointed because I've heard such good things about Allied, and
they turn around and try to screw me. It wouldn't have been bad if the
company had simply honored their warranty.