OT - IT Support

[marko]

I've just been bitten by serious IT failure and wondered if you guys might be able to help.

XP64 OS with 64 bit 2gb RAM self built system.

Over the last few months I've been having trouble starting the PC. The fans kick in when the button is pressed but nothing seems to take for anything between 30 secs and 5 mins. Reset sometimes works but often it just takes a while before it reboots itself and then the boot options appear and theres no stopping it then.
Initially I thought it was a hardware fault with a front mounted mem stick/usb/firewire interface and fan/temp controller but the problem still remains after it was removed.

I don't think its connected but last week my computer lost all its settings and some files were lost in the process. A full system AV scan showed no surprises. I have taken steps to prevent this happening again - like buying a reliable back up package rather than relying on the MS system version. It let me down badly and suggest you avoid the same drama.

Does anyone know what might have happened with both problems?

Cheers

 

[Roberto]

The first thing that springs to mind is your hard drive. Are you able to try another HD in it's place ? If you say your PC lost settings and some files got lost, it may be that the boot sector of the HD got corrupted too.

If the PC is powering on but struggling to boot, then the HD is the most obvious place to look. Check the BIOS settings also. It maybe that the battery on the motherboard has run out and your settings have changed ?

The best way to isolate problems like this is also the longest way and that is to strip everything back to basics and then add each component in one at a time, booting after each, and seeing what gets thrown up.

If you can set your PC to boot from CD, try sticking your Windows Install CD/DVD in and see if it is recognised straight away. Or you could get hold of a "Live" CD OS, like a Linux Distro. These run direct from the CD and then allow you to interogate your hardware outside of it's regular Windows environment. Very useful.

Try something like Ubuntu Linux which is available in 32 or 64 bit formats, both installed and Live versions.

https://help.ubuntu.com/community/LiveCD

Rob

Mk.2 Marea Weekend 1.8 16v 115 ELX - Bigger IS better !

 

[claymore]

try switching the cpu fan controle off, in the bios (so that the fan is always running at full speed) also the problem can arise if there is a problem with the psu.

 

[james]

did you reset cmos at all ?

 

[Buzz]

lol James, that was my first thought.

Buzz
The champion of the Bravo 1.4
& now ex owner of a Bravo 1.8

 

[marko]

Hi guys and thanks for the replies.

I'll try some of these in order of difficulty since I don't have hours to spend on this right now.
I've not tried the CMOS option. Will dig out the destructions and see where the jumpers are for my MB. What usually happens when it is reset?