OT: Computer trouble, need advice ...

[LionsFan10]

Okay, so basically today I tried to turn on my computer and the led light comes on, the fans start to spin for a brief second and then the computer shuts down. It's happened a few times now, the computer just won't boot. Actually I take that back, the first time I turned it on, Windows XP was loading and then it shut down and now it's doing what I described above.

Is this the power supply? Like I said, the fans spin for a split second, and the light in front comes on, then it shuts down.


Any suggestions would be great.

[DanGarion]

Could be a power supply, could just be a card has got loose.

First thing I would try is open the thing up and reseat all the cards that are in slots, including even the ram.

[MizzouRah]

What dangarion said, then I suspect the power supply first, system board next.

[BreizhManu]

Like Dangarion said, can also be the memory, happened to me a few times, if you have multiple chips, try with just one to see if things improve or not.

[johnnyshaka]

Try unplugging all of your USB devices and rebooting.

[Mac Howard]

Try unplugging all of your USB devices and rebooting.

Why do you say that, johnnyshaka? I ask because I had exactly the same problem when I installed a quad USB 2.0 card in this PC. It simply wouldn't boot up much as Lionsfan10 describes. Eventually, by adjusting the positioning of the card (came to believe that the card and connector were not matching correctly) I managed to get things fixed. However, I still have to remove the flash drive I have in a usb extender or the PC won't shut down. It logs off, saves the settings, the hard disk chunters a while but then it freezes with the "Windows shutting down" message on the screen. It's fine with the flash drive removed.

What problems do the usb devices create?

[johnnyshaka]

Why do you say that, johnnyshaka? I ask because I had exactly the same problem when I installed a quad USB 2.0 card in this PC. It simply wouldn't boot up much as Lionsfan10 describes. Eventually, by adjusting the positioning of the card (came to believe that the card and connector were not matching correctly) I managed to get things fixed. However, I still have to remove the flash drive I have in a usb extender or the PC won't shut down. It logs off, saves the settings, the hard disk chunters a while but then it freezes with the "Windows shutting down" message on the screen. It's fine with the flash drive removed.

What problems do the usb devices create?

I've seen USB devices cause issues like this several times...just ask Cuckoo!! ;)

Seems to me that either some motherboards either get confused about what the connected USB devices are doing (they could be expecting you to boot from a USB device when it fact it's just a card reader or a scanner) or they don't support USB 2.0 and that is confusing the heck out of them.

I can't say for certain what the cause is...all I know is that unplugging USB devices has become one of my routine troubleshooting steps along with re-seating cards and RAM.

[CU Tiger]

another possibilitty is chaffed wiring wheree it is causing a short.

basically the insulation is reduced but not eliminated, so there is no "short" until it ets a lil current then it jumps the gap...


yeah ask how long THAT took to figure out..

[Gallifrey]

See if you can get Windows to boot into Safe Mode. This will bypass any devices from starting that are not critical.

Then check your Error Log for info. If you are having hardware problems or a Windows service isn't starting due to conflict it will tell you here.

Control Panel/Administrative Tools/Event Viewer

[RendeR]

Solve all your problems at once. get a new job that hands you a top line laptop to take with you whereever you go and to use as you see fit.


*grins evilly*

I love my job.