Rarely boots ... works perfectly when it does

[DaKid]

Hiya guys (and gals?),

Got a really upsetting problem with my baby. Errr, I mean my computer.

When I turn it on in the mornings, it will almost certainly fail to properly boot. Generally, one of two things will happen; either it will load into windows and then blue-screen (I'm afraid I can't remember the stop codes, but it's a pretty generic one though) or freeze up entirely, or it will get to the black windows loading screen (with the blue progress bar that spins across continually), and the progress bar will halt mid-load.

When either happens, I have to turn it off or reset, and then the problems properly start. What will happen now is that most of the time, the monitor won't come out of sleep mode. It's definitely not getting into windows (even were I able to see the screen) because the various USB devices (graphics tablet, keyboard, etc) are not powering up. I've given it anything from lots of time to no time, before I hold down the power button to force it to power off. Occasionally it will turn the monitor on, and it will get through to the Windows choose loading options (e.g. last known good, normal, etc), and it'll then hang again on the progress bar.

When, finally, it actually loads into windows (simply through trying again and again), everything will work perfectly. To make it more annoying, if I do power it down during the day for maybe half an hour or so, it will often power up again afterwards with no problems.

As the problems start with Windows, I'm thinking about just blatting the C: and reinstalling on one of the occasions that I successfully boot, but I'm aware that the failure to bring the monitor out of hibernation is not a Windows thing, and am worried about whether there's anything else I ought to be doing to fix the problem, rather than simply one of the symptoms?

I'd welcome your wisdom, because I'm now utterly confused

[GoNz0]

it could be the start of the motherboard battery failing.
it could be a hard disk on its way out that wont work till its warmed up a bit.
you should clear all the logs in the event viewer, find out whats erroring on bootup, at least a bluescreens going to give a code, and need to know the stop error 0x0?? code as well please

[DaKid]

Next time I see a BSOD I'll log the details. The only one I've found scribbled down on a bit of paper was a pfn_list_corrupt message.

I've cleared all the event logs for the next time it happens.

The HDD was replaced pretty recently because of disk failures ... or was that the second hard drive? Not sure now! LOL

Will post more details when I have them. If there's any other suggestions on what I could look out for, please do say

[GoNz0]

well the event viewer should tell all !

[Mutley]

I've some similar problems with the monitor not coming out of sleep mode. Most of my issues seem to revolve around putting the PC in "sleep" mode rather than switching it off fully. When coming out of sleep mode, sometimes the PC will hang, sometimes the monitor won't come on. What always fixes this is switching off the PC, then switching off the PSU and letting it discharge, then switching back on - everything seems to work then.
I do have my PC overclocked, and I think that might be causing issues. Doesn't happen very often though.

[Max Tractor]

spec would be helpful, especially psu

[DaKid]

Have put an old sig back in, which has the PC specs in it ... any other questions about it, just holler.

Am running Win XP Pro, btw.

[this_is_gav]

spec would be helpful, especially psu

I think we're both leaning the same way - especially with the "disk failures". Sounds like a rather dirty delivery of power to me.

[DaKid]

The PSU - as I've realised it's not specifically listed in the sig - is the standard one that came with the Antec Sonata. A 380w TruePower, I believe?

[d3fiant]

thats a little low, would be my first port of call, can u not borrow one of a m8 and test, preferably at least another 100W

[DaKid]

Maybe it's time to buy a new case ... it IS two years old, after all

How about an Antec Sonata II? They have the 450w PSU ...

Assuming I don't have a friendly person's PSU to borrow, how best to rule it out as being the cause? Is there any way?

[this_is_gav]

A new case isn't going to fix anything... would just make sense to try a PSU briefly - off a mate's PC or something if at all possible to make sure that is the problem. It could be one of 3 or 4 things to be honest, we're just picking what we feel is most likely.

[Max Tractor]

Can you test the psu, do you have a multi meter, test it at boot up, cold and warm boot, and under load. Also do you have any pci controller cards, or any ide/sata convertors

[DaKid]

I didn't really think a new case would solve the problem ... just seemed like as good a reason as any to spend more money on my PC

Turned my PC on this morning, and it's doing the same thing again, although with a new symptom now.

When it does hang, I hold down the soft-power button until it powers down. Normally I just push the button and it powers back up, but on a couple of occasions this morning, the button did nothing until I'd turned the PSU off at the switch (the one on the back of the PSU, not the plug) and then back on; either powering up immediately once I'd put the power back on, or once I'd pressed the soft-power button. I guess that makes it more likely to be PSU?

I don't have a multimeter, but if they're not extortionately expensive, I'd be happy to buy one. How should I use it to test the PSU? On one of the plugs that would otherwise go into a card/drive?

Not totally certain what you mean by PCI controller cards or IDE/SATA convertors. I do have a PCI sound card, and I do have two SATA drives coming directly off the SATA ports on the motherboard ... but I'm afraid I don't know whether that answers your question?

I've now checked the logs (took about 20 minutes to boot up this morning!), and there's absolutely nothing in there until my successful, final boot. The only two "Warning" items in there are in the Application log:

"TraceFileName parameter not located in registry; Default trace file used is ."
"TraceLevel parameter not located in registry; Default trace level used is 32."

Any further thoughts? Is it much more likely to be the PSU now? How much ought I to get, in terms of PSU power? I'd still be looking for a silent one, if anyone has any recommendations?

[notsobig]

I agree with other posters. It sounds to me like PSU problem too. I actually had similar problem with my pc and it turned out to be a faulty PSU. But it could be worthwhile to check your motherboard spacers too. When they get loose you get all sorts of wierd stuffs. It's a big job I know but I think it's worth checking.

[DaKid]

Sorry, by spacers, do you mean the things underneath the motherboard that support it from the case? Please forgive my ignorance.