Re: rebooting on own?
- From: "Anna" <myname@xxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Tue, 12 May 2009 09:54:02 -0400
"Mark G." <askmefirst@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:u1mkXTt0JHA.4632@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Thanks for all the responses. I went inside the machine to check fans and
they all seem to be working fine. Temps don't seem to be an issue. There
was
some dust, but I took care of that. I also, as recommended went into the
event viewer and browsed to see what was going on right after a lock up,
but
I didn't see anything whatsoever that seemed to explain it. I also viewed
events from the past fews days and most of the items were 'information'
rather than anything else. There were a couple of errors, but nothing that
seemed to point at why this is happening. With that said, I went and check
to see what was runnign on startup and shut down some things (there
weren't
a lot of startup items to begin with), but even at this point, this
machine
is looking up. I would say it looks up more than it actually reboots
itself.
I had thought it was a screen saver thing as it does look up frequently
while in screen saver mode, but I do recall from the past that this
doesn't
seem to be the culprit as it will lock up when in use as well. Just always
seems to lock up in screen saver mode too. So any other suggestions? Also,
any chance that if a hard drive failure is happening that this could be
the
case too? Disk appears healthy, but I know it is old. Don't want to
replace
anythign I don't have too. Am just trying to figure this all out. I
appreciate any more help you all can provide!
Mark:
You've gotten a fair number of responses to your query, many of which (I
believe) have given you some insights into what exactly is causing your
problem(s) and indicating potential strategies to pursue re diagnosing and
resolving those problems. Anyway, since the problem(s) apparently still
exist let me suggest the following...
1. First of all, I'm assuming you're working with a desktop machine. I don't
recall if you identified the machine but I'll proceed on that basis.
2. Since you've apparently been "inside" your computer case - "There was
some dust, but I took care of that" (and I really don't want to know how you
"took care of that"), I'll assume you know your way around the various
components in the machine.
3. So do this. Unplug your AC cord and uninstall all connected components
except your power supply, processor & heatsink, RAM, graphics card (if any),
monitor, mouse & keyboard connections. Work *only* with those foregoing
components connected - no HDD(s), no optical drive, no floppy drive, no
sound card - no other peripheral/external devices connected.
4. Power on the machine and let it run for at least 1/2 - 1 hour during
which time you can access the BIOS settings and go from one screen to
another and in the process determine that all BIOS settings are appropriate
to your system. Check the temps with the BIOS hardware monitor settings to
see all is normal. If no untoward events during this period it should give
you some assurance there's no hardware issue involved here affecting the
machine's basic components (although this process is not completely
definitive).
5. On the other hand if the machine does lock up during this process you'll
know there's a hardware issue causing your problem.
6. Assuming all seems well hardware-wise, if you haven't already done so
(and you should have at the time your problem(s) began) check out your HDD
with the diagnostic utility you can (usually) download from the disk's
manufacturer. (I note you say the "disk appears healthy" but I don't know
how you've arrived at that conclusion).
7. If it appears your problem(s) are not hardware-related, then reinstall
the boot HDD and the optical drive and proceed on the basis that the
problem(s) are software-related - possibly a corrupted OS. (We're assuming
you're confident that your system is malware-free, right?)
8. At this point try the usual "fixes" on the basis you're dealing with a
corrupted OS.
a. Try the sfc /scannow and/or chkdsk/r commands.
b. Assuming you're working with a non-branded OEM XP OS installation CD or
retail version of same, run a Repair install of the OS.
Before attempting any of the above first ensure that you copy any important
files from your HDD to some removable media. Better yet would be to clone or
image the contents of your HDD to another drive.
Anna
.
- References:
- rebooting on own?
- From: Mark G.
- Re: rebooting on own?
- From: Jim
- Re: rebooting on own?
- From: Mark G.
- rebooting on own?
- Prev by Date: Re: All-in-One Card Reader : Safely Remove Hardware
- Next by Date: RE: modem lights
- Previous by thread: Re: rebooting on own?
- Next by thread: Re: rebooting on own?
- Index(es):
Relevant Pages
|
Loading
