Computer won't start properly

krwlngnmieskin

Posts: 11   +0
I'm usually pretty decent at figuring out my computer problems but with this one I'm puzzled.
Over the past couple of weeks I've been having trouble staring my PC. I'd press the button in from to turn on the computer, all the lights came on, fan was going but nothing else. Didn't hear the CD ROM/DVD ROM drives spinning and no post. Just the fans. I tried to hold down the power button to shut it down but nothing happened, it just idled like that. Then i proceeded to hit the "reset" button below it, still nothing. I had to resort to hitting the power supply switch. After doing that, letting it sit for a few seconds and restarting the computer, all was fine.
At least I thought it was. BIOS loaded, log in screen showed up but after logging in the screen was black. I was able to hit Ctrl+Alt+Delete and bring up the task manager. All of my programs INCLUDING explorer were running. I then manually shut down explorer.exe and manually restarted it. Explorer loaded with no problems except for icons of running programs missing in the taskbar.
I have been shutting the switch on the power supply every time after shutdown but it doesn't always work. Today the CD/DVD ROMs spun but I got no POST and no BIOS on the screen.
I have updated all of my video card drivers and have attempted to update my driver for my motherboard (which ASUS has since had new versions of) but when I try to update the motherboard drivers, the DOS shows up and them disappears without installing.
A few weeks ago I had updating my version of DivX and it sent my computer I little haywire. The audio wasn't working and startup was taking forever. I proceeded to remove DivX as well as change my Anti-Virus from AntiVir to AVG. Also recently I keep getting messages that say "New Network Found" with an IP address (that I can't remember right now) from Zone Alarm, mostly when my modem isn't turned on. My computer isn't hooked up to any other computers and my printer was off. I have also noticed that one of my system processes is running at +100,000. When I run Belarc Advisor I get this under "Network Map": 68.195.112.5 System Ool-44c37005,
ool-44c37005.dyn.optonline.net, Dell
The physical IP is 00:1a:a0:a0:17:9f

Here's some more info on my PC that I got using Belarc Advisor:

*Operating System
Windows XP Home Edition Service Pack 3 (build 2600)

*Processor
3.20 gigahertz AMD Athlon 64 X2 Dual Core
128 kilobyte primary memory cache
2048 kilobyte secondary memory cache
64-bit ready
Multi-core (2 total)
Not hyper-threaded

*Main Circuit Board
Board: ASUSTeK Computer INC. M2R32-MVP Rev 1.xx
Bus Clock: 200 megahertz
BIOS: American Megatrends Inc. 0906 07/13/2007

*Drives
388.42 Gigabytes Usable Hard Drive Capacity
280.72 Gigabytes Hard Drive Free Space

LITE-ON DVDRW SOHW-1693S [CD-ROM drive]
LITE-ON LTR-52327S [CD-ROM drive]
3.5" format removeable media [Floppy drive]

Maxtor 7Y250M0 [Hard drive] (250.99 GB) -- drive 1, s/n 3659513658504557202020202020202020202020, SMART Status: Healthy
WDC WD5000AAKS-65YGA0 [Hard drive] (500.11 GB) -- drive 0, SMART Status: Healthy

*Memory Modules
2048 Megabytes Usable Installed Memory

Slot 'DIMM0' has 1024 MB
Slot 'DIMM1' has 1024 MB
Slot 'DIMM2' is Empty
Slot 'DIMM3' is Empty

*Local Drive Volumes
c: (NTFS on drive 0) 20.97 GB 6.44 GB free
d: (NTFS on drive 0) 116.45 GB 51.20 GB free
g: (NTFS on drive 1) 20.97 GB 14.71 GB free
h: (NTFS on drive 1) 230.02 GB 208.37 GB free

*Network Drives
None detected

*Users (mouse over user name for details)
local user accounts last logon
Administrator 5/29/2009 4:04:16 PM (admin)
Owner 8/25/2010 8:16:28 AM (admin)
local system accounts
ASPNET never
Guest never
HelpAssistant never
SUPPORT_388945a0 never

DISABLED Marks a disabled account; LOCKED OUT Marks a locked account

*Printers
HP Photosmart C5200 series on USB001
Microsoft XPS Document Writer on XPSPort:

*Controllers
Standard floppy disk controller
Primary IDE Channel [Controller] (3x)
Secondary IDE Channel [Controller] (3x)
Standard Dual Channel PCI IDE Controller (3x)

*Display
ATI Radeon HD 2600 XT [Display adapter]
SONY TV [Monitor] (72.3"vis, January 2007)

*Bus Adapters
Standard Enhanced PCI to USB Host Controller
Standard OpenHCD USB Host Controller (5x)

*Multimedia
ATI Function Driver for High Definition Audio - ATI AA01
SoundMAX Integrated Digital HD Audio

*Virus Protection [Back to Top]
AVG Anti-Virus Free Version 9.0
Virus Definitions Version Up To Date
Realtime File Scanning On

*new Group Policies
None discovered

*Communications
1394 Net Adapter
Marvell Yukon 88E8001/8003/8010 PCI Gigabit Ethernet Controller
primary Auto IP Address: 68.195.112.210 / 20
Gateway: 68.195.112.1
Dhcp Server: 10.240.160.173
Physical Address: 00:1D:60:6E:5A:5F

*Networking Dns Servers: 167.206.254.1
167.206.254.2

*Other Devices
VIA OHCI Compliant IEEE 1394 Host Controller
HID-compliant consumer control device
HID-compliant device (2x)
USB Human Interface Device (3x)
HID Keyboard Device
Standard 101/102-Key or Microsoft Natural PS/2 Keyboard
HID-compliant mouse
Microsoft PS/2 Mouse
USB Composite Device
USB Root Hub (6x)


I know this is a pretty lengthy problem, but if anyone can help that would be epically awesome! :)
 
Being a Dell I suspect it probably may have one of those pathetic 'that'll do it' type of OEM PSUs.

I am suspecting it may be PSU issue but before jumping to conclusion, please do ensure that:

1. There are no bulging capacitors on the motherboard.
2. The system is dust free.

Once you've gone through the above two suggestions, and it doesn't help, it would be ideal if you could 'borrow' a PSU from a friend (if it is possible) and see how your computer work with it.
 
Being a Dell I suspect it probably may have one of those pathetic 'that'll do it' type of OEM PSUs.

I am suspecting it may be PSU issue but before jumping to conclusion, please do ensure that:

1. There are no bulging capacitors on the motherboard.
2. The system is dust free.

Once you've gone through the above two suggestions, and it doesn't help, it would be ideal if you could 'borrow' a PSU from a friend (if it is possible) and see how your computer work with it.

but my computer is NOT a dell. it is a clone PC that I built about 2 years ago. Thats why I was confused about there being mention of a Dell on my network. No Dell computers or parts here.
 
Fairenough, sorry I misunderstood earlier. But the other observations needed to be considered, so it would be prudent if you take a look at the suggestions.

Secondly, can you please download CPUZ, then run and save its report in Text format (by going to About tab) and post it here, along with what is make/model of your PSU.
 
That's alright. I hope you didn't think my use of caps was me yelling. Lol. Forgot I could use italics.
My power supply is an OCZ Game (X)Stream 600Watt. That's all the model info that's on the box it came in.

I keep getting an error message that won't let me post the report from CPUZ. It says it's too long (over 68,000 characters when the limit is 20,000). How else can I send it to you? What about a Hijack this report?
 
also there is nothing bulging but there is some dust. I had a fire extinguisher go off around march-april and some dust got inside but it's been fine up until now.
 
It would be good if you can clean it out with air canister etc., or if you have lots of time with a brush ;)

You can save the same report in HTML, try that.

How old is this PSU?
 
Ok, I took a general overview of voltages etc. and everything seems to be within reasonable margins of +/- 5%. Anyhow, the issue may be with some hardware component, i.e. motherboard or RAM or PSU (because PSUs due degrade overtime, which can result in it not being able to provide peak performance for a prolonged period of time in a stable manner) etc.

I keep getting messages that say "New Network Found" with an IP address (that I can't remember right now) from Zone Alarm, mostly when my modem isn't turned on.

Do you have by any chance a cellphone attached to this PC at any time?
 
Ok, I took a general overview of voltages etc. and everything seems to be within reasonable margins of +/- 5%. Anyhow, the issue may be with some hardware component, i.e. motherboard or RAM or PSU (because PSUs due degrade overtime, which can result in it not being able to provide peak performance for a prolonged period of time in a stable manner) etc.



Do you have by any chance a cellphone attached to this PC at any time?

Nope.
 
Ok, now if you are able to POST, and the system is staying stable, you can check RAM with memtest (available in Techspot's download section), ideally, on each module individually for minimum of 8 passes. If memtest turns out ok (I think your RAM may not be the issue, but we need to eliminate each suspect carefully), try booting with minimum required hardware, i.e. one RAM module, one hdd, no dvds etc. and see what happens. If its work in a stable way, then add hardware components one by one.

In case the above doesn't help identify the cause, I'd suggest to replace PSU (ideally instead of buying one, if possible borrow one from a friend, perhaps?) and try to boot with it, if it works alright for reasonable period, chances are you probably have to replace your PSU.
 
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