Weird Boot Problem

[DDoMM]

Hi, first let me note that my computer other than this problem runs absolutely perfectly with no problems at all, my spec is:

Windows XP Pro (SP1)
Athlon XP 2800+ 333fsb Barton Core
Gigabyte 7VAXP Ultra
3D Prophet 9700 Pro
512mb Corsair XMS-PC3200CC (1 x DIMM)
Antec TruePower 430w PSU
60gb Western Digital Caviar 7,200RPM (8mb Cache)

Sometimes (not all the time) but about 30% of the time, when i turn my computer on from a cold boot, it posts, gets passed the windows loading screen, and then the screen goes black, all my devices come to life and the hard drive does some work as if its about to launch into windows, but sometimes, it just doesnt manage to get into windows, the screen remains black, my monitor gets no signal, and i have to restart.

The problem can be fixed either by turning the computer off through the PSU then booting up again or restarting manually and booting up with "last known settings that worked" but sometimes even that doesnt work.

When my computer does get into windows it works fine, no problems at all, its just this weird problem which i cant understand.

Any help would be appreciate greatly.

Cheers

 

[Didou]

Have a look in the log viewer. Anything suspicious in there ?

 

[DDoMM]

which log viewer?

 

[DDoMM]

in college atm, so i'll check when i get home, dont understand what log viewer you mean. :dead:

 

[RealBlackStuff]

Rightclick on "My Computer" on the desktop, select Manage. Then under System tools, click on the "+" next to Event Viewer. Then check in Applications and System for lines with an X in a red circle.
Report these please (just one full description will do, if many of the same are there)

 

[DDoMM]

realblackstuff, there are no uninstalled or unaccounted for components, my system is otherwise flawless, just for this one problem

 

[RealBlackStuff]

I said " Desktop My Computer/Manage/System Tools/Event Viewer/Apps or System".
You looked under "Device Manager" which is a different animal altogether.

 

[ak_in_charge]

The first thing I would do is run a "chkdsk" on the HD to make sure there are no bad sectors.

Sounds to me like your HD is flaking out on you.

 

[DDoMM]

Sounds to me like your HD is flaking out on you.

think you might be right, sounds to me to be the most probable thing it could be, luckily HDD's are incredibly cheap atm, any recomendations if i do choose to buy a new HDD?

 

[DDoMM]

sounds to me to be the most probable thing it could be

lol, thats the most indecipherable sentence ever

 

[ak_in_charge]

I would say any Western Digital HD would be a very good choice.

How large are you looking to go???

 

[DDoMM]

Im a firm believer in only buying what i will use, and so far ive found 60gb to be just the right size for me, but as their so cheap atm, i think ill go a litle crazy and get an 80gb, ive seen a nice Maxtor SATA drive, an 80gb one with 7,200 RPM and 8mb cache, for £60!

Ive had my current Western Digital drive now for about 2 years, and i fancy a change, so either Maxtor or Seagate, and deffinately a SATA drive.

 

[DDoMM]

£60 is about $87 USD btw if your too lazy to work it out :grinthumb

 

[ak_in_charge]

I would definatley go with that Maxtor 80gb SATA you found.

Sounds like a great deal for the money!!

Plus I like Maxtor better than Seagate.

 

[DDoMM]

I got the Maxtor drive, just finished putting windows back on and all my stuff, seems to be working worryingly flawlessly, i expect to have at least one error message , but so far everything is running as smooth as it could possibly be