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Help: Computer has trouble starting up

A

ARN

Gawd
Joined
Sep 21, 2002
Messages
990
This morning i tried to boot up my computer and the first time i did not here a beep like i usually do and the monitor didnt come on.
so i pressed the reset button and this time it got all the way until it says that it checked the cdroms and couldnt boot from them.
so i pressed reset and this time it got past that and i saw the windows xp boot up screen, so i went to tell my dad what was happening and when i came back the monitor went into powersave mode.
so i restarted several more times and i didnt even get the beep, like the first time.
so i turned it off and waited a few minutes and turned it on again and now here i am booted up successfully and now posting on hard.
i dont want this to happen again, can someone help me diagnose this problem?

my thoughts:
1. i installed the new 4.4 catalysts the day it came out about 4 days ago, but really havent used them that much. my little sister said that when she was playing sims yesterday the monitor went into powersave mode and she couldnt do anything. this has happened to me in kotor a lot before, which i believed was a bug in the game, but im not so sure about the sims. but im not sure a software driver could cause this problem. btw, i installed the drivers over the previous installation and that might have caused some problems.

2. two days ago my little sister wanted to watch a movie on my comp. i had headphones instead of my speakers plugged in at the time and i caught my dad trying to switch the connections. he moved the computer so he could see better. so maybe something got knocked loose or damaged when my dad was moving the computer around.

Help me please.
Thanks

EDIT: here are my specs
everything stock speeds
athlon xp 2400+
asus a7n8x nforce 2 mobo rev. 1
crucial ddr 2700 downclocked to 2100 to sync with processor and aggressive timings
ati radeon 9500 pro
liteon cdburner
liteon dvd
sony disk drive
 
1-Nope. Those drivers will only effect things in Windows. As you are also having pre-Windows boot issues, it isn't them.

2-Very likely. Open it up, check for anything loose (cards, wires, mem, etc.). Was it moved while on? Hard drive could be damaged.

Another possibility is that your PSU is dying, or your vid card is dying, or your mobo is dying or.........
 
Originally posted by ARN
yeah it was moved while on.
Click to expand...

a good jolt while the HD is reading/writing could cause the head to impact the platter. Doom.

But my first guess is that something got loose (vid card is prime suspect).

Edit: To check dying parts, the easy way is to switch out with known-good stuff. Or remove from system if possible (like a second stick of ram)
 
i just opened ut2004 and i went into the server browser and the mouse stopped moving and then the monitor turned off. so i pressed reset and no beep and no monitor and then i turned it off and i opened the case and cannot find anything loose. i dont have any spare parts to test with.
 
Test your RAM by using memtest 86 and try swapping out your PSU. It seems that your power supply may have taken a dump.
 
ran memtest for 5 hours and came up with no errors.
i dont have another psu to test with :(
 
i just played ut2004 for 5 min without a problem, the side of my case is off. videocard overheating? probably not becuase it wouldnt work first thing in the morning.
 
It does sound like a power problem. You might also want to check for bulging or leaking capacitors around the CPU.
If your 9500 is connected to the same power lead as your hard drives, try connecting it to a different lead. Those are power hogs and if your PSU is getting a little weak, your vid card (also the H/D's) could be starving for power.
 
i think it is the power supply, it came with my case: 300w enermax
i had my 9500 pro, disk drive, hard drive and a fan on one lead. now that i have that fan disconnected and minimal external devices (monitor, speakers, mouse, keyboard, and internet) everything is running fine. i think i could probably survive with this psu if i did better lead management, but i would feel safer with a new one.
how does this one look?
http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=17-103-912&depa=1

edit: actually i have decided on the true 430w:
http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=17-103-908&depa=0

that seems to be the consensus on this thread:
http://www.hardforum.com/showthread.php?threadid=751462
 
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