PC won't boot. Only freezing at Gateway flash screen.

[rijir2001]

I got ahold of an older PC that actually has a better processor and more memory than my own. So I decided to make it our main PC. Anyway it has been tempermental from the beginning by freezing at startup. It would freeze on the startup screen. Usually I would just turn it off and back on and it would boot up fine. But it has been getting more frequent. Tonight it won't boot at all. The main screen says F2 for BIOS or F10 for boot menu but neither work. I did get a error message a few times saying Windows shut down abrubtly and it could boot in safe mode. But before the timer even ran out it froze during the countdown. The PC is from 2003 and it is a P4 2Ghz processor running Win XP.

Any suggestions on what I sould try first would be appreciated.

[dcsos]

Unplug from wall.
Wait 10 mins
plug back in

Remove Battery from Motherboard for ten mins, replace in socket

switch voltage switch on PS from 100 to 220 w/ screwdriver and back


3 things to do before tossing it!

Try each individually

[rijir2001]

Since the PC in from 2003 should I just replace the battery?

[videobread]

If you remove the battery on the motherboard, won't you lose the BIOS and then need to find the correct BIOS to re-flash a 2003 motherboard. I'm not sure, but I have always been afraid to remove the battery. Just have never tried it. It's what is holding the BIOS in the system when you shut it off.

[kush]

It won't "brick" the motherboard at all. The battery doesn't "hold" the BIOS at all. The BIOS chip holds the BIOS. The battery does little more than keep the clock going, and maybe customized settings within the BIOS...It won't wipe it out if you remove/replace it. Resetting the BIOS (either removing or removing/replacing the battery or BIOS pins) *may* help in this case anyway, as a setting in the BIOS currently could be causing the boot problem.

Also, I wouldn't suggest switching the voltage selector (if present), unless you KNOW it's on the wrong setting. If you do so and it's wrong, you stand the chance of having the PSU 'blow up' and even possibly taking some of the hardware along with it.

Lastly, I had some of the issues that the OP describes in my previous system..BSOD's, freezing Windows loading bar, LONG wait times to get to the desktop once past that screen, among other things. Turns out the major culprit was a failing drive in a RAID-0 array. I thought it was my power supply (which WAS flaky but replacing that didn't totally cure me) - turns out the HD was dead/dying...

My suggestion would be to look into doing a disk scan/fitness test (get the tool from the HD manufacturers site, they all have something), as well as doing a S.M.A.R.T. scan using an appropriate tool (if the motherboard/HD have S.M.A.R.T. capability that is) - I use SpeedFan. I think SANDRA (or Everest Home) includes at least some S.M.A.R.T. monitoring as well.

[dcsos]

Also, I wouldn't suggest switching the voltage selector (if present), unless you KNOW it's on the wrong setting. If you do so and it's wrong, you stand the chance of having the PSU 'blow up' and even possibly taking some of the hardware along with it.

Not what I advised
NEVER CHANGE THE VOLTAGE SETTING ON A POWER SUPPLY

unleess:
LIKE I SUGGESTED you SET IT BACK TO THE ORIGINAL SETTING

this resets certain supplies

[budz]

I got ahold of an older PC that actually has a better processor and more memory than my own. So I decided to make it our main PC. Anyway it has been tempermental from the beginning by freezing at startup. It would freeze on the startup screen. Usually I would just turn it off and back on and it would boot up fine. But it has been getting more frequent. Tonight it won't boot at all. The main screen says F2 for BIOS or F10 for boot menu but neither work. I did get a error message a few times saying Windows shut down abrubtly and it could boot in safe mode. But before the timer even ran out it froze during the countdown. The PC is from 2003 and it is a P4 2Ghz processor running Win XP.

Any suggestions on what I sould try first would be appreciated.

If you're not familiar with opening up a computer to do troubleshooting. Then I'd suggest you take the computer to a repair shop.

[Bjs]

A: Enter bios .

Take note of cpu frequency and multiplier (this gets wiped out when removing battery) .
Note memory frequency .

B: Shut down , remove power cord .

----

Rip into it :

1: Remove all non-essential cards from pc .
2: If unit has onboard video , use it and remove gpu addon .
3: Remove systems memory , clean memory insert slots , and carefully , but firmly , reinsert memory .
4: Check cpu for dust buildup in heatsink fins and fan ... clean with small brush gently .
5: If you have another keyboard and mouse , connect these (some are utter rubbish) .
6: Check inside case , look at back of reset switch and check if it looks like melting has happened .

Rare , but it dose happen every now and then and its enough to drive the end user up the wall .
If suspect , new case would be faster option .

7: Disconnect all drives .
8: Connect monitor .
9: Reapply power , and bootup .

----

At this level , all it should do is be able to boot up with either an error , or into bios .

If system bootup is same as before , check the start button (could be stuffed) , new case fix's that .

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If system has normal error (no find os) , then shut system down .

----

Reconnect main hard drive ONLY , , replace main cable with new , confirm jumper settings are correct , reboot system .
You may need to enter bios to confirm drive has been found , and is set as first bootable drive , save , reboot .

----

System up and running and stable ?

Yes = other component not currently connected was causing issue , continue trouble shooting 1 device at a time till located .

No = Motherboard / hard drive / os / psu / failure with cpu heat compound issues .

----

In order :

A: Quickest is psu upgrade .
B: Replace cpu heat compound (use artic silver 5 only) .

Before others , you can get into safe mode , yes .
Then download hijackthis , run it inside safe mode , save log .
Jion up at http://forums.tomcoyote.org/forums.html , and when allowed , post log , and wait for help , itll come soon .

Download avgfree , download the updates , install under xp safe mode (go into admin account) , run scan and guaranteen anything it finds , then empty the vault (denial of internet services may occur if they remain here) .

Your issues inside os could be caused by malware or virus which needs checking first .

----

Download hard drive manufacturers diagnostic tool to test hard drive .

Better yet , download a bootable linux called insert , burn iso using imgburn to cd , set pc to boot from cd/dvdrom , insert "insert" cd , reboot ... follow the prompts .

It contains all the hard drive manufacturers tools , and one very special hard drive test tool I dont recall off hand by name , but if you run it in raw read / write mode , the hard drive sounds as though its about to take off .

Use technical data sheet from manufacture to compare results ... if suspect , new drive .
In this case , because of the system freezes and occasional bsod's , it would be best to do a clean reinstall .

Of course this is the simplest method , but if anything hardware related is causing issues , you'll end up doing all the above anyway .

----

Motherboard ... if its anything else that a bios update can not fix (if available) , thats as far as you can go with it ... replace motherboard time .

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If its really got this far and you want to rescue files from the hard drive before a os reinstall , I recommend a ubuntu , live cd from http://www.ubuntu.com/getubuntu/download .

Puppy , another live cd (works from bootable usb devices as well) , may work , although systems using sata may still not yet be supported fully ... hopefully your only ide .

http://distro.ibiblio.org/pub/linux/distributions/puppylinux/puppy-2.16-seamonkey-fulldrivers.iso (bug fixed version) .

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By off chance , if it has an internal pci modem , remove power , remove pci modem , and reboot .

I have had a few clients , where the system just drop their drivers for the modems and all sorts of bsods / restarts happened , and at random times .

Uninstall device driver , reboot , let os pickup up the device to reload the drivers (better grab new ones from online).

A few of my clients over the past 12 months decided to extend their phone lines without thinking how it would affect the system .

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Thats a hell of a lot to digest , but take it one step at a time ... not sure about something , just pm .

[rijir2001]

Some good suggestions here. I'll do some work on it tonight. I am very comfortable with opening the machine. I actually tear mine apart all the time. I just got this one. and I have never had a problem with a PC where it couldn't even get as far as the BIOS before.