BSOD - Window doesn't load normal/safe mode

[hoon88]

Hi,

I'm getting BSOD at the window start-up - what's weird is my computer was working just fine 5 minutes ago! I don't how it happened but I was on two sites ebay and youtube, and was playing Football Manager - with everything working fine, then I went to wash the dishes and came back to find my computer in this state so I'm not sure what caused this error!

I can't 'capture' the BSOD because as soon as it comes up, the computer reboots itself. This is really weird because it was working fine just 5 minutes ago and yesterday too - and there wasn't any window update or anything. And as far as I know, there was no spyware or viruses. So yeah, I can't boot-up both the safe and normal mode. The BSOD comes up few seconds into the window loading screen.

Could it be fan problem? Because few times before, when I tried to play graphical games such as NBA 2k9 - the system says "Warning! temperature too high! please check your fan and heatsink!". So after that, I never did play any games! But the only game that worked was Football Manager so I played that sometimes because I never got that message when I was playing FM.

I also checked the fan temperature through start-up menu and saw "Current system fan speed" and "Current system power speed" is 0. Is this normal? And does fan not working = windows not booting up?

I'm really not sure of this, anyway. any suggestion or help on how to fix this? I really really hope my data in my HD is still there....

Oh, I'm running on Window XP.

Thanks!

[minidv2dvd]

open up the case and look at the cpu heatsink fan unit. press power and see if the fan starts spinning. if not replace it. also check for dust/dirt clogging up the heatsink. remove the fan and vacuum it all out.

if that doesn't work you need to start removing all cards and drives until it's just cpu ram and video to check if it's a hardware failure.

[hoon88]

thanks for the response.

hmm, yes it is spinning... and i did briefly cleaned the CPU fan...

i went to bios and checked the fan speed / temp

Current System Temperature - 40C
Current CPU Temperature - 41C
Current CPU Fan Speed - (aprox.) 1400 RPM
Current System Fan Speed - 0 RPM
Current Power Fan Speed - 0 Rpm

Is 0 RPM for System and Power Fan Speed normal??
Thanks

[minidv2dvd]

some fans don't have a speed sensor. system fan would most likely be a small fan on the motherboard north bridge. power fan would be the power supply. those are easy enough to tell if they are running.

try booting into safe mode. start tapping the f8 key as soon as you power on. run full virus/malware scans. the temps don't look bad enough to cause shutdown.

[hoon88]

some fans don't have a speed sensor. system fan would most likely be a small fan on the motherboard north bridge. power fan would be the power supply. those are easy enough to tell if they are running.

try booting into safe mode. start tapping the f8 key as soon as you power on. run full virus/malware scans. the temps don't look bad enough to cause shutdown.

thanks again,

i can't boot in safe mode. i get bsod during the loading process...is there a way to stop bsod from disappearing? i really want to see what the message says but it disappears so quickly and reboots. i remember there was a way but i seem to have forgotten...

so could it be virus?? wow, that'd pretty tight. i mean, its really weird... the only site I was in was youtube and ebay. and when I came back from washing, the system was rebooting itself so I don't know what happened really...grr...

oh and i checked power fans - definitely working but cant seem to locate system fan...

[minidv2dvd]

it might not have a system fan, not all systems do.

f8 during power up should get to boot selection screen before bsod. if not the hard drive might be damaged. the manufacturer might have a bootable disc you can download an image of, burn, and check it with.

you might be able to boot from the windows xp disc and do a repair install as a last resort. look it up online, it's to much to go into here.

[hoon88]

it might not have a system fan, not all systems do.

f8 during power up should get to boot selection screen before bsod. if not the hard drive might be damaged. the manufacturer might have a bootable disc you can download an image of, burn, and check it with.

you might be able to boot from the windows xp disc and do a repair install as a last resort. look it up online, it's to much to go into here.

i can get to boot selection screen, but when i select safe mode, it loads for 4-5 seconds and gets to bsod...

oh damn, hard drive might be damaged? you reckon there's a chance to recover the data inside at all? ffs, this happened all of sudden that i dont really know what or how this really happened...

thanks anyway.

[lowellriggsiam]

If you can visually see the CPU fan running then the likely 2 culperates are the motherboard, or the memory. In my experience it is the first. If the CPU fan was at fault the computer loads normally and then abruptly turns off.

[hoon88]

If you can visually see the CPU fan running then the likely 2 culperates are the motherboard, or the memory. In my experience it is the first. If the CPU fan was at fault the computer loads normally and then abruptly turns off.

if the motherboard is damaged (ah crap, that's gonna break me financially...), would the data in HD be effected too?

btw, can motherboard all of sudden die or break? I wasn't even using the computer (as I was away), it was just on with youtube and ebay website.

and memory? sorry, i'm not really familiar with computers but what do you specifically mean? the RAM?

Thanks so much for the help btw.

[minidv2dvd]

the windows xp disc also has a repair console that might work to check the hard drive. if you can get to the dos prompt try chkdsk /r

[minidv2dvd]

until you can test the hard drive you won't know if the data is ok. it seems to be a software, not hardware problem at this point. getting to a bsod means that at least a little is being read from the drive.

if you can't or won't take it to a repair center or knowledgeable friend, you could go ahead and attempt a repair install. no data will be lost if it works. but xp will be reset back to the cd version and require all the update to be re-installed.

look up details online first and print out the steps. like this guide. read all of it first.
http://michaelstevenstech.com/XPrepairinstall.htm

[minidv2dvd]

p.s. without good firewall/anti-virus/anti-malware running a "hacker" can take over any computer if they so desire. they port scan millions of computers all the time looking for vulnerable ones to attack. i get "port scanned" from russian and chinese ip's all the time here in the u.s.

[hoon88]

until you can test the hard drive you won't know if the data is ok. it seems to be a software, not hardware problem at this point. getting to a bsod means that at least a little is being read from the drive.

if you can't or won't take it to a repair center or knowledgeable friend, you could go ahead and attempt a repair install. no data will be lost if it works. but xp will be reset back to the cd version and require all the update to be re-installed.

look up details online first and print out the steps. like this guide. read all of it first.
http://michaelstevenstech.com/XPrepairinstall.htm

I guess i'll have to take it to repairs...

it's just, all the repair shops i've been to, i don't know how it is in US but in australia, they take a look at for 5 seconds, then go - oh it's a virus and just plainly format it - even if the virus can be fixed easily. its like formatting is first solution to solving everything and when it doesn't fix the problem, then they seriously have a look heh.

Anyway, i'll have to see the repairs it seems. it's just really surprising that this happened all of sudden, especially as there wasn't any known viruses or errors that occured to this computer before. i actually want to try the solutions you've listed above but i misplaced my xp cd in my old home.

thanks for the help.

[lowellriggsiam]

Being that the HDD is not part of the motherboard it can be transplanted with it's data in tact. Being that the CPU is mearly attached to the motherboard, it can too be transplanted. Being that the memory is not part of the motherboard it too can be transplanted. If you are running an old enough system it shouldn't cost that much to replace the board. I was refering to the memory as RAM. When RAM is the issue computers will normaly load and run normally until you launch a program that tries to access that area of the computer memory. You would then get the BSOD and it might hang or shut down, seldom does this prevent the OS from launching. HDD errors may prevent it from launching, but to test this you'd need a boot disk.

The issue with motherboards they usually die from dust contamination. Dust contain metals like copper, iron, and lead these carry a static charge and fry the boards connections. Excessive heat causes the capicators to pop. The CPUs rarely die, which is usually a good thing.

You don't need a repair shop, what you need is a friend. The repair shops cost labor, a friend cost friendship.

[minidv2dvd]

maybe borrow a xp cd from a friend, they are all the same. as long as you have the windows key tag on the computer you're ok. the serial number should be there. just get a disc that matches the type you have - home, pro, etc.

[MJA]

how can you test a motherboard for defects (beside capicator popup) ?

[classfour]

I use a motherboard code reader (Soyo Brand) that reads the POST codes during boot. The last machine that I tested would almost get to the windows splash, and then shut off. It looked like a bad MOBO or faulty HDD on the surface - the code reader diagnosed it as a bad processor. Once I replaced the processor: The machine worked.

[redwudz]

I may have missed it, but I didn't see anyone mention trying to boot the PC from a OS disc like a Linux live distro or a Windows PE disc. That can get your computer up and running even without a hard drive installed. If you can do that, and your hard drive is not corrupted or badly damaged, you may be able to get all the data off it. It would also tell you if your installed OS is the problem or if the hard drive or the motherboard is OK.

Just go into BIOS and set the boot device as DVD/CD drive, put in the disc, then restart and the temporary OS will install in RAM. It won't damage your installed OS, as long as you don't erase anything there.

Bart's PE: http://www.nu2.nu/pebuilder/ You can probably find prebuilt versions on the net.

Using Ubuntu Linux: http://www.howtogeek.com/howto/windows-vista/use-ubuntu-live-cd-to-backup-files-from-y...dows-computer/

[classfour]

Good point - I didn't mention it, but I did attempt to boot from an Ubuntu live CD before I brought out the MOBO tester. It did help me to eliminate both the OS and HDD from the problem list. BTW: The behavior was the same from the live CD = Crash.

[Noahtuck]

I use a motherboard code reader (Soyo Brand) that reads the POST codes during boot. The last machine that I tested would almost get to the windows splash, and then shut off. It looked like a bad MOBO or faulty HDD on the surface - the code reader diagnosed it as a bad processor. Once I replaced the processor: The machine worked.

I had the same problem not long ago with a brand new CPU.

What is that code reader called exactly or a link ?

I did a search and could not find anything.

EDIT:
Okay i changed the wording and found some small one's with a LED number display.

But i'm still interested in which one you use.

[minidv2dvd]

doubt it's available. soyo got out of the computer motherboard business years ago.

post codes are in most motherboard manuals.
typical award bios codes.

1 short: System boots successfully
2 short: CMOS setting error
1 long, 1 short: Memory or motherboard error
1 long, 2 short: Monitor or graphics card error
1 long, 3 short: Keyboard error
1 long, 9 short: BIOS ROM error
Continuous long beeps: Graphics card not inserted properly
Continuous short beeps: Power error

[classfour]

Soyo TechAid PCI Diagnostic Card - Decode POST!

Here's a link to what it is:

http://www.geeks.com/details.asp?invtid=SY-TECHAID&cpc=SCH

Neat little card, insert into the PCI slot, boot and read. BTW: You might want to video it if there's alot of codes.

minidv2dvd is correct: You can't find them anymore.

I did locate a refurb for $49:

http://www.discountelectronics.com/index.php?l=product_detail&p=212