[ReflexBlade]

I have the following system (built in Sept 2002): P4 1.7Ghz CPU (genuine Intel)
512MB DDR Ram
32Mb Riva TNT graphics card
40GB Hard-drive
Win XP SP2
on an ASrock GE-Pro M2 mainboard.

For the last week I've been having the most unusual problem, when starting from cold in the morining after about 4-8hrs being off, the PC has great difficulty in booting-up successfully! It will start, then load windows normally, as soon as the desktop appears, the system reboots automatically, but then fails to restart, merely clicking away, not doing anything.

It also fails to respond to the reboot button, or on-off switch.
Have to switch off the mains supply plug. Will do this continually, occasionally getting as far as telling me that "the systems failed to load Windows properly" or "load default settings" to wich I say "YES", but the problem continues.

It may eventually start normally after the 30th attempt later in the day. But the PC has now been running contiuously for three days now, I can restart it, but have yet to switch it off for fear that it will fail to start again.

Windows has been recently reinstalled (Jan 2005), I have a surge protector on the power supply, I have had two technicians here, but they never come in the colder mornings, only in the PM, and then it seems to behave.

They think it could be a faulty power supply?
I think it's thye crummy Mainborad I'm stuck with, the original ASUS board was damaged by lightning last July, and they put in this Rubbish ASrock replacement, and I think it's the board.

Please help with some possible solutions.

Much thanks,
RB.

[bobby_w]

Originally posted by ReflexBlade
....They think it could be a faulty power supply?....

Then why don't they change it?

If the original ASUS board died from the lightning strike, how do they think it got to it? Through the power supply !!!

I hate techs like this. I have fired my share of them and will continue to do so.

How much in productivity is a $30 power supply costing the company?

[fastvfr]

That dead MOBO is calling out to you from the grave, RB...

It is saying, "Buy A UPS Or More Will DIE!!!"

I'd tend to believe it and take its advice. That 'surge protector' isn't any help unless it has a battery backup and is doubling as a line filter for your system...

First off, stop calling those asshatted techs. WE can do more for you from a distance, and for FREE, than they seem to be capable of at $70 an hour or whatever.

First off, order a new power supply. If you can change the spark plug in a pushmower's old B&S motor, you can replace the PSU yourself.

Your hard drive may be the part doing the clicking, and that is a VERY bad sign...do ALL backups pronto--run all your data off onto CD's and put them in a safe place.

When I suspect a client's HDD is about to fail, I will suggest they get a new, larger hard drive to use as their Master OS drive.

That way the older one can be Slaved in and this allows you to install a fresh copy of their OS and then easily move all the essential data onto the new drive before the old one passes on to its great reward.

And another thing; the HDD, with all its moving parts, is the MOST likely cause of that system not starting up when it is cold. That is an even WORSE sign, IMHO, and signifies that you should buy a new hard disk drive ASAP.


But if all that doesn't fix it, just order an Asus board that is a twin of the original and move everything over. You'll need a bit of AS Ceramique to properly mount the cooler on the CPU, but it is not difficult to do. We can walk you through that.

Good luck!!