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theB34N

10-13-2004, 02:45 PM

Hi All,

I am hoping someone can help diagnose a hardware problem I am having. I am running a P3 1.0 Ghz, 512 M ram PC, Win 2000. Whenever I fire it up it starts tthe boot process but then hangs on the Win 2000 startup screen. Total freeze. If I turn it off and then boot up again it will get a *little* further along in the process, but then freezes up again. Now, if I repeat this process each time it freezes, it will take 4 or 5 times (each time getting a little further) to actually start up . Then it runs very well. If, however, I let it freeze the first time, and then leave it to sit in this frozen state for about 15 or 20 minutes, it will start up no problem the next time I start it again. I ran a diagostic on the hard drive, and windows told me that my Maxtor drive was on the verge of failure. I replaced the hard drive (I needed a bigger one anyway), and thinking my problems were solved, I started it up only to be faced with the same pattern of freezing. So, it's not the hard drive and not a virus (new HDD, new OS, same prob).

Now I am wondering if it could be the CMOS battery (the system is about 4 years old), or the PSU failing, or a CPU cooling problem.

Does this pattern of problems indicate anything to anyone? Sorry about the lengthy description, but I would appreciate any help that you can offer.

Thanks

rubberduck

10-13-2004, 06:57 PM

Will it boot into safe mode ?

Any warnings in the event log ?

theB34N

10-14-2004, 03:04 AM

Rubberduck -
Yes I can boot up into safe mode, but just like a normal start up, I have to go through the freeze/wait process first. I looked in the event log, but I'm not sure of what normally appears there on start up, so I couldn't tell if there was anything out of the ordinary. Nothing obvious anyway (to me).

rubberduck

10-14-2004, 08:06 AM

Well it does seem like a hardware conflict the only thing at ther moment I can suggest at the moment is to enter the bios and reset it back to its default configuration just to see if that has any effect.

What motherboard are you using ?

jcbray

10-14-2004, 09:50 AM

Is this an on off problem?? sometimes loads up, sometimes stops?? I had a very very similar problem, I have an AMD athlon 900, 512 SDRAM, Win XP.

The thing that fixed mine was the pagefile size I believe. Up yours a bit and see if that fixes it :)

if you don't know, to change the page file, right click on 'my computer' and go to properties, go to the advanced tab, and then performance and you should see where to do it. And as an aside, if the min and max pagefile size is the same, it apparnty helps your computer run a tiny bit more smoother :) windows doesn't have to adjust the size :)

- Colin Lynch

theB34N

10-18-2004, 01:53 AM

Thanks jcbray - I will try that, although because the problem persists despite having swapped out the HD, I think it may be something else. I appreciate the advice, and it seems like a good idea to increase my pagefile size anyway. I'm starting to think that this is a sign to invest in a new system - maybe building it myself will give me a better understanding of what's going wrong when this type of computer voodoo starts happening...thanks.

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