A real big mess..

[courtney4]

Ok heres the situation.

I have two hard drives. I have a copy of windows XP on each, though for one of them i havnt got any drivers/updates etc. Anyway, i recently had been getting a problem with my PC...it just kept turning off without any warning. I could just be doing something completely unstressful and it would just switch off. Strange thing was if i turned it back on again, it would usually turn off before windows had loaded and the more times i tried the quicker it turned off. However, once i wait a few minutes it can work, without dying for weeks!

So i kind of ignored this for a while. When my PC turned itself off this one time, the scandisk went nuts. When trying to get to windows i would get some very strange problems. There was no taskbar, but my icons were on the desktop. My network card wasnt working, i couldn't open half my apps. Task manager was messed up and couldnt show me half the information it usually can...basically my windows was f***** up. I decided to do a system repair and afterwards it worked ok.

Today, several weeks later my PC turned off again, and this time im getting all this windows is corrupt rubbish again. I tried repairing windows similar to how i had done before but i have an even bigger problem this time. My Pc turned off during the installation and my windows setup will no longer continue. I keep getting messages like 'windows setup cannot repair, windows setup files are ...ya de yaada'. Corrupted files i think....again.

So i am using my other hard drive to post this, and i was wondering some things.

1. What do you guys reckon is causing my PC to turn itself off? i rang the guys who made my PC and they seem to think it is a problem with the PSU. Could it not be related to the fact my Hard drive has very high temperatures and gets corrupt all the time?

2. What can i do about windows on my other harddrive? i could re install it, but i dont want to lose any of my settings and drivers as i dont think i could get them all back again. Is there any way of checking the windows folder for corrupted files and then just replacing them with the files in the the windows folder on my other drive?

Any feedback/suggestions welcome. I really need help guys so thank you for reading and for any replies.

 

[cmichael258]

It does sound like the PSU is dying. I would suggest replacing it before trying any more repairs/installs.

 

[Mondoman]

...
1. What do you guys reckon is causing my PC to turn itself off? i rang the guys who made my PC and they seem to think it is a problem with the PSU.

Sounds like a good bet.

Could it not be related to the fact my Hard drive has very high temperatures and gets corrupt all the time?

That's scary, too, but it wouldn't cause your PC to turn off. How do you know the temps are high? How high?

2. What can i do about windows on my other harddrive? i could re install it, but i dont want to lose any of my settings and drivers as i dont think i could get them all back again. Is there any way of checking the windows folder for corrupted files and then just replacing them with the files in the the windows folder on my other drive?

Once you get a new PS, I think all you can do is boot from your Windows CD, and select a "repair install".


Any feedback/suggestions welcome. I really need help guys so thank you for reading and for any replies.[/quote]

 

[clue69less]

...
1. What do you guys reckon is causing my PC to turn itself off? i rang the guys who made my PC and they seem to think it is a problem with the PSU.

Sounds like a good bet.

Based on what? I'd check the voltages at the 24-pin connector - and precede that by checking all electrical connections, fans, etc. Hopefully, the OP has already done a thorough job of the early troubleshooting stuff.

Could it not be related to the fact my Hard drive has very high temperatures and gets corrupt all the time?

That's scary, too, but it wouldn't cause your PC to turn off. How do you know the temps are high? How high?

If the HD really is running hot, it could be an issue. Mondoman is right to want a temperature and to know how the temp was measured. That's my point about the PS - it would be good to see the voltages and know something about stability under load. Every now and then, like during a cleaning, it's a good idea to monitor mobo voltages under load.

 

[courtney4]

i had a harddrive temperature monitoring software, it said one of my hard drives was around 40, but the one in question was around 58, up to 64 on a hot day. I told this to the company i got my PC from and they said it was ok.

thanks for the help guys, very helpfull. Oh and im sorry clue69less, i am not to sure what you mean about checking voltages, im still learning

 

[courtney4]

will the repair instill delete all my files and programs? Although...tbh my PC could use a clean!

 

[clue69less]

i had a harddrive temperature monitoring software, it said one of my hard drives was around 40, but the one in question was around 58, up to 64 on a hot day. I told this to the company i got my PC from and they said it was ok.

thanks for the help guys, very helpfull. Oh and im sorry clue69less, i am not to sure what you mean about checking voltages, im still learning

64 is warm for a HD - mine all run under 45, even under big load. WRT checking voltages, I meant to measure the voltages at the 24-pin mobo connector with a DVM. You can use onboard or speedfan voltage monitors but I don't trust them in a situation like this. Look at the 24-pin diagram shown here and check each with a good quality DVM. If you don't have a good meter, try to fit one into the budget - it is an essential tool. Measuring ripple under load is not a trivial thing to do, but if you have any software that will stress your system, it's good to watch, for example, the +12V that supplies your CPU while running a CPU-intensive app. You can also load your GPU while monitoring the power to the GPU. If your GPU is PCI-e, then monitor at the PCI power connection at the end of the card opposite the case PCI slot opening. If you've never used a DVM to monitor voltage on a molex-type power plug, you can just take the probe tip and insert it into the plug housing right where the wire enters it. You need to push hard enough that the probe tip gets good contact, but don't reef on it harder than necessary.

 

[rickpcnerd2004]

hmm, computer shuts off by itself. Well, i have fix pcs with this problem.
Seems your CPU Fan is not spinning, wish cause the cpu to get tremondously hot and shuts off to prevent any damage. the more u try the faster computer shuts off cause cpu its already really hot. Ok, Open you pc case, turn on computer and check if cpu fan is spinning, if not spinning turn off computer immidietly, now go to local computer store and replace fan with new one. there is no need to buy the whole heatsink, just the fan for about ten dollars, take the damage fan with you to get the right size.
If cpu is spinning, well, u have bad power supply. buy a new power supply, make sure power supply has sufficient power to power on all your hard ware.
Cant continue installation. Once u have found out whats your pc problem, wish will be cpu fan, or power supply. Once problem resolved. Insert Windows cd and perform a system repair.

Is it IDE Hard Drives? do u have other computer? if fails to repair. now u must back up your data to perform a fresh install. to back up. connect your ide hard drive into another computer and replace with cd rom... so that means, u will disconnect cd rom ide cable temporary and replace it with hard drive. Now turn on pc, log in to bios, and make sure pc is booting from HD0 wish is computer working drive, so corrupted hard drive wont boot. Now go to MY COMPUTER, corrupted hard must be listed as drive G or some other letter. Now create a new folder in desktop and start backing up your data by draging files from corrupted drive to New Folder created. Once done. do same think with other drive. Once done, merge hard drive to original computer and perform a fresh install. Once windows has install. merge hard drive to other computer like u had it connected to back up files. now open My Computer open your just fix Hard Drive letter then drag backup folder to your fix hard drive. and done. now merge hard drives to original computer and enjoy.

Let me know what was the problem Failure CPU FAN or BAD POWER SUPPLY

From PC EXPERT

 

[courtney4]

Thanks for the replies guys.

As for the CPU fan, my PC has a see through case and i can tell you for sure that the CPU fan is running .

 

[rickpcnerd2004]

login to BIOS and check CPU temperature. Maybe the CPU FAN is not good eneough to cool down your cpu. Then will require to get a water cooler.

 

[Blessedman]

Hehe I am gonna sound like an antagonizer(sp) but as cheap as PSU's are and the time it takes to check all the pins of PSU, its easier most of the time to use an external PSU (cheaper also) just to see if the same problem occurs. Sometimes diagnostics can take longer then an actual swap (no in the case of certain expensive parts, yes diagnostics is the only way to go) of parts.

There are many problems that can cause this both hardware and software. I recently built a computer using what I thought was a good video card. It wasnt until I actually installed the drivers for the card did it actually fail... Under standard VGA drivers everything was fine, then when I installed drivers for the card It wouldn't boot up. It would go right to the login screen, then reboot itself like magic. So its possibly not something in hardware, saying that, it sounds like you do have a hardware issue. lol

Good luck have fun... I would uninstall any new software first, then start going after each piece of hardware.

 

[SirCrono]

will the repair instill delete all my files and programs? Although...tbh my PC could use a clean!

The repair install otions only reverts the windows folder to it's original state (so i'ts bye bye drivers and service packs) and (for some reason) delete all content in the My Documents folder, everything else is untouched.

 

[courtney4]

Hello again guys

The new PSU arrived toady, its an FSP 450W. I fitted it without any problems, took about 5 minutes. However, i still have a few questions for you guys

Three of the cables coming from the PSU i have not connected to anything, i have just placed them out of site. Im guessing there ok there, or shall i think about removing them?

Secondly, and most worryingly the last PSU i had was 650w, and they send me a 450w =/. Looking a PSU calculator (the eXtreme one) its estimates indicate i would require at least a 540+watt. Anyway, so i have it plugged it right now, its almost deadly quiet, except for a small buzz. Hmmm...normal i thought at first but then....oh dear...i fired up World of warcraft and the buzz got louder (its not stupidly loud, but load enough to really piss me off! lol) then i closed WoW and the buzz stops almost immediately. Is this typical of what would happen if the PSU was too weak? so far i havnt noticed any performance issues, no shut downs etc. What might happen, is there anything i should look out for?

Many thanks for any help! im off to go and unplug some CD drives and stuff and check for buzzing noises then!