Boot Problems

[Cyrcle]

Today my computer has been acting odd. It's been off for about two days and when I turned it on earlier in the day, it booted, and after about 5 to 10 minutes Windows froze while playing a game. I hard booted and now it will not pass the mobo's splash screen.

After some frustration, I went out for the day, left everything unplugged for several hours (maybe about 6 hours). It booted fine then after about 5 to 10 minutes it froze again. It is now not passing the mobo's splash screen yet again.

I cannot access the BIOS, boot menu, nothing. Even putting in a Windows CD isn't working. What could be the problem? I was thinking the processor is overheating somehow, but the computer is clean inside and out, and it's only 4 months old.

 

[Cyrcle]

Update: Just got in after letting it sit since the original post. Let it sit in BIOS for 5 min and It's only running 30 degrees.

Update 2: Started up Windows and let it sit, nothing wrong. Started up a game, walked away for less than a minute, it looks like it rebooted itself. Let it restart, didn't even get to load windows and rebooted again. Now stuck at the mobo splash screen yet again.

I should have mentioned before, her computer currently has two hard drives, one which has Windows XP Pro 32-bit and another that has 64-bit. It allows her to select which she wants to boot from. I'm unsure if this is causing the problem, but I've tried having one hard drive plugged in and it still won't pass the splash screen so I don't think it's the problem, since it's been like it has (with both versions of Windows) for about two weeks.

Update 3: Got it working. Reset BIOS to factory defaults. Windows (using 32-bit atm) started up. Let it sit and nothing happened. Checked to see if there were any unusual programs running. Nada. Tried putting a load on the CPU to see what would happen. Unsure of how much it boosted too, but the computer made a beep, went to a BSOD and restarted. It's booting fine currently (32-bit), but still getting the BSOD, which I am unable to read.

 

[Cyrcle]

Update 4: Windows 64 is no longer booting, automatic BSOD. Backing up important files. Complete. Attempted running games for a test, all games thus far crash before starting. Highest CPU usage spike: ~65%. Computer froze after testing a third game. Rebooted, no boot problems yet.

 

[Zoron]

How old is the computer? Sounds like power supply or motherboard issues... check for bulging / leaking capacitors on the motherboard. I'm leaning more towards the power supply right now, though.

 

[Cyrcle]

Computer was built in March.

PSU - PC Power & Cooling S61EPS 610W
Mobo - GIGABYTE GA-P35-DS3L LGA 775 Intel P35 ATX
CPU - Intel Core 2 Duo E6750
GPU - EVGA 320-P2-N811-AR GeForce 8800 GTS 320MB
RAM - CORSAIR XMS2 4GB (4 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800

Nothing has been overclocked. Nothing was changed/downloaded to our knowledge between the time it was working fine and now (besides the factory reset of the BIOS).

Haven't tried safe mode.

BIOS temps are reading
system temp - 30-35*C
cpu temp - 28-32*C

 

[pat mcgroin]

im on vista right now but Im pretty sure its the same
goto my computer rightclick properties |advanced system properties|advanced|startup and recovery|uncheck the auto restart box
The next time it goes to BSOD you will see a error message.
Get the first 16 numbers in the message and write back

Also one other thought since it is rather new open the box and reseat all connectors as heat sometimes makes connections expand and lose their contact.

 

[callahs]

Whats your psu? I went back to an old 350watter after the new 650w took a dump after two months. Asus/intel/6800nividia no overclocking, was working on a xls the cpu just rebooted! Noticed it got worse over a two week period. PSU still in RMA fairytail land!?
Bought one with a single 12v 30amp bar and if you can, get one UL approved.