Hi all,
I'll post my rig's specs later if it'll help, but right now I am just looking for theories. For now, the only important points are:
* I built this computer about 3 years ago; it was a pretty good Intel-based gaming PC at the time. It has worked fine up until a month or two ago. (It's running Win 7 64-bit.)
* Since my wife has been using it, there may have been some warning signs before it really started to decline, which she missed.
Anyway, about a month ago the thing started crashing/ auto-rebooting just after at the Windows 7 logo appeared, but just before the desktop would show up.
I figured it was either a Windows 7 problem or a hard drive problem. Since at that point the system was still fully booting *sometimes*, I used System Restore to see if a recent update was at fault, but this didn't help. Using Safe Mode, etc., made no difference either. I therefore chalked up the problem to either a deeply embedded Windows 7 error, or a beginning-to-fail hard drive. I set it aside for a couple weeks, planning to swap the HD and do a clean install.
Now then... yesterday I replaced the hard drive and did a clean Windows 7 install on it. I also took out everything but the basics (mobo, memory, cpu, hd, dvd, keyboard... I'm using onboard video ATM). Windows installed fine, but when I reached the exact point where the old Windows would crash... I got a crash again. Several reinstall retries resulted in the same thing.
I also tried using just one memory stick, then the other, meanwhile moving them to different slots. Memtest looks ok after an hour or so of activity... I can run it some more but frankly, the sheer consistency of the crash suggests it is not a problem with faulty memory.
So, to recap: I'm using a brand-new, working hard drive; I am clean-installing Windows 7 from a good install disc; and I am getting the exact same problem at the exact same time (in the boot sequence) as before. Apparently some bit of hardware is being polled and causing problems, right before Windows 7 pops up the desktop.
I would be less baffled if the thing was crashing at other times too. But it seems to me that all the key hardware components (cpu, mem, hd, dvd, etc.) are *totally* involved in the install process too. It's not as if the install can happen without these things working. And yet, the install never crashes!
Any ideas on what might be causing this? (The easy answer is to try a different mobo, and I do plan on that, but I have no spares ATM...) Since I know I can eventually figure out the problem (mostly) by swapping hardware and using process of elimination, this question is more for my curiosity than anything else.
Thanks in advance.
I'll post my rig's specs later if it'll help, but right now I am just looking for theories. For now, the only important points are:
* I built this computer about 3 years ago; it was a pretty good Intel-based gaming PC at the time. It has worked fine up until a month or two ago. (It's running Win 7 64-bit.)
* Since my wife has been using it, there may have been some warning signs before it really started to decline, which she missed.
Anyway, about a month ago the thing started crashing/ auto-rebooting just after at the Windows 7 logo appeared, but just before the desktop would show up.
I figured it was either a Windows 7 problem or a hard drive problem. Since at that point the system was still fully booting *sometimes*, I used System Restore to see if a recent update was at fault, but this didn't help. Using Safe Mode, etc., made no difference either. I therefore chalked up the problem to either a deeply embedded Windows 7 error, or a beginning-to-fail hard drive. I set it aside for a couple weeks, planning to swap the HD and do a clean install.
Now then... yesterday I replaced the hard drive and did a clean Windows 7 install on it. I also took out everything but the basics (mobo, memory, cpu, hd, dvd, keyboard... I'm using onboard video ATM). Windows installed fine, but when I reached the exact point where the old Windows would crash... I got a crash again. Several reinstall retries resulted in the same thing.
I also tried using just one memory stick, then the other, meanwhile moving them to different slots. Memtest looks ok after an hour or so of activity... I can run it some more but frankly, the sheer consistency of the crash suggests it is not a problem with faulty memory.
So, to recap: I'm using a brand-new, working hard drive; I am clean-installing Windows 7 from a good install disc; and I am getting the exact same problem at the exact same time (in the boot sequence) as before. Apparently some bit of hardware is being polled and causing problems, right before Windows 7 pops up the desktop.
I would be less baffled if the thing was crashing at other times too. But it seems to me that all the key hardware components (cpu, mem, hd, dvd, etc.) are *totally* involved in the install process too. It's not as if the install can happen without these things working. And yet, the install never crashes!
Any ideas on what might be causing this? (The easy answer is to try a different mobo, and I do plan on that, but I have no spares ATM...) Since I know I can eventually figure out the problem (mostly) by swapping hardware and using process of elimination, this question is more for my curiosity than anything else.
Thanks in advance.