Computer keeps restarting

edited January 2010 in Hardware
THere is something really weird going on with my computer. The past week it randomly shut down every so often, and now the most recent time I tried to turn it back on, it kept restarting. It would go to the "safe mode/last configuration/normal start up" page first and then once I selected an option it started up where the little progress bar is under the Windows XP symbol and then restarted again. This happened for about 30 minutes while I left my computer unattended. Before all this happened it also took about 15 minutes to start up my computer. Also my zone alarm caught a few virus attacks coming from another computer on my network so I wonder if they have anything to do with it...maybe one got through? Reguardless now, I can't seem to start my computer. I'm hoping time will be the answer, but is there anything you guys can go? I can't post a HJT log or anything else unless my computer will restart for real. Thanks for the help in advance! You guys are the best!
«1

Comments

  • TroganTrogan London, UK
    edited October 2006
    Hi BostonBoy! I'm moving your thread to the Emergency Forum so you can get your computer up and running again. Once that is resolved, we will look at your HJT log. :)
  • edited October 2006
    Thanks Trogan! Hopefully I won't be back other than to say everything is resolved!
  • profdlpprofdlp The Holy City Of Westlake, Ohio
    edited October 2006
    While the virus stuff you mentioned is well worth pursuing, it pays in the long run to get a few simple tests out of the way to eliminate the possibility of any hardware problems. I'd run two passes of Memtest-86 and also run the Quick and the Full tests from your hard drive manufacturer.

    If you have a spare PSU laying around it would be worthwhile to try that, too.

    Get those out of the way and we will move on to the next step. :)
  • edited October 2006
    well I actually can't start my computer without it restarting before it ever starts up. It gets to the screen where the Windows XP logo shows on a black screen and the loading bar thingy is underneath it and then it restarts. I can't get to windows or anything like that...I don't know what to do! I feel pretty much helpless here. (I'm currently on a different computer than my own)
  • profdlpprofdlp The Holy City Of Westlake, Ohio
    edited October 2006
    The programs I mentioned all run from a bootable floppy or CD. Windows doesn't have to work for them to do their thing. :)
  • edited October 2006
    I assume I can find them on my restore disks? Also, what is PSU? I'm sorry I'm so computer illiterate.
  • edited October 2006
    PSU is your power supply (the box inside your computer with the fan that pushes air out from the back of your computer). Provides your computer with the power it needs. Weak or unstable/dying PSU would do what you describe.

    I had one dying recently and it even made me think that my harddrives were dying. Having a good PSU is a nice investment.
  • profdlpprofdlp The Holy City Of Westlake, Ohio
    edited October 2006
    I assume I can find them on my restore disks?...
    No. For Memtest, follow the link in my earlier post. For the hard drive test you'll need to go to the manufacturers site. :)
  • edited October 2006
    I talked with an Emachines help person and we ran through 3 different things to test the computer. After my computer failed to read the disc for the hard drive test, he said that I was left with no option but to format my computer to make sure that it is the hard drive. I'll try to run the Memory test you gave me also and we'll see if that works. I'll post results in the morning. I guess I'm half asking permission to reformat the computer...do you have any other options or advice for me?
  • edited October 2006
    Before formatting, try booting from cd/floppy to another operating system, eg DOS or Linux (recommended).
    I would try one of the "Live" Linux CDs, like Knoppix.
    I believe Knoppix even includes a Memtest utility.
    You boot up into Linux and check to see if Linux sees your hard drive(s) and other hardwares.
    If you are not familiar with Linux (or *nix), get a friend to help you or find a good book (library, bookstore or one of the online books) or as last resort try DOS.
    This way you will be able to see if the problem is with the hard disk, memory, or other stuff that Linux tests for.
    Furthermore, wth Linux you could fix some hard drive problems, backup your hard drive data, even check for viruses. Of course this assumes it is not a hardware problem, like a loose cable, or loose/bad memory stick.


    Hope this helps!
  • edited October 2006
    Had the same symptoms. Change your PSU before doing anything else. Rule that problem out first.
  • edited October 2006
    Well, I couldn't do that because my computer doesn't read any discs it tries to load from. That is why I couldn't do the hard drive test and now why I can't run the memory test. Also, I did add a new fan to the back of my computer recently, so I wouldn't think that that is the problem. I think I may be running out of options...
  • profdlpprofdlp The Holy City Of Westlake, Ohio
    edited October 2006
    Explain in detail how you are making the discs for Memtest and the hard drive test. You don't even need a hard drive in the machine at all to at least get them to load.

    As for the eMachines advice, I am always wary of tech support from the manufacturer. They don't care two hoots about your data; they just want to get the call answered as quickly as possible in order to get rid of you and move on to the next helpless victim. Testing a hard drive by formatting it is like testing the bumper on your car by driving it into a brick wall. :-/

    Answer these questions and we can give you the best advice:

    1) What brand is your hard drive? (Open the case and look at the label on it if you don't know.)

    2) Look on the Power Supply and tell us the Amperages on the 3.3V+, 5V+, and 12V+ rails.

    3) Tell us exactly which program you are using to test the hard drive.

    4) Tell us the exact file you are using for Memtest and exactly how you are going about making the floppy or CD.

    Don't be afraid to write lengthy responses to these questions. The more we know the more we can help you. And - don't call eMachines anymore. :D
  • edited October 2006
    1.) My hard drive is "Western Digital"
    2.) The Amperages on the 3.3V+ is 16.0A (ORG), on the 5V+ is 22.0A (RED) and on the 12V+ is 6.0A (YEL)...not sure if that is exactly what you were looking for, kinda a shot in the dark there. I am replacing my PSU (hopefully) and this is what I got from the new one.
    3.) the program I got from Emachines for the hard drive test was called "GWSCAN511". I had to extract that and copy it to a CD. The guy did it for me by taking control of my mouse and keyboard and what not...When I started up teh computer, it didn't work at all...i tried it in both drives.
    4.) For the memtest, I used the memtest 86 or whatever from your download site that you referred me to. In burning it to the CD, I just said to save to the CD when it prompted me to open or save the file. Once that was complete, I wrote the CD when it asked me to and then tried it in the computer to no avail.
    That is the story in full...am I doing something wrong?

    profdlp wrote:
    Explain in detail how you are making the discs for Memtest and the hard drive test. You don't even need a hard drive in the machine at all to at least get them to load.

    As for the eMachines advice, I am always wary of tech support from the manufacturer. They don't care two hoots about your data; they just want to get the call answered as quickly as possible in order to get rid of you and move on to the next helpless victim. Testing a hard drive by formatting it is like testing the bumper on your car by driving it into a brick wall. :-/

    Answer these questions and we can give you the best advice:

    1) What brand is your hard drive? (Open the case and look at the label on it if you don't know.)

    2) Look on the Power Supply and tell us the Amperages on the 3.3V+, 5V+, and 12V+ rails.

    3) Tell us exactly which program you are using to test the hard drive.

    4) Tell us the exact file you are using for Memtest and exactly how you are going about making the floppy or CD.

    Don't be afraid to write lengthy responses to these questions. The more we know the more we can help you. And - don't call eMachines anymore. :D
  • edited October 2006
    Check that about getting a new power supply, the spare one I had did not fit, so we're back to the old one. The amperages off that old one is:
    3.3V+ 20A
    5V+ 25A
    12V+ 13A
    It is a bestec if you wanted to know.
  • profdlpprofdlp The Holy City Of Westlake, Ohio
    edited October 2006
    Go to the Western Digital site and get the test for your model of the hard drive. You want the Data Lifeguard Diagnostics.

    For Memtest, when you burn the program to CD, make sure you make the disc bootable.

    For both programs, make sure the correct drive is set as the first boot device in the BIOS; floppy if it's a floppy disk, cdrom if it's a CD.

    See if that gets things started. :)
  • edited October 2006
    SHould I do the windows or the dos download? I'll have to do it tomorrow night sometime (Thurs. Oct 26)...early morning and long long day ahead of me.
  • profdlpprofdlp The Holy City Of Westlake, Ohio
    edited October 2006
    Do the DOS version of the Western Digital test. With Windows not starting and the hard drive in question it's about all you can do. Memtest is self-contained, so you won't have a problem there. :thumbsup:
  • edited October 2006
    12V+ 13A.

    No wonder your system wont stay on! I had problems running mine with this radeon9800pro on a +12V with 18 amps.
  • profdlpprofdlp The Holy City Of Westlake, Ohio
    edited October 2006
    Karoum wrote:
    No wonder your system wont stay on! I had problems running mine with this radeon9800pro on a +12V with 18 amps.
    That may well explain it, but most eMachines computers come with a puny (and non-standard size) PSU. The power requirements of their computers is also generally much lower. I wouldn't be surprised if he had onboard video which drew very little power.

    His problem is going to be that since the PSU is non-standard, replacing it is going to cost more. Even then, he's not guaranteed that it will solve the problem.

    Before we recommend that he fork over money that he may not have, let's try and test the things which can be tested at no cost. :)
  • edited November 2006
    Ok, sorry for the long delay but it has been a crazy week and my work load has seemingly doubled with the absence of a computer. I tried out another PSU, but it didn't fit. That may work out well because maybe these tests you reccomended will provide some insight to my problem. I'll run them tomorrow (its late and I can barely keep my eyes open) and post the results. I know my delay hasn't kept you up at night, but I don't want to forget about me! and leave me stranded.
  • edited November 2006
    Ok, something came up when I put it in and it asked me if I wanted to hit F1 to continue starting windows, or hit delete to enter setup. DId I do something wrong here? this was with the Western Digital hard drive test.
  • edited November 2006
    It also said something about the floppy failing.
  • profdlpprofdlp The Holy City Of Westlake, Ohio
    edited November 2006
    Check in the BIOS and make sure that the FDD is enabled and is set as the first boot device. (I'm assuming that you're trying to run the WD test from a floppy disk.)
  • edited November 2006
    No, I'm running it from a CD
  • profdlpprofdlp The Holy City Of Westlake, Ohio
    edited November 2006
    Can you give the exact Floppy error? Is there a disk in the drive?

    Since you're running the test from a CD, make sure the cdrom drive is set as the first boot device.
  • GargGarg Purveyor of Lincoln Nightmares Icrontian
    edited November 2006
    THere is something really weird going on with my computer. The past week it randomly shut down every so often, and now the most recent time I tried to turn it back on, it kept restarting. It would go to the "safe mode/last configuration/normal start up" page first and then once I selected an option it started up where the little progress bar is under the Windows XP symbol and then restarted again. This happened for about 30 minutes while I left my computer unattended. Before all this happened it also took about 15 minutes to start up my computer. Also my zone alarm caught a few virus attacks coming from another computer on my network so I wonder if they have anything to do with it...maybe one got through? Reguardless now, I can't seem to start my computer. I'm hoping time will be the answer, but is there anything you guys can go? I can't post a HJT log or anything else unless my computer will restart for real. Thanks for the help in advance! You guys are the best!

    Do you have Service Pack 2? If so, it sounds an awful lot like a problem I experienced this weekend, the dreaded MUP.SYS error. The thread at hardwareanalysis listed lots of possible fixes, but for me, I needed to enable ECSD rebuilding and unplug all my USB devices before trying to start it up.
  • edited November 2006
    Here's what comes up on my computer screen...
    Main Processor: AMD Athlon(tm) XP 2600+
    Memory testingL 491520k OK +32768k Shared Memory
    BIOS Guardian(R) enabled. You will need to disable BIOS Guardian to update BIOS

    Primary Master: (lists something, i didnt copy it down)
    Primary Slave: None
    Secondary Master: (lists something, I didn't copy it down)
    Secondary Slave: (lists something, I didn't copy it down)
    Floppy disk(s) fail (40)

    That was all that was on my screen, and then at the bottom of the screen it said to hit "F1" to continue or hit "del" to enter setup.

    Now for gargoyle...I don't know how to enable ECSD...can that be done without getting to windows? Is it a good idea to mess around with this stuff prodfdlp?
  • profdlpprofdlp The Holy City Of Westlake, Ohio
    edited November 2006
    ...Floppy disk(s) fail (40)

    That was all that was on my screen, and then at the bottom of the screen it said to hit "F1" to continue or hit "del" to enter setup.
    For right now, just hit F1 and continue. Let's get you booted from the CD so we can get the tests out of the way.

    The FDD problem is due to one of the following:

    1) The BIOS is set improperly.
    2) The data cable is defective, unhooked or backwards.
    3) The power connector to the drive is bad or unattached.
    4) The FD Controller on the motherboard is defective or disabled.
    5) The drive has gone to meet its maker.
    ...Is it a good idea to mess around with this stuff profdlp?
    Seeing as how your computer will not run properly, do you have a choice? ;)
  • edited November 2006
    I hit F1 before and it just restarts again. It doesn't go to anything else, so I was thinking that what popped up for hittind delete might of been the test. Are there some options I should change in the setup? CD Drive is the 1st drive to load and all that...I don't know what else to do.
Sign In or Register to comment.