Friend's PC quickly shuts off

ajmaverickajmaverick
edited May 2005 in Hardware
I am working on a friend's computer because it has been having problems staying on. It has been randomly shutting off. He has Windows Xp Home Edition. Someone had installed Service Pack 2 a while back and I was thinking that was the problem somehow.

I went ahead and took the computer home and have been working on it. I removed his hard drive and used it in my stable system and everything worked great. Able to get online, burn discs, use windows with no auto shutoff. This clued me to it being a hardware problem. I put his hard drive back in his system and removed ALL PCI devices. Still shuts off when windows starts...Removed ram and replaced with good ram, still shut off. Ran a memory test from memtest.org, no errors. Used my PSU and still shut off. I don't know what else it could be. Motherboard...not really leaning on that. lately, i was just running the computer from the bios hardware monitor, cpu temp was about 123, nothing higher....Did not shut off in dos or bios. Then, I have been getting these blue screens when windows comes up in Safe Mode.

What do these mean? "A process or thread crucial to system operation has unexpectedly exited or been terminated". Then it begins system memory dumping. It says to disable bios memory options such as shadowing or caching, pretty sure i did that. One blue screen showed that win32k.sys was a file that had problems. Another blue screen showed, Stop: 0x0000000A (0x00720065, blah blah blah). Then when i finally got into windows...it showed me the popup....one said there was an error to explorer.exe and shell32.dll

So, now I am thinking it is software problems with windows. I can reformat if I need to but i just want to see what you all suggest. He runs a business from this pc so I want to fix it asap for him. I ran spybot, hijack this, cleaned temp folders, prefetch....ANy help would be great. thanks.

Pretty much within 5 minutes or less of getting into windows the computer will just shut off on me...Sometimes the blue screen is like jumbled garbage.

I attached something, no clue what this is but i guess it was a log of one of the errors placed in the temp folder at startup.
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Comments

  • profdlpprofdlp The Holy City Of Westlake, Ohio
    edited April 2005
    ajmaverick wrote:
    ...One blue screen showed that win32k.sys was a file that had problems...
    Give us the hardware specs of his system.

    You might find some hints at this page.

    I'd start by checking the memory timing. If it's on "Turbo" or "Fast" (or anything like that) try reducing it to "Normal" or even "Slow", at least for troubleshooting purposes.

    If he's OC'ing, set the machine back to it's rated settings.

    It wouldn't hurt to see if there is an updated Video driver. If he just updated the driver before the problem started, try rolling it back to the previous version.
  • ajmaverickajmaverick
    edited April 2005
    k...just did a full reformat of his hard drive...wanted to try and install windows again and keep getting BSOD messages during install, or computer hangs. So it's got to be a conflict with windows and hardware. don;t know what else to do....I believe the Mobo is a pc chips...he's got an Amd duron processor. Got two sdram slots and two ddr. Have tested all possible memory modules. going to try and flash the bios...what other suggestions you all got. He has onboard video, sound, lan...all that stuff. The bios is American Megatrends.
  • GrayFoxGrayFox /dev/urandom Member
    edited April 2005
    Most likely ram.


    But then again the mobo is pc chips ........... It could be that. (check for blowen capasitors)

    edit: nvm you ruled out ram


    how are the voltages ?
  • ajmaverickajmaverick
    edited April 2005
    well, i did run memtest....but i heard you need to run all 7 passes....i ran like 4 of them...do you think that may be it. I mean, I took the ram out, put good stick of sdram in, didn't work. Then I put in ddr ram, didn't work either. now i can't find how to even flash the bios. ran ami bios id utility and it told me it was ECS M825ULR. can't find any info on it. I have been hearing a lot about checking the memory timing, i didn't anything about it in the bios. any clue of where this all may be on the mobo. thanks. computer is pretty much dead, well can run dos and such for hours. yay! but once i try to install windows xp problems arise.
  • profdlpprofdlp The Holy City Of Westlake, Ohio
    edited April 2005
    ajmaverick wrote:
    well, i did run memtest....but i heard you need to run all 7 passes....i ran like 4 of them...
    If it actually said it was on the 4th pass you are fine. If it was only on the 4th test you should run the program again.
    ...ran ami bios id utility and it told me it was ECS M825ULR. can't find any info on it...
    Run the Belarc Advisor. It will tell you loads of stuff about the computer. Post the exact MB brand & model #. Do the same for all the other hardware.
    I have been hearing a lot about checking the memory timing, i didn't anything about it in the bios. any clue of where this all may be on the mobo...
    Different bios's stash that stuff in different places. It could be under something like "Advanced Chipset Features", "Frequency and Settings", or who-knows-what. Just hunt around.

    Sometimes you'll find a setting with different speed levels going from Slow>>Normal>>Fast>>Turbo. Try it on "Slow" right now for troubleshooting purposes.

    Another idea would be to look for a setting "Load Fail-Safe Defaults". Make a note of ALL your current settings first, then try that.

    PCChips are not known for making the best MB's around (an understatement). With decent boards available for around $50 you might have your friend consider that. I wouldn't give up yet, but if the board is old (which I suspect it is, since you have two different types of ram slots), it might be time to look for a more modern replacement.
  • ajmaverickajmaverick
    edited April 2005
    yeah it was on the 4th pass. well can't run the belarc advisor cause i do not have windows installed. hard drive is formatted...Was just trying to run windows xp install from the bootable install cd. Got to the partition info then just froze on me. I don't know what else, starting to frustrate me. I have seen this before, i have worked with quite a few systems. should i just replace the mobo. i don't have one to test so i'll have to go get one. thanks. adrian.
  • profdlpprofdlp The Holy City Of Westlake, Ohio
    edited April 2005
    Check the bios for the speed settings I mentioned.

    What type and speed are the CPU and the ram? I'm sure he could find a replacement MB which would be a step up from what he has now.

    Does the current MB have onboard LAN, Video or Sound?
  • ajmaverickajmaverick
    edited April 2005
    yeah current mb has video, lan, and sound. the settings for the cpu are... AMD k7 Duron.

    CPU SPEED: 1250M/1300MHZ.
    CPU RATIO: 13x.
    CPU Bus Frequency: 100 Mhz.

    That 13 ratio seems high to me, don't know how to change it though. The only ram settings i saw are...

    SDRAM Timing by SPD: Disabled
    SDRAM Frequency: Auto. Other settings include 100 and 133
    SDRAM CAS# Latency: 3, i had it set at 2 earlier but didn't seem to do anything.
    SDRAM Bank Interleave: 2-way
  • profdlpprofdlp The Holy City Of Westlake, Ohio
    edited April 2005
    ajmaverick wrote:
    yeah current mb has video, lan, and sound. the settings for the cpu are... AMD k7 Duron.

    CPU SPEED: 1250M/1300MHZ.
    CPU RATIO: 13x.
    CPU Bus Frequency: 100 Mhz.

    That 13 ratio seems high to me, don't know how to change it though...
    That part should be OK, assuming he actually has a Duron 1300. You might try lowering it to 12X right now for troubleshooting purposes.
    The only ram settings i saw are...
    SDRAM Timing by SPD: Disabled change to "Enabled"*
    SDRAM Frequency: Auto. Other settings include 100 and 133 If you have PC133 ram, use 133; if it's PC100, use 100.
    SDRAM CAS# Latency: 3, i had it set at 2 earlier but didn't seem to do anything. Leave it at "3"
    SDRAM Bank Interleave: 2-way Try "none" (slower), though "4-Way" (faster) might actually help.
    *This means the MB will (hopefully) read the proper ram timing right off the ram itself and set it for you.

    Check in the bios and see if there is an area like "Hardware Monitor"; report the temps and voltages so we can see if there's something funky going on with that.
  • ajmaverickajmaverick
    edited April 2005
    ah yes....should have typed that...Thanks for all the help by the way. you guys are awesome.
    changed the ram settings, still get hangup on windows install.

    hardware monitor.
    vcore: 1.7v
    vcc2.5v: 2.4v
    vcc3.3v: 3.3v
    vcc5v: 4.8v
    +12v: 12.4v
    -12v: -12.8v
    SB5v: 5.1v
    VBAT: 3.2v
    cpu fan: around 5200rpm
    system temp: 98 F
    cpu temp: 118 F, have seen it at 125 F highest
  • GrayFoxGrayFox /dev/urandom Member
    edited April 2005
    wow look @ that 12V rail that psu is toast. Replace it quickly before it causes damage to something anything greater then 12.36 and your system will most likely become unstable.
  • ajmaverickajmaverick
    edited April 2005
    which voltage reading are you referring to? k so it is the power supply....i tried an antec from my pc. it still had the same problems. haven't tried it with reinstalling windows from scratch with my other psu. should i try that? Thanks.
  • profdlpprofdlp The Holy City Of Westlake, Ohio
    edited April 2005
    GrayFox wrote:
    wow look @ that 12V rail that psu is toast. Replace it quickly before it causes damage to something anything greater then 12.36 and your system will most likely become unstable.
    His 12V rail is high, but I don't think that's what is causing his problem (particulary since he's used two different PSU's). Check out the attached picture. (Obtained Here)
    ajmaverick wrote:
    ...Got two sdram slots and two ddr. Have tested all possible memory modules...
    You're not mixing different kinds of ram are you? If you're using SDRAM can you try DDR (or vice-versa)?

    Tell me the exact model of the MB and I'll try and find a manual. If I can see the bios options I might be able to spot something.
  • ajmaverickajmaverick
    edited April 2005
    nah, i know that much, lol, i just got one sdram stick in there. i used a 512 ddr ram stick for one of the ddr slots (without the sdram in there of course) and the problem still happened. didn't try it in the other ddr slot, 1 or 2, can't remember. here is the exact model of the motherboard ECS M825ULR. I was checking online and sometimes is also know as the K7VMM model. here are some bios options.

    Standard CMOS Setup
    Advanced Setup
    PCI / Plug and Play Setup
    Load Optimal Settings
    Load Best Performance Settings
    Features Setup
    CPU PnP Setup
    Hardware Monitor
    Change Password
    Exit
  • profdlpprofdlp The Holy City Of Westlake, Ohio
    edited April 2005
    ajmaverick wrote:
    ...I was checking online and sometimes is also know as the K7VMM model...
    Aha! Found it. Your board is an ECS brand. They were bought out by PCChips a while back.

    Now: What revision is the board? I found V1.2 listed; all the others are the K7VMM+.
  • ajmaverickajmaverick
    edited April 2005
    I am not sure...where can i check....I think I was looking at the v1.2
  • profdlpprofdlp The Holy City Of Westlake, Ohio
    edited April 2005
    ajmaverick wrote:
    I am not sure...where can i check....I think I was looking at the v1.2
    It could be right next to the model number, often on a sticker added after the board was originally printed. It could also be anywhere else. Just look for a v.x somewhere.

    If you're sure it's not the "+" version I think I have the manual. The latest BIOS listed is 20812 with a date of 2003/03/28.

    This is ECS's page for identifying your bios and board.

    Does it look like this?
  • ajmaverickajmaverick
    edited April 2005
    yeah i could not see any stickers on there....looks like that except those ddr slots that are blue are red on this mobo....I know the bios on this is 2002 sometime. checked that earlier.

    getting sleepy...let me know your aim id tomorrow we can chat...what time are you available? I just want to get this taken care of.
  • ajmaverickajmaverick
    edited April 2005
    any other suggestions...should i try a new motherboard. Got to buy one so I just want to make sure. I used a good Antec power supply that I have in my system on his computer and the problem still was happening. Don't know what else to check. Thanks. Adrian.
  • profdlpprofdlp The Holy City Of Westlake, Ohio
    edited April 2005
    I went through the manual and found a few things you may want to check:

    1) Update to the latest bios. (Unless you already have it, date mentioned previously)
    2) Make sure "Auto detect PCI Clk" is Enabled.
    3) Make sure "SDRAM Timing By SPD" is Enabled.
    4) Try setting the "Power Management/APM" to Disabled.
    5) Make sure the "Primary Graphics Adapter" is set to your type. (AGP, if you're using the onboard video)
    6) Set the "Share Memory Size" to 32. (If you're using the onboard video)
    7) Set "Plug And Play Aware O/S" to Yes.
    8) Set "CPU Bus Frequency" to Auto
    9) Make sure you're using an 80-Wire cable for the Hard Drive

    If none of that helps, try borrowing another cdrom drive and see if that gets you through the install.

    If you still end up stumped, it may be time to consider a new MB. ;)
  • ajmaverickajmaverick
    edited April 2005
    k one question...should i just keep looking around at different bios updates...I try to update the bios and the old bios model name M825ULR does not match a new bios model name(blah blah). So I think i am getting the wrong flash bios file. ALso for the primary graphics adapter, I think it is set on pci. i am using the onboard video....so I want to set it to agp correct. but, i need to make sure that i remove my agp video card that i was testing with correct? Thanks.
  • profdlpprofdlp The Holy City Of Westlake, Ohio
    edited April 2005
    ajmaverick wrote:
    k one question...should i just keep looking around at different bios updates...I try to update the bios and the old bios model name M825ULR does not match a new bios model name(blah blah). So I think i am getting the wrong flash bios file.
    Post a link to the site where you're getting the bios file from.
    Also for the primary graphics adapter, I think it is set on pci. i am using the onboard video....so I want to set it to agp correct. but, i need to make sure that i remove my agp video card that i was testing with correct? Thanks.
    Yes to both. Remove the spare card; set the primary graphics adapter to AGP.
  • ajmaverickajmaverick
    edited April 2005
    i can't seem to find it anywhere....I need the bios upgrade for the M825ULR motherboard. that is the model number. Now, I run the AMI bios id utility and it says that it is made by ECS. But when I search for ECS M825ULR i get things online saying it is also known as the K7VMM. So I downloaded the flash utility for K7VMM and when I try and run it tells me my current motherboard model number is (M825ULR) and it doesn't match(K7VMM), duh! Should I try and continue the flash bios. I have just been hitting ESC on that part cause i don't want to jack anything up. I am sure it is the same board. Here is the link for the PC Chips website. I can;t find anything on there that talks about the M825ULR, just says M825U,M825LU, and other crap.

    http://www.pcchipsusa.com/
  • Straight_ManStraight_Man Geeky, in my own way Naples, FL Icrontian
    edited April 2005
    Try this link:

    http://www.pcchipsusa.com/BIOS/825_020702S.ZIP

    It is a similar enough board that it should work.
  • ajmaverickajmaverick
    edited April 2005
    thanks...finally got it to update..now i just got to work with the rest of it.
  • ajmaverickajmaverick
    edited April 2005
    well...thought it was working...started the windows xp install...checked for all the configuration and right when it said "windows is starting", still in the blue screen, just shut off on me. What is an 80-Wire cable for the Hard Drivem got any pics. Maybe i'll try the one from my computer because his hard drive did work in my system..maybe i'll swap the drive also.

    changed all the bios settings that were asked above.
  • profdlpprofdlp The Holy City Of Westlake, Ohio
    edited April 2005
    ajmaverick wrote:
    ...What is an 80-Wire cable for the Hard ...
    If the wires are tiny and there are more than 40 of them, you have an 80-Wire cable. :)
  • RPG-FanRPG-Fan
    edited April 2005
    have you tried to just copy down the error code you get when the screen goes blue? the Ex00000000 etc with a about 4 more rows, then type parts of it in google to find out which error youve got, it should tell you fine, crude, but thats how i found out what was wrong with my friends registry files.
  • ajmaverickajmaverick
    edited April 2005
    yeah tried, the only thing now is that it is different blue screen errors and it won't have anything to do with the registry. I am working with a freshly formatted HD and there is no OS installed on it. It is locking up on me during the blue screen installation of windows xp. Very frustrating I must say.
  • RPG-FanRPG-Fan
    edited April 2005
    all i can think of is that it might be set up to turn off once the processor reaches a certain breaking point to save your friends hardware, if thats the case then you might try having your voltage problems fixed
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