Has my G6-450's time come?

My configuration: G6-450 PII, 384mb RAM, 2 x 10GB hard drives both
NTFS, Windows XP Pro.

Well, it's been a while since I posted here with a problem on my 1998
GW but I had a scare with the old boy and think it may be the
beginning of the end. This started with a program I was running which
froze and ultimately froze the machine. I used the reset button to
reboot and after showing the BIOS and Video info, it goes into the
Gateway logo screen where it usually would show a progress bar. But
this time, it didn't and hung there. I attempted several more reboots
and it hung each time before the BIOS was even accessed. I tried all
the normal stuff, pulling and re-seating all the cables, pulling all
the cards and memory and rebooting, disconnecting the hard drives and
reconnecting them one at a time and rebooting and then changing each
one's designation. Only after I did the master/slave change and then
back to the correct way did I finally see the progress bar on the logo
screen. I reconnected everything and rebooted and it finally took,
although the process starting at the BIOS access and ending at the OS
access was extremely slow. Normal time for that part of bootup was
around 45 seconds and now it takes about 3 minutes. It still hangs
before the progress bar appears but when it reaches the XP logo
'progress bar' it goes back to it's normal speed. Execution within
Windows is fine and may even be a bit faster than it was before. Is
all this an indication of a processor going bad? Or maybe RAM? I don't
think it's any of the peripherals including the HDs as this all occurs
before the BIOS even runs through it's motions. Any thoughts?

Thanks for taking the time to read my long explanation.
Ed

Change the CMOS battery.


"Ed Barchetta" wrote in message
om...
My configuration: G6-450 PII, 384mb RAM, 2 x 10GB hard drives both
NTFS, Windows XP Pro.

Well, it's been a while since I posted here with a problem on my 1998
GW but I had a scare with the old boy and think it may be the
beginning of the end. This started with a program I was running which
froze and ultimately froze the machine. I used the reset button to
reboot and after showing the BIOS and Video info, it goes into the
Gateway logo screen where it usually would show a progress bar. But
this time, it didn't and hung there. I attempted several more reboots
and it hung each time before the BIOS was even accessed. I tried all
the normal stuff, pulling and re-seating all the cables, pulling all
the cards and memory and rebooting, disconnecting the hard drives and
reconnecting them one at a time and rebooting and then changing each
one's designation. Only after I did the master/slave change and then
back to the correct way did I finally see the progress bar on the logo
screen. I reconnected everything and rebooted and it finally took,
although the process starting at the BIOS access and ending at the OS
access was extremely slow. Normal time for that part of bootup was
around 45 seconds and now it takes about 3 minutes. It still hangs
before the progress bar appears but when it reaches the XP logo
'progress bar' it goes back to it's normal speed. Execution within
Windows is fine and may even be a bit faster than it was before. Is
all this an indication of a processor going bad? Or maybe RAM? I don't
think it's any of the peripherals including the HDs as this all occurs
before the BIOS even runs through it's motions. Any thoughts?

Thanks for taking the time to read my long explanation.
Ed

I second the motion. I had the same immediate knee-jerk reaction. A battery
that has not been changed in 5 years will cause unusual symptoms. A C2032 3v
Lithium coin-type battery costs no more than a couple or three bucks... Ben
Myers

On Tue, 16 Dec 2003 13:09:12 GMT, "Edward J. Neth" wrote:

Change the CMOS battery.


"Ed Barchetta" wrote in message
. com...
My configuration: G6-450 PII, 384mb RAM, 2 x 10GB hard drives both
NTFS, Windows XP Pro.

Well, it's been a while since I posted here with a problem on my 1998
GW but I had a scare with the old boy and think it may be the
beginning of the end. This started with a program I was running which
froze and ultimately froze the machine. I used the reset button to
reboot and after showing the BIOS and Video info, it goes into the
Gateway logo screen where it usually would show a progress bar. But
this time, it didn't and hung there. I attempted several more reboots
and it hung each time before the BIOS was even accessed. I tried all
the normal stuff, pulling and re-seating all the cables, pulling all
the cards and memory and rebooting, disconnecting the hard drives and
reconnecting them one at a time and rebooting and then changing each
one's designation. Only after I did the master/slave change and then
back to the correct way did I finally see the progress bar on the logo
screen. I reconnected everything and rebooted and it finally took,
although the process starting at the BIOS access and ending at the OS
access was extremely slow. Normal time for that part of bootup was
around 45 seconds and now it takes about 3 minutes. It still hangs
before the progress bar appears but when it reaches the XP logo
'progress bar' it goes back to it's normal speed. Execution within
Windows is fine and may even be a bit faster than it was before. Is
all this an indication of a processor going bad? Or maybe RAM? I don't
think it's any of the peripherals including the HDs as this all occurs
before the BIOS even runs through it's motions. Any thoughts?

Thanks for taking the time to read my long explanation.
Ed

"Edward J. Neth" wrote

Change the CMOS battery.


Thanks for the reply Ed. I tried installing a new battery with no
effect. Any other thoughts?

Ed

Next most likely to need replacement: the power supply.



"Ed Barchetta" wrote in message
om...
"Edward J. Neth" wrote

Change the CMOS battery.


Thanks for the reply Ed. I tried installing a new battery with no
effect. Any other thoughts?

Ed

Power supply heading south possibly? Got a spare one you can try? I assume
you shot and removed all the dust bunnies in there while you were poking
around? ;-)

You didn't mention anything about virus and spyware scans? Did you do any
of them?
Have you done any installs lately? Try a system restore maybe? Or an XP
repair installation?

Maybe it's just time for Santa to bring you a new one...

"Ed Barchetta" wrote in message
om...
"Edward J. Neth" wrote

Change the CMOS battery.


Thanks for the reply Ed. I tried installing a new battery with no
effect. Any other thoughts?

Ed

I did complete virus and Adaware scans and both came up clean. No
extra ps lying around so I guess I can live with it. At least I don't
have to reboot very often in XP. I'm not sure I've been good enough
this year for a new one.

Ed

"PC Gladiator" wrote in message ...
Power supply heading south possibly? Got a spare one you can try? I assume
you shot and removed all the dust bunnies in there while you were poking
around? ;-)

You didn't mention anything about virus and spyware scans? Did you do any
of them?
Have you done any installs lately? Try a system restore maybe? Or an XP
repair installation?

Maybe it's just time for Santa to bring you a new one...

Windows XP might have been too much of an upgrade for the G6-450. I
have one myself, downloaded and ran the XP compatibility test, and several
potential problems were listed. I decided the highest I would upgrade would
be Millennium Edition (ME). I know many in this NG dislike Millennium, but
so far it works just fine on my G6-450 after doing a clean install.

In fact, I recently had Road Runner Wireless installed on it. Before
doing so, the installer asked which OS it was running. I told him Windows
Millennium. He said..."Whew. I'm glad you didn't say 98." The installer
told me 98FE and 98SE both had trouble with their wireless equipment, even
though 98SE is officially listed as within the system requirements.

"Ed Barchetta" wrote in message
om...
My configuration: G6-450 PII, 384mb RAM, 2 x 10GB hard drives both
NTFS, Windows XP Pro.

Well, it's been a while since I posted here with a problem on my 1998
GW but I had a scare with the old boy and think it may be the
beginning of the end. This started with a program I was running which
froze and ultimately froze the machine. I used the reset button to
reboot and after showing the BIOS and Video info, it goes into the
Gateway logo screen where it usually would show a progress bar. But
this time, it didn't and hung there. I attempted several more reboots
and it hung each time before the BIOS was even accessed. I tried all
the normal stuff, pulling and re-seating all the cables, pulling all
the cards and memory and rebooting, disconnecting the hard drives and
reconnecting them one at a time and rebooting and then changing each
one's designation. Only after I did the master/slave change and then
back to the correct way did I finally see the progress bar on the logo
screen. I reconnected everything and rebooted and it finally took,
although the process starting at the BIOS access and ending at the OS
access was extremely slow. Normal time for that part of bootup was
around 45 seconds and now it takes about 3 minutes. It still hangs
before the progress bar appears but when it reaches the XP logo
'progress bar' it goes back to it's normal speed. Execution within
Windows is fine and may even be a bit faster than it was before. Is
all this an indication of a processor going bad? Or maybe RAM? I don't
think it's any of the peripherals including the HDs as this all occurs
before the BIOS even runs through it's motions. Any thoughts?

Thanks for taking the time to read my long explanation.
Ed