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Windows XP PC - Bizarre Behaviour
Hi Guys,
I've got a problem with an XP box that has me stumped. The PC was set-up for a friend and was working fine, however it was then taken to a PC shop to have a network card installed and now the machine refuses to boot. It completes the POST no problems and then begins to load windows and freezes on the splash screen. I've tried booting in safe mode and the PC either freezes when it finishes listing the files on the DOS screen, or I get a black screen with 'safe mode' in each corner and the build number at the top of the screen and then the machine freezes. I have removed all cards, replaced the RAM, IDE cables and tried another hard disk with Windows 2000 installed, but the machine still boots to the same point and then freezes. I've also tried booting from a bootable CD and the machine either freezes part way through loading the CD-ROM drivers or gets me through to the DOS prompt. However when I 'cd' C:\ I get an 'invalid drive specification' error. So my question is, do you guys have any ideas what could be wrong as I'm stumped? Many Thanks Dan |
#2
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Windows XP PC - Bizarre Behaviour
Try removing the network card and then starting the PC is safe mode without
network support - this should avoid the network card driver loading. Then uninstall the NIC, re-boot and see if the machine will now start up. "Dan" wrote in message ... Hi Guys, I've got a problem with an XP box that has me stumped. The PC was set-up for a friend and was working fine, however it was then taken to a PC shop to have a network card installed and now the machine refuses to boot. It completes the POST no problems and then begins to load windows and freezes on the splash screen. I've tried booting in safe mode and the PC either freezes when it finishes listing the files on the DOS screen, or I get a black screen with 'safe mode' in each corner and the build number at the top of the screen and then the machine freezes. I have removed all cards, replaced the RAM, IDE cables and tried another hard disk with Windows 2000 installed, but the machine still boots to the same point and then freezes. I've also tried booting from a bootable CD and the machine either freezes part way through loading the CD-ROM drivers or gets me through to the DOS prompt. However when I 'cd' C:\ I get an 'invalid drive specification' error. So my question is, do you guys have any ideas what could be wrong as I'm stumped? Many Thanks Dan |
#3
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Windows XP PC - Bizarre Behaviour
"Bloater" wrote in message ... Try removing the network card and then starting the PC is safe mode without network support - this should avoid the network card driver loading. Then uninstall the NIC, re-boot and see if the machine will now start up. "Dan" wrote in message ... Hi Guys, I've got a problem with an XP box that has me stumped. The PC was set-up for a friend and was working fine, however it was then taken to a PC shop to have a network card installed and now the machine refuses to boot. It completes the POST no problems and then begins to load windows and freezes on the splash screen. I've tried booting in safe mode and the PC either freezes when it finishes listing the files on the DOS screen, or I get a black screen with 'safe mode' in each corner and the build number at the top of the screen and then the machine freezes. I have removed all cards, replaced the RAM, IDE cables and tried another hard disk with Windows 2000 installed, but the machine still boots to the same point and then freezes. I've also tried booting from a bootable CD and the machine either freezes part way through loading the CD-ROM drivers or gets me through to the DOS prompt. However when I 'cd' C:\ I get an 'invalid drive specification' error. So my question is, do you guys have any ideas what could be wrong as I'm stumped? Many Thanks Dan Thanks but I've already tried that to no avail, the machine still locks up at the same point (I've even tried leaving it for a good 45-60 minutes to see if it would eventually boot into Windows but no such luck!) |
#4
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Windows XP PC - Bizarre Behaviour
On Sun, 05 Aug 2007 13:55:59 GMT, "Dan"
wrote: I've got a problem with an XP box that has me stumped. The PC was set-up for a friend and was working fine, however it was then taken to a PC shop to have a network card installed and now the machine refuses to boot. Network cards are pretty easy, IMO the risk of a shop doing *something* wrong outweighs the perceived benefit of having them install a nic. The problem is that there is a great variability in the quality and competence of different shop techs, you probably wouldn't get a senior tech allocated to installing network cards. You might now inspect the system to be sure no cards, cables, connectors, etc are disturbed. It completes the POST no problems and then begins to load windows and freezes on the splash screen. I've tried booting in safe mode and the PC either freezes when it finishes listing the files on the DOS screen, or I get a black screen with 'safe mode' in each corner and the build number at the top of the screen and then the machine freezes. Test the memory for a few hours (memtest86+). Try booting it to the last known good configuration (menu option): http://support.microsoft.com/kb/307852 I have removed all cards, replaced the RAM, IDE cables and tried another hard disk with Windows 2000 installed, What exactly does this mean? The Win2k OS was installed on the drive while the drive was in that system or another? You can't just move a drive from one system to another and expect it to finish booting when it's WinNT (incl. 2K or XP), as hardware differences between the different systems often matter. but the machine still boots to the same point and then freezes. I've also tried booting from a bootable CD and the machine either freezes part way through loading the CD-ROM drivers or gets me through to the DOS prompt. However when I 'cd' C:\ I get an 'invalid drive specification' error. Run the hard drive manufacturer's diagnostics, available from their respective website. So my question is, do you guys have any ideas what could be wrong as I'm stumped? Many Thanks Dan Thanks but I've already tried that to no avail, the machine still locks up at the same point (I've even tried leaving it for a good 45-60 minutes to see if it would eventually boot into Windows but no such luck!) Leave the network card out for the time being. You didn't tell us much at all about the hardware, which is fairly important if you want a (hardware) newsgroup to troubleshoot. If you want troubleshooting a WinXP boot problem then a WinXP oriented newsgroup might have more experience. A couple more things to try include clearing cmos, and trying a fresh WinXP installation. When you were changing the hard drives are you certain you had/have them jumpered correctly? |
#5
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Windows XP PC - Bizarre Behaviour
"kony" wrote in message ... On Sun, 05 Aug 2007 13:55:59 GMT, "Dan" wrote: I've got a problem with an XP box that has me stumped. The PC was set-up for a friend and was working fine, however it was then taken to a PC shop to have a network card installed and now the machine refuses to boot. Network cards are pretty easy, IMO the risk of a shop doing *something* wrong outweighs the perceived benefit of having them install a nic. The problem is that there is a great variability in the quality and competence of different shop techs, you probably wouldn't get a senior tech allocated to installing network cards. You might now inspect the system to be sure no cards, cables, connectors, etc are disturbed. I've now pulled everything out of the system and reconnected only the basics (and gone into the BIOS to ensure the settings reflect the hardware that's connected) so I'm confident that everything is connected OK. It completes the POST no problems and then begins to load windows and freezes on the splash screen. I've tried booting in safe mode and the PC either freezes when it finishes listing the files on the DOS screen, or I get a black screen with 'safe mode' in each corner and the build number at the top of the screen and then the machine freezes. Test the memory for a few hours (memtest86+). Try booting it to the last known good configuration (menu option): http://support.microsoft.com/kb/307852 I have removed all cards, replaced the RAM, IDE cables and tried another hard disk with Windows 2000 installed, What exactly does this mean? The Win2k OS was installed on the drive while the drive was in that system or another? You can't just move a drive from one system to another and expect it to finish booting when it's WinNT (incl. 2K or XP), as hardware differences between the different systems often matter. I haven't tried testing the RAM but it has come out of a known good system, and again if I try to boot to the last known good configuration the system freezes on the splash screen. Yeah, I thought the Windows 2000 idea was a bit of a long shot but was at least hoping for some error messages or something to show that the machine hadn't frozen, but alas nothing! but the machine still boots to the same point and then freezes. I've also tried booting from a bootable CD and the machine either freezes part way through loading the CD-ROM drivers or gets me through to the DOS prompt. However when I 'cd' C:\ I get an 'invalid drive specification' error. Run the hard drive manufacturer's diagnostics, available from their respective website. I've had a crack at running Seagate's tools on the drive in question but it begins to scan and then the system freezes, so I've formatted another HDD in my system and installed that one in the PC in question but I'm still having problems. I did try to install Windows 2000 from scratch on the formatted drive (in the PC I'm having problems with) but again it begins setup and then freezes up. So my question is, do you guys have any ideas what could be wrong as I'm stumped? Many Thanks Dan Thanks but I've already tried that to no avail, the machine still locks up at the same point (I've even tried leaving it for a good 45-60 minutes to see if it would eventually boot into Windows but no such luck!) Leave the network card out for the time being. You didn't tell us much at all about the hardware, which is fairly important if you want a (hardware) newsgroup to troubleshoot. If you want troubleshooting a WinXP boot problem then a WinXP oriented newsgroup might have more experience. A couple more things to try include clearing cmos, and trying a fresh WinXP installation. When you were changing the hard drives are you certain you had/have them jumpered correctly? Tbh I totally forgot about including details of the hardware; Microstar MS6378 (Version 3) Motherboard Athlon XP 1800+ Processor 256Mb RAM Seagate U Series 7 ST340012A 40Gb HDD Onboard Graphics The fact that the machine is freezing between POSTing and loading the OS makes me think that this is a hardware issue as the problems seem to be occuring independant of the operating system, but the only common links I have left are the motherboard, or the power supply. I've also tried clearing the CMOS but again no luck and the HDD is definatley jumpered correctly. Thanks for bearing with me on this one :-) Dan |
#6
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Windows XP PC - Bizarre Behaviour
On Tue, 07 Aug 2007 19:19:23 GMT, "Dan"
wrote: I've had a crack at running Seagate's tools on the drive in question but it begins to scan and then the system freezes, so I've formatted another HDD in my system and installed that one in the PC in question but I'm still having problems. I did try to install Windows 2000 from scratch on the formatted drive (in the PC I'm having problems with) but again it begins setup and then freezes up. So it's freezing with the questionable drive completely removed? If you have another system handy you might see how it responds to the drive, but otherwise I'd begin inspecting capacitors and PSU. Who knows what might've happened, something like an ESD event or the card was installed while the system was soft-off (still partially powered). HOWEVER, I feel the shop should address these problems, at least return your PC to it's former working state without the network card in it, if you're sure this all came about as a result of their installing the NIC. I mean insist they fix the problem at no cost to you or at least a bench diagnostic determination of the problem for free and then you can decide whether to spend $ at the shop for parts or take the system home for another (shop or DIY) repairer. A couple more things to try include clearing cmos, and trying a fresh WinXP installation. When you were changing the hard drives are you certain you had/have them jumpered correctly? Tbh I totally forgot about including details of the hardware; Microstar MS6378 (Version 3) Motherboard Athlon XP 1800+ Processor 256Mb RAM Seagate U Series 7 ST340012A 40Gb HDD Onboard Graphics I'll again suggest checking the motherboard capacitors, especially the larger ones around the CPU socket area. I have had a similar MSI board from the same era succumb to capacitor failure, forget the brand of caps it had on it but they were definitely gold and green (Teapo or Hermai or GC or something like that) before their next generation of boards had started using (? think it was Rubycon caps). If it is the capacitors, you might even ask them if they will replace it, though it's no consolution if they would if you need it operational ASAP. The fact that the machine is freezing between POSTing and loading the OS makes me think that this is a hardware issue as the problems seem to be occuring independant of the operating system, but the only common links I have left are the motherboard, or the power supply. That will be true so long as it happens with the drives disconnected. If you had not ran memtest86+ yet, leave a floppy drive connected to run it or if it'll boot to USB, a thumbdrive/etc made bootable with the DOS executible version of memtest86+ on it. I've also tried clearing the CMOS but again no luck and the HDD is definatley jumpered correctly. If you have a multimeter you might take voltage readings of PSU. There are a lot more things that can potentially go wrong when a system is being moved around (like a case flexing and breaking some surface mount solder joints or cracking a PCB) or subject to someone else working on it so can't directly observe the details of the operation. Yes, after the things mentioned it would be time to try to isolate between PSU and motherboard. Beyond inspecting the motherboard capacitors, you might also (unplugging PSU from AC for at least several minutes first) take the PSU out, open and inspect it for anything burnt, a failed fan, vented capacitors... anything that looks wrong. I've had rare cases where an Athlon XP was installed using poor silicone heatsink grease which dryed up leaving isolated islands of component, allowing the CPU to overheat, but this is typically after it ran for quite a few minutes. Regardless after it's been transported you might also gently wiggle the heatisnk slightly to see if it feels firmly in place. You didn't mention the details of your PSU. If it is a decent name-brand spec'd for at least 180W on the 3V+5V rail (see it's label), I would suspect the board more than the PSU but really it could be either. If it is something like capacitors we can't blame the shop, but if it were the board it is a bit suspicious unless the case is badly flexing or some other unforseeable event. |
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