PC Down...

Dave1975

Active Member
Hi guys,

Before you say it Tim, I don't need the Apple speech :p

Start up my PC as normal this morning, load up e-mails, MSN, Firefox, and it freezes once they've all loaded, then restarts itself. Since then not been able to get past the PCI device listing page on bootup, can't even get it to reboot in safe mode (running XP)

It was only a cheap ex-display base unit when I got it so to be fair never expected it to last as long as it has done, but from what I've read online this could be a number of internal errors from HD to the ACPI(?)

Does anyone have any ideas how I can find the root of the problem?
If it is as serious as I'm thinking it is, I think it may be time for a new base unit! (not looking fwd to the Olympic PC World visit)

Thanks,
Greg

PS- Just to add salt to the wound, yes Tim, I'm typing this from my MacBook!
 
Can you get to the Bios selection at all (the press F5 bit if memory serves me).. It might be able to shed some light on the problem Greg :)
 
Was able to a bit earlier but just tried it again a few times & no luck :(

EDIT: Aha managed to get to the BIOS screen again using <del>
Any ideas what to be looking for clue wise? lol

EDIT 2: Checked the loadup process for the drives and for some reason it was trying to start up with my external HDD first, so switched that round & seems to be loading Windows now, this is a start!!

Thanks Chris
 
:) i'm just going through my PC notes.. there was a few things to check.. one being the motherboard status, the existence of an actual Operating system as well should be in the list. Also check the CMOS setup and make sure its on and that the setttings are right. I will keep looking though my notes on this.. if the CMOS is screwed then it means your PC battery has died.
 
Thanks for that Chris
It started up fine and touch wood is now working fine since changing the startup order of the HDD's.

Charles - A little outdated! It's 1.86GHz, 2GB RAM, Core2 Duo, XP
Think it may be time for an upgrade sooner rather than later!
 
Greg said:
Thanks for that ChrisCharles - A little outdated! It's 1.86GHz, 2GB RAM, Core2 Duo, XP
Think it may be time for an upgrade sooner rather than later!

Doesn't sound that bad! obviosly not any good for 3d or video stuff..

I'd prob just add more ram and upgrade the processor.

under £100 would bring it up to spec.
 
Yeah it's not too bad for running what I need which is basically CS2, don't do any video/3D work, and I'm hesitant to upgrade to Vista with 7 around the corner(?)

Thanks may have to look at a memory upgrade if it doesn't fail anytime soon!
 
I'm glad that you got it working ok .. maybe one of your HDDs failed in the Bios and wouldn't start up.. you might want to replace that HDD if you can Greg. :)
 
Seems to be running fine now, and just have the one HDD and then one external HDD, don't really understand how the order to boot could have changed :confused:
 
only if the machine crashed or got a virus could it change the boot disk to your external drive. :) but i'm glad its all working now mate :D
 
pc world are going to be selling windows 7 for less than £70. i work as an IT support technican at bristol uni and ive already got it. awesome. it would be well worth the £70 but @greg you might want to up the spec a bit. ebuyer.com always have some great deals on pc's
 
Glad you got it sorted mate.

If it starts freezing up again it could be a heat issue. Have you checked the temperature of your CPU, GPU etc? Maybe there's a fan not running properly somewhere?
 
TomStutt said:
ebuyer.com always have some great deals on pc's

Will check that out, cheers Tom, is there anywhere selling desktop's online with windows 7 installed do you know?

Aarlev said:
Have you checked the temperature of your CPU, GPU etc? Maybe there's a fan not running properly somewhere?

Thanks Soren, and yes will check that out, so far so good since the incident, don't want to have to shut down or restart now lol
 
Don't think anywhere is selling them with it installed already, just with free upgrades once its released. 'least that was the case with my new laptop a few weeks ago
 
so the real question is, is the PC your primary machine? and why do you have both a PC and mac? and what drives you to use one over the other?
 
mrp2049 said:
so the real question is, is the PC your primary machine? and why do you have both a PC and mac? and what drives you to use one over the other?

PC is the primary machine, and yes have a MacBook as well, run the PC over Mac as have all my software files on PC. Bought the MacBook to use whilst I was away traveling :)

May sell it to put towards a PC upgrade as don't really use it now I'm back!
 
Amazing stats
"in August 2009, 71.7% of all desktops were running XP, compared to a mere 18.8% running Vista"
could that be true? poor vista:(
 
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