Computer geeks needed!

[adbutcher]

This sounds like a corrupt MBR. The exact same thing was happening to my son's computer. He probably would have solved it with replacing the harddrive.

Well, the computer guy called me and said that he thinks it's a driver conflict because he could not replicate the problem I was having and I told him that it would happen to me even if nothing was running at all which was weird. Anyway, he decided to run it all night (like I do) and still nothing. He called me this afternoon to tell me that he still was not having any problem with it so he wanted me to pick it up and simply track if it happens again when, voila! the system rebooted on him! Bastid!

He ran some additionally tests and the system would reboot so he's replacing the powersupply, motherboard, ram, hard drive & video card. He's basically using the same case - ha ha. So I get my 4 day old computer replaced - is it obsolute yet? Maybe I should upgrade?

Glad to see that it wasn't me! And equally glad that I didn't spend too much time adding things to it since I'll need to replace it all!

 

[CowboyPrincess]

I saw a lot of that when I did tech support... the five main causes were a bad power supply (most common), system memory, faulty memory on a graphics card, a hot processor on graphics card (especially when using graphic intense programs) or mbr (not too common)


Restoring the MBR - These work, but like anything else with XP, you run the real risk of screwing up, not being able to access volumes and loosing everything... always back up your important files before screwing w/ XP in any way

Restoring the MBR - FOR THOSE THAT AREN'T COMPUTER CHALLENGED
You must repair the MBR if it becomes corrupted and you can no longer access any volumes on that disk. You can use several tools to repair the MBR. Which tool you choose depends on whether the partition table is also damaged and whether you can start Windows XP Professional.

Use the Recovery Console. You can use the fixmbr command in Recovery Console to repair the MBR. You can start Recovery Console by booting from the Windows XP Professional operating system CD; so this troubleshooting method is available even if Windows XP Professional does not start in normal or safe mode. However, you cannot use Recovery Console to repair partition tables that were damaged by viruses or other corruption.
Use DiskProbe. You can use DiskProbe to restore both the MBR and the partition table, but you must have previously backed up this information by using DiskProbe, and you must be able to start Windows XP Professional.
Use a third-party disk editor. You can use a third-party MS-DOS-based, low-level disk editor to repair the partition table if Windows XP Professional does not start. This method is for experienced users only and involves manually editing the partition table.
Using the Recovery Console to Replace the MBR
You can use the fixmbr command in Recovery Console to rewrite the MBR to resolve a corrupted MBR on a startup disk. However, running fixmbr overwrites only the master boot code, leaving the existing partition table intact. If the corruption in the MBR affects the partition table, running fixmbr might not resolve the problem.

Caution

Use this command with care because it can damage your partition table if any of the following apply:
A virus is present and a third-party operating system is installed on the same computer.
A nonstandard MBR is installed by a third-party disk utility.
A hardware problem exists.
It is recommended that you run antivirus software before you use the fixmbr command.
To start the computer and use the Recovery Console to replace the MBR

Insert the Windows XP Professional Setup CD-ROM into the CD-ROM drive.
Restart the computer. If prompted to press a key to start the computer from the CD-ROM, press the appropriate key.
When the text-based part of Setup begins, follow the prompts. Press the R key to repair a Windows XP Professional installation.
If you are repairing a system that has more than one operating system installed, from the Recovery Console choose the Windows XP Professional installation that you need to repair.
Note

If you press ENTER without typing a number, the Recovery Console quits and restarts the computer.
The Recovery Console might also show valid installations of Windows NT 4.0. However, the results of attempting to access a Windows NT 4.0 installation can be unpredictable.
When prompted, type the Administrator password. If you do not have the correct password, or if the security database for the installation of Windows XP Professional you are attempting to access is corrupted, Recovery Console does not allow access to the local disks and you cannot repair the MBR.
To replace the MBR, at the Recovery Console command prompt, type:
fixmbr
Verify if you want to proceed. Depending upon the location and the cause of the corruption within the damaged MBR, this operation can cause the data on the hard disk to become inaccessible. Press the Y key to proceed, or press the N key to cancel.

Using DiskProbe to Replace the MBR and Partition Table
If you have backed up the MBR by using DiskProbe, you can use it to restore the MBR on any disk that is not used to start the computer. Restoring the backup MBR rewrites the entire sector, including the partition table. However, DiskProbe only runs under Windows XP Professional, Windows 2000 and Windows NT 4.0. It does not run under MS-DOS, Windows 95, Windows 98, or Windows Me.

If the disk that starts Windows XP Professional has a corrupted MBR, Windows XP Professional does not start. Therefore, you cannot use DiskProbe and must use the Recovery Console to replace the MBR.

For more information about restoring backed up MBRs by using DiskProbe, click Tools in Help and Support Center, and then click Windows Support Tools.

Using a Third-Party Disk Editor to Replace the Partition Table
Before you can repair the partition table, you must know the exact values to use to recreate the partition table. If you backed up your MBR and partition table by using DiskProbe, and you have the backup available on a floppy disk or on another computer, you can use DiskProbe on a different computer to see the correct values so that you can manually recreate the partition table.

 

[jterrell]

Rebooting can be caused by a number of things and the cheapest of which is a bad Bios battery. Costs like 2 bucks to replace and it fixed a problem for my parents pc. Just a little watch type battery. There were bad supplies of those flaoting around as I saw a deluge of that issue on the internet geek forums.

Messing with the MBR is a lot for computer novices.

I use Linux so alter mine quite a bit but it can cause unrecoverable issues.

For data transfer I'd buy a 512mb pen/key drive. They plus into the usb port. Head over to www.newegg.com and you shoudl find a good selection. Kingston makes very good ones. They get recognized as a drive and data transfer is painfully easy. OR you could set up the old hard drive as your slave drive in the new system. I used to do that when I want to cull data.

If you bought the system from someone let them deal with that issue.

Cheap power supplies and mobo's are a huge pain in the butt that people often overlook to save ont he price. I'd rather have a good motherboard and power supply with a weaker processor.

The ATI vid card is going to pull about 50 to 70 watts of power by itself. So the power supply may not be strong enough. What brand if the power supply and how many watts? With that vid card you probably need a very good 350 watt power supply. If you buy one look at the Antec true power line. A 380 watt Antec would be great. Thermaltake makes some cheaper ones. The 420 watt is liek 38 bucks at newegg last I checked.

If you wanna walk me through your issues and possible solutions just email at jterr02@swbell.net

good luck and that system sounds like a powerhouse for gaming and watching dvds.

 

[Reef Engineer]

Hey folks, thanks for the feedback and suggestions.

Like I mentioned before, I had a similar problem in the past and the culprit was a faulty power supply so that's the way I was leaning and suggested to the tech that he replace it but who was I to argue when he said he'd replace the entire unit - heck he even replaced the case now because a scratch appeared on it so I'm basically getting a system from scratch. Then again, the system was 2 days old so it's not like it needed to be upgraded - haha.

The power supply that was on it was 450w (maybe have been 435w) so I should have enough juice to power things.

I'm hoping that the computer comes back home with no problems this time around. He's been burning it in since yesterday with no problems and I'm not picking it up until Tuesday so if there's a problem, hopefully it'll show up before then!

 

[Nors]

I was trying to avoid this due to the advice of some others that pointed out some problems experienced doing that. Not sure if it's the same thing you're referring to or not, however.

I think I'm getting off my lazy arse, as explained to me, and connecting the two HDs together and transfer one to the other. After all, I have both cases open right next to each other - I probably won't even have to remove the drive - just switch the cable. Still too much effort.

Both Computers open and exposed, tell me they are not on your carpet and you are going at it with tools. I like all the networking angles first but a total novice. I keep upgrading and making due with my now 4 year old machine!

 

[Reef Engineer]

Both Computers open and exposed, tell me they are not on your carpet and you are going at it with tools. I like all the networking angles first but a total novice. I keep upgrading and making due with my now 4 year old machine!

Of course not, I have them on a table between two static chargers - it's awesome the way they make my hair stand on end whenever I approach them. The snap, crackle, pop I create whenever I get near them is awesome - I always discharge by touching the cpu, though - figure there's metal there, right?

 

[Kangaroo]

Man at the big compaines you open all over the place carpet 5 stacked on top each other and other horror stories.

I managed not to fry a pc yet but I work on mine on the carpet all the time have for 5 years but I make sure to touch something before sticking my hand on the graphics card etc lol.