Odd PC behaviour

[Wobblybootie]

Hi Guys,
I have just been given a PC as the owner has given up trying to fix an odd problem. It keeps shutting down ... Sometimes I can get it to boot from a Linux live CD and it will run for maybe 5 minuets, sometimes it will only run for 20 seconds or so. I have not been able to get it to boot from the hard drive further than the Win XP start up screen. On occasion when trying to switch it back on again it will not do so. I swapped the PSU (450W switchable type). No difference !! and and I am informed the Mother Board has already been changed. It displays the same habit with or without the Hard Drive (SATA) connected.

Any Ideas???

[routercnc]

Is it overheating? What are the temperatures? Can you go into BIOS and look at the readings. Press delete or F5 or F8 when it is turned on.
I'm not a PC expert, but I would say Motherboard 30-50C is OK (>70C would be a concern if it was my machine).
If it is too hot, assuming the fan is working on the CPU, it might be a poor contact on between the heatsink and chip. Search the internet for the best way to apply the thermal paste etc., or PC World sell this as a postage stamp size patch to take the guesswork out of squeezing a guessed amount out of a tube.

[Wobblybootie]

Ahh, All the fans (3) are working and the CPU fan but the CPU one does not appear to be 'stuck' to the CPU ... dry joint? I will try and get into BIOS ... (if it will stay running long enough) to check the temperatures ...

[ptjw7uk]

Had a similar problem on a pc some years ago, I changed everything power supply motherboard etc. Thought I had cured it but no it started turning off. Turned out to be the on switch on the case changed that and put all the old bits back. I still cannot figure what was wrong with the switch as they are just a momentary on type or should be as holding them in will of course power the thing off.

worth a try, start the pc then pull the switch connector off the motherboard to see if it still powers off.

peetr

[irving2008]

If its an old PC it could be termperature related - what happens is the thermal grease between CPU and heatsink dries out and becomes a thermal barrier... in that circumstance CPU will shut down in less than a minute...longer if you're booting DOS, quicker if you boot Windows (simply due to processor speed and power consumption)

[Wobblybootie]

Cheers Guys,

well I need to get some thermal paste ... and I will also check out the switch ... Stand By for further updates ...

[Wobblybootie]

Quick update ... CPU heatsink reattached with new thermal paste, switch stripped and reassembled. Up and running now 2Hr 35m so far. ... So with any luck I now have a 2.66Ghz Duo Core with 4Gb Ram, XP on there, but will not load. Linux live CD will boot and stay running.

[Lee Roberts]

Quick update ... CPU heatsink reattached with new thermal paste, switch stripped and reassembled. Up and running now 2Hr 35m so far. ... So with any luck I now have a 2.66Ghz Duo Core with 4Gb Ram, XP on there, but will not load. Linux live CD will boot and stay running.

I’ve not read every post here but my feeling is it’s the CPU overheating, grab some paste and make sure the heat sink is fitted ok. Also look in the bios as you should find the settings to adjust the shut down temps and so on.

Edit 1:
Hehe, looks like i had the page open to long.

Edit 2:
It maybe that xp was installed when the old m/b was being used, if the m/b's are a different chip set then you will need to reinstall xp.

Edit 3:
For every fan taking air out of the box you should have twice the amount bringing air back in, one to replace the air and the second to create a flow of air through the box.

Also use decent paste if you can, you will only need to change it again later on otherwise, I use Arctic Silver 5 and have been for many years now, I’ve never had a CPU over heat and I’ve built many boxes/systems. Is it a Core 2 Duo or a Dual-Core CPU?
:beer:

[Wobblybootie]

New problem ... and a terminal one I feel ... machine says no ntfs partition ... and usb stick that was plugged in when the power cut hit is clean ... not a sausage on it ... anybody recommend any good recovery software??? Otherwise its revert to back up data ... Now then, where's that backup :whistling:... Oh yes on my USB stick!!:sad:

FUBAR'ed springs to mind!!

[ecat]

There are quite a few data recovery applications available for download, they are generally free to install and will scan your drive producing a list of files that can be restored. The actual recovery requires buying the product and ymmv.

A quick google for data recovery download came up with many results, the first couple I found require payment through services I've not heard of setting off my alarm bells. It's always worth checking around the Web for opinions and issues and signs of outright extortion before downloading any software.

http://www.stellarinfo.com/download.htm accepts PayPal, $49, so may be a good place to start.

[M250cnc]

Check the drive on another pc and do the recovery from there.

Phil

[D-man]

Longshot but wasnt there a xp blaster worm virus that was going around some time back which shut your pc down all the time??

here is the virus details http://www.faqs.org/rfcs/rfc1831.html

microsoft released a fix for this virus as it was one of the major ones.

maybe i have read your post wrong but just me 2p

hope you get sorted

[Wobblybootie]

Check the drive on another pc and do the recovery from there.

Phil

That's my plan ... only problem is ... it's a SATA drive and my other pc is IDE and for some reason we cannot get the SATA pc to boot from the IDE drive even when SATA is removed and bios is changed to recognise IDE as 'C'. However there is still hope ... My Son is a linux fan and his pc is SATA ... we are going to load his machine with XP and stick my 'dead' drive in as a slave. As an aside my usb stick is not just clean, as I first reported but completely dead and I mean as dead as the proverbial parrot. No little flashing led when put into any pc or laptop and not recognised as any form of anything, nothing can see it at all!!

But thanks to all for suggestions and advice ... watch this space!!

[FatFreddie]

You can get USB to SATA adaptors which let you attach a bare hard drive as an external drive. I've used them for data recovery before - very handy for cloning a laptop drive.

e.g.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/USB-SATA-Adaptor-Cable-Power/dp/B000R18ZNQ/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1291203251&sr=8-2

You can get cheaper but they get poor reviews

[Wobblybootie]

I like that !!! Off to order ...