Advice urgently needed from computer experts

[ksher]

My PC crashed several times everyday for 2 weeks. Everytime I switched it on from cold, it usually took several times to complete the boot up procedure, i.e. it started, and crashed, restarted, etc. It also went to a screen where you had to choose safe modes, normal start, etc. Once it completed the full startup procedure, when I opened any application, it could crash restart again.

So I backed up all files, and formatted the PC on Saturday. It seemed working until I turned it on again this evening. It crashed, restarted, crashed several times.

Now can any computer experts tell me what the possible causes of the problem please (hardware or software)? The details of my PC are as follow:

HP Pavilion Pentium 4 2.80GHz 1.00GB RAM, MS Windows XP Media Center Edition Version 2002, Service Pack 3.
McAfee NetProtect Plus from BT. The machine is nearly 6 years old.

 

[paddy wright]

Sounds like the hard disk is on its way out- back up all your files and then try replacing it. HP run really hot and this can cause this problem (I have 50 odd of these laptops at work)

 

[ksher]

Sounds like the hard disk is on its way out- back up all your files and then try replacing it. HP run really hot and this can cause this problem (I have 50 odd of these laptops at work)

My HP is a desktop.

 

[MrGringo]

When you say "Crashed"...
Does it freeze, or flash a blue screen of death (BSOD) and restart immediately? If BSOD, can you get into safe mode, and change the following setting:

Right Click on “My Computer” and goto “Properties”. Then goto the “Advanced” tab and under the headline “Startup and Recovery”, press the “Settings” button. Untick the “Automatically Restart” box and press Ok.

Then tell us what it says caused the crash.

Unfortunately, there are lots of reasons that a BSOD can occur, and the error messages aren't always very helpful. But given that it's happened on a fresh install it does sound like a hardware fault. It's most likely to either be RAM or HDD but could be the motherboard too. Alternatively it could be a driver problem if you installed any new hardware or updated some drivers recently?

 

[playalistic]

Yep, sounds like the hard disk might be on the way out. Other than that I would check inside the case and see if it has got very dusty. Older boxes that have sat around for years with internals slowly gathering dust can cause the components to overheat and result in these kind of persistent crashes.

 

[Z4 Beemer]

Agree with the above - definitely hardware related. The fact you have formatted and reinstalled points to hardware.

 

[ksher]

When you say "Crashed"...
Does it freeze, or flash a blue screen of death (BSOD) and restart immediately? If BSOD, can you get into safe mode, and change the following setting:

Right Click on “My Computer” and goto “Properties”. Then goto the “Advanced” tab and under the headline “Startup and Recovery”, press the “Settings” button. Untick the “Automatically Restart” box and press Ok.

Then tell us what it says caused the crash.

The PC does not freeze, it just restarts again during the start up. It normally repeats "start and restart" several times everytime I turn it on from cold. I have just followed what you told me to do, but it did not crashed. I will check again tomorrow when I start it from cold.

One thing I discovered that may be linked to this problem. After playing online game, if I play any video clips in WMP or realplayer without restarting the machine first, it will also crash. Does it sound like a faulty graphic card?

 

[gannet]

it literally could be anything hardward related - motherboard, hard disc, graphics card, memory, memory on the card...

Do you have another graphics card to swap it with and try? likewise the other bits?? Really sometimes that's the best way to troubleshoot... not the easiest granted..

Good luck

 

[jamiez]

My money is on something overheating - and I would say the graphics card. As above open the pc up and do a throuough dust clean out, especially all fans. The wmp playback symptom is exactly what I had and still have but got better after cleaning the insides out properly.

 

[gannet]

good call on the dust jamiez

if the fans are clogged, it wont be cooling anything down...

 

[playalistic]

Yep, sounds like the hard disk might be on the way out. Other than that I would check inside the case and see if it has got very dusty. Older boxes that have sat around for years with internals slowly gathering dust can cause the components to overheat and result in these kind of persistent crashes.

Dust

 

[ferrelscent]

Dust yes. But I doubt it's fan related as nothing is going to get mega hot in the start up process alone.

Another guess would be faulty power supply. I don't mean the plug and cable...I mean the power box inside the computer.

 

[paddy wright]

Sorry- I have pavilion laptops- seems the sane prob tho- over heating hardware

 

[nicko]

software problem seems unlikely - unless it's a virus maybe
I'm thinking hard drive problem is less likely than some other component

just got more questions for you at the moment though

can you boot it ok from a cd/dvd ?
if it works ok from a disc, that would point towards the hard drive

if you boot up in safe mode, and use it in safe mode, does it work ok?
can you run the windows hard disk error checking program when in safe mode?

when you turn it on, does it ever crash before it starts to open windows?

 

[ksher]

software problem seems unlikely - unless it's a virus maybe
I'm thinking hard drive problem is less likely than some other component

just got more questions for you at the moment though

can you boot it ok from a cd/dvd ?
if it works ok from a disc, that would point towards the hard drive

if you boot up in safe mode, and use it in safe mode, does it work ok?
can you run the windows hard disk error checking program when in safe mode?

when you turn it on, does it ever crash before it starts to open windows?

I tried both "start normally" and "start with the last working configuration", but after I selected and the PC restarted again. And then it went back to the screen that prompt you to select these options again. It completed the start up eventually after 6 or 7 times of "start and restart". I will try 2 other safe modes tomorrow if it fails to start up properly.

It is probably not overheat problem, as it does not crash after it has been warmed up. :?

 

[peddy]

Check your event log for any errors...

Right Click on My computer > Manage > Event Viewer

Check for any errors logged... mainly in the system sub-folder.

copy any relavent errors here.

EDIT: BTW, it's almost most certainly a hardware issue and not worth fixing. Probably best to just buy a new PC.

 

[ksher]

As usual, the machine kept starting and rebooting for about 10 minutes when I switched it on today. The following logs were recorded from Event Properties. These are only the logs from the first cycle. When the machine restarted, different types of logs were recorded after I chose other options, e.g. start windows in safe mode, etc.

"Microsoft (R) Windows (R) 5.01. 2600 Service Pack 3 Multiprocessor Free.For more information, see Help and Support Center at http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/events.asp.
The Event log service was started.
DCOM got error "This service cannot be started in Safe Mode " attempting to start the service EventSystem with arguments "" in order to run the server:{1BE1F766-5536-11D1-B726-00C04FB926AF}
Application popup: : Machine Check:
Application popup: : Machine Check: Regs
Application popup: : Machine Check: Regs
DCOM got error "This service cannot be started in Safe Mode " attempting to start the service EventSystem with arguments "" in order to run the server:
{1BE1F766-5536-11D1-B726-00C04FB926AF}
The DHCP Client service depends on the NetBT service which failed to start because of the following error: A device attached to the system is not functioning.
The DNS Client service depends on the TCP/IP Protocol Driver service which failed to start because of the following error: A device attached to the system is not functioning.
The TCP/IP NetBIOS Helper service depends on the AFD Networking Support Environment service which failed to start because of the following error: A device attached to the system is not functioning.
The McAfee Validation Trust Protection Service service depends on the McAfee Inc. mfehidk service which failed to start because of the following error: A device attached to the system is not functioning.
The IPSEC Services service depends on the IPSEC driver service which failed to start because of the following error: A device attached to the system is not functioning.
The McShield service depends on the McAfee Validation Trust Protection Service service which failed to start because of the following error: The dependency service or group failed to start.
The McAfee Firewall Core Service service depends on the McAfee Validation Trust Protection Service service which failed to start because of the following error: The dependency service or group failed to start.
The McAfee Personal Firewall service depends on the McAfee Firewall Core Service service which failed to start because of the following error: The dependency service or group failed to start.
The McAfee Network Agent service depends on the McAfee Firewall Core Service service which failed to start because of the following error: The dependency service or group failed to start.
The McAfee Proxy Service service depends on the McAfee Firewall Core Service service which failed to start because of the following error: The dependency service or group failed to start.
The following boot-start or system-start driver(s) failed to load:
AFD
Fips
intelppm"
IPSec
mfehidk
mfetdi2k
MRxSmb
NetBIOS
NetBT
RasAcd
Rdbss
Tcpip
The Event log service was stopped."

 

[peddy]

You need to check logs for prior events. are there any errors which could relate to the issue? open them up and paste the error info.

 

[ksher]

You need to check logs for prior events. are there any errors which could relate to the issue? open them up and paste the error info.

The logs I posted earlier are "Error" Type in Event Viewer - System.

 

[benlumley]

If you are comfortable inside your computer, its worth taking the ram out, clearing any dust off and putting it back.

If that doesn't work, it doesn't hurt to try it on everything - graphics and any other cards if its separate, cpu if you can get to it.

Odds are low that it'll help, but I have known it to cause the "warming up" type problem you have. Its a known thing after you've moved or bumped the computer about.