Random Boot Trouble

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riscbroker

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I have a generic Celeron 2.4 box; has an intermittent fault on startup: sometimes it will boot properly into XP, but 8 times out of ten will fail to boot (blank screen) or will boot into XP then hang on the desktop or whichever app I open. Any help appreciated
 
No, the only time it beeps is when it boots correctly, a single, short beep
 
Before. The screen remains completely blank, as if it is not receiving a video signal
 
teraside said:
MBR maybe, what ya think? ;)
Click to expand...

My thoughts exactly :D You might try booting off your XP CD, going to the Recovery Console and typing FixMBR (or something along those lines, been a while since I've done it...). Hope this helps :)
 
Booting off the XP disc is one of the first things I tried - also nothing on screen. I also tried a live Linux disk. I think the trouble may be hardware based.
 
I only tried the XP CD once, I will try it again until it boots and then do FIXMBR
 
riscbroker said:
Booting off the XP disc is one of the first things I tried - also nothing on screen. I also tried a live Linux disk. I think the trouble may be hardware based.
Click to expand...

It could be a few things actually.

If you have onboard graphics, insert a graphics card and test it. If you have a graphics card, take it out and try either onboard or another card.

Would you mind posting some specs, your motherboard type and model, ram type and sizes as well as your PSU size?

One thing to try as well, unplug the power cables from the pc and motherboard, remove the CMOS battery for about 1 minute to be safe, put it back in and try again, this will clear your CMOS memory and all defaults in your BIOS will be restored.

This is how a CMOS battery looks:
http://ulihansen.kicks-ass.net/aero/cmos.jpg
 
Thanks for your time guys:
Motherboard is MS-6787 Ver 2 (P4MAM-L) by MSI, 256MB RAM, not sure of make (the PC is currently at a remote location with no internet connection) and I don't have a spare graphics card.
I will reset the CMOS and try FIXMBR, if this doesn't help I can get hold of a graphics card Monday and see if that sorts it out....
 
Let us know what happens after you reset the Cmos ;)
 
My one PC does not boot (screen remains black) about 1 out of 100+ times. Not too worried about it. But I have found that leaving any USB device connected to the PC when I power it up could sometimes (in a way) simulate the same thing. But given enough time the PC would then boot correctly into windows. But this is not the problem you are experiencing as you don’t even get past the POST.

The Techies have already told you what to do I see...
;) WKJ?:beanie
;) t3raside
 
ld13 said:
My one PC does not boot (screen remains black) about 1 out of 100+ times. Not too worried about it. But I have found that leaving any USB device connected to the PC when I power it up could sometimes (in a way) simulate the same thing. But given enough time the PC would then boot correctly into windows. But this is not the problem you are experiencing as you don’t even get past the POST.

The Techies have already told you what to do I see...
;) WKJ?:beanie
;) t3raside
Click to expand...

/me takes a bow :D
 
I reset CMOS and booted from XP disk to do FIXMBR. The problem was still there but dust and stuff prevented me from holding close inspection. I eventually removed the main board to clean everything up and whilst doing so discovered the fault - a square, 4 pin block connector from PSU to the main board had one badly arced, corroded connector. Sorted that out and everything now OK. Thanks for your help guys.
 
riscbroker said:
I reset CMOS and booted from XP disk to do FIXMBR. The problem was still there but dust and stuff prevented me from holding close inspection. I eventually removed the main board to clean everything up and whilst doing so discovered the fault - a square, 4 pin block connector from PSU to the main board had one badly arced, corroded connector. Sorted that out and everything now OK. Thanks for your help guys.
Click to expand...

No problem, mate :) Those 4-pin ATX connectors are always breaking, my previous PC also had one which broke :D
 
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