So, I woke up yesterday morning to a terrible realization: My PC wouldn't start.
Every time I would turn it on, I could hear the fans blowing, but not much else. Occasionally, it would actually manage to load up to the desktop, but it would usually freeze up after 10 mins or so. The one exception is when it loaded up and worked for around an hour.
One of the few times that it managed to load up, I tried to take it into safe mode, but it would freeze up as it was loading.
I'm almost fed up with this thing. I've tried just about everything. Anyone know anyway to help me out?
After making sure the interior of the case was clean and all connections were tight, I would verify the power supply was fine. I use a FrozenCPU Ultimate PSU Tester for power supply (PSU) testing when I am away from home. It is not as good as a qualified technician testing the PSU under a "true" (realistic) load with an oscilloscope or power analyzer, but close. The advantage of this model is that it has an LCD readout of the voltage. With an actual voltage readout, you can better detect a "failing" PSU, or one barely within specified tolerances. Lesser models use LEDs to indicate the voltage is just within some "range". These are less informative, considerably cheaper, but still useful for detecting PSUs that have already "failed". Newegg has several testers to choose from. All these testers contain a "dummy load" to fool the PSU into thinking it is connected to a motherboard, and therefore allows the PSU to power on, if able, without being attached to a motherboard - great for testing fans, but again, not a true load. Alternatively, you can swap out the PSU with a known good one that meets the computer's power requirements.
I do not recommend using a multimeter to test power supplies. To do it properly, that is, under a realistic load, the voltages on all the pins must be measured while the PSU is attached to the motherboard and the computer powered on. This then requires poking (with some considerable force) two, hard and sharp, highly conductive, meter probes into the heart of the computer. One tiny slip can destroy the motherboard, and everything plugged into it.
The computer is around 3 years old. It isn't completely dust-free, admittedly, though it isn't absolutely godawful. I'll clean it out tonight and see if that helps at all.
I'll also try to get a hold of the PCU Tester. Is there any other advice you can offer/any other information you need?
Unfortunately, there are many things that could cause this - which makes it difficult to troubleshoot. If heat damaged something, you may or may not see visible signs, usually not.
Inspect the motherboard for bulging or leaking electrolytic capacitors. These failed or failing capacitors are a common cause of sudden, but seemingly random system lock ups and reboots. The capacitors look like tall soda cans, many of which surround the CPU socket.
All older motherboards, and many of today's less expensive motherboards use electrolytic capacitors containing a liquid electrolyte. Failing (including flawed and/or abused/over-heated) capacitors literally bulge at the seams due to excessive internal pressures. Extreme (and very rare) cases result in a firecracker type explosion that can really stink up a room. Typically, electrolyte just oozes from the pressure relief points stamped in the tops of the capacitor casings (seen as a symbol or letter). The electrolyte can be caustic to motherboards and flesh. Look for white to dark-brown, dried liquid or foam on the tops or bottoms of the capacitors. Bulging capacitors are a sign leakage is about to occur.
A motherboard with bulging or leaky capacitors can be repaired, but often it is more cost effective in the long run to replace the motherboard.
If you're free from leaking capacitors (see attached pic), try booting with a bootable media (XP CD is good) and see if the machine runs without freezing/hanging/halting.
If it does, and you used an XP CD, boot to the repair/recovery console and run chkdsk on the OS drive. (chkdsk c: /f)
I always recommend using the /r switch instead of /f. If you enter chkdsk /? you will see the /r switch is actually more thorough, and it implies (includes) /f.
Newbie
