[RESOLVED] Black screen/sometimes unable to boot problem.

[Tarq57]

Hi, I could do with some help or advice.
Recently my computer has sometimes rebooted for no apparent reason. When this happens it generally goes through the startup screens, to the point where it says "Loading DMI" (or something similar) and then fails to continue, prompting the user to insert the cd and press enter.

Occasionally it has done this on the first boot of the day.

Sometimes, if left off for 5 min or so, I can boot to the logon screen, and start Windows normally. And sometimes (like right now) it stays started.

I've tried removing the case and cleaning the dust  (there wasn't very much, I tend to clean it every 6 months), scheduled and managed to complete a scandisk (fix errors/attempt recovery of bad sectors) which completed on the second attempt, checked the terminals all seem to be seated ok, and nothing appears to be excessively hot/fans are all working. (They are.)

I'm inclined to think this is likely a hardware issue, but if there is anything I should check on the software side of things, please say.
Taskmanager isn't showing anything unusual. The event log doesn't show anything I can relate to the failures.

Anatomy of the failure from within Windows: The cursor freezes, any program that was in the process of opening/closing/doing something freezes, the clock freezes, for about 2 or 3 seconds. The screen goes dark. The case makes it's "cold start" beep, and the computer attempts to start, without having gone through a proper shut down. Twice, after letting it sit for a few minutes and getting back into windows, the desktop has been shut down, and prompts me to restore active desktop. Attempting to do this results in a failure message. I am able to get the desktop back by selecting the photo used manually. Don't know if that's significant or not.

Thanks folks.

[Hard_ROCKER]

Could be a hardware issue but than again it could be a software conflict. You know not long ago someone with similar issues wrote a pm to me asking for assistance. It turned out to be Threatfire that was the culprit. Worth looking into.

I'm guessing your hardware temps are ok ? What about the voltages, do they jump up and down alot ?

[Tarq57]

Worth a look?

Uninstalling Threatfire, now.
Failed restarts are seriously not my favourite tipple.

[Hard_ROCKER]

Worth a look?

Uninstalling Threatfire, now.
Failed restarts are seriously not my favourite tipple.

Yeah i know what you mean. Let us know if the problem is resolved.

[Tarq57]

So far so good, I'll try a couple of restarts and see.

The temperatures and voltages are shown on the screenshots, taken 2 min apart. Not much variation between the two pictures.
Biggest voltage range appears to be at the +5V range (Whatever that means).

The program used is SIW.

Thanks for the feedback and ideas.

[Tarq57]

Well, two hot restarts and a cold restart later and all appears well. I'm going to give this a couple of days then mark it as solved, hopefully.

Now to re-think my security line-up. I've dropped a two way firewall and Threatfire. I've been malware-free for years, thanks largely to Avast and NoScript. Starting to seriously think I don't need a behaviour blocker nor two way firewall, and I'm loving the speed Windows starts and runs at.

We shall see after a week or two, with more frequent demand scans during that time.

[Hard_ROCKER]

Again i feel your point, i only have SpywareBlaster, Win Defender(since it's on by default on Vista/7) and AIS installed for resident protection. Avast's silent firewall is amazing. Perfect for what i need.
 
Those +5v readings are strange. Either the program you used(siw) is displaying them incorrectly(most likey i think) or your psu is dying out on you. Those are wild numbers. I don't suppose you have a multimeter handy ? 


EDIT: The tolerance on the 5v line is 5 percent in case you were wondering...

[Tarq57]

"psu" is power supply?

No, I don't have a multimeter, unfortunately.
I'll keep an eye on it. Just checked it again, and there is still a fair range, there. Much more than 5%. (2.97-4.27) The SIW program comes highly recommended, it could be wrong but I've no way of knowing.

I only replaced the power unit within the last year, too. Dang.

[Hard_ROCKER]

Yes PSU is power supply.

Like i said those readings are most likely false. Not that i have anything against SIW but these types of software readouts from programs like that(not just SIW) are usually false. The most accurate way to get those readings is still the good old multimeter. I wouldn't give it too much thought though cause if those readings really were correct i highly doubt you could be using that pc.

Here is a small and portable hardware monitoring program that i personally use and it shows quite accurate results for me. Maybe this one will show you different results. Dunno worth a try i guess.
 http://www.cpuid.com/softwares/hwmonitor.html

[Tarq57]

Oh dear.

[Hard_ROCKER]

So it's the same. You can also check those readings in the BIOS.

[Tarq57]

Would I do that by entering the BIOS during start, and looking in the appropriate menu?
Would they be likely more accurate?

What would be symptoms of such a wide voltage range?

[Hard_ROCKER]

Would I do that by entering the BIOS during start, and looking in the appropriate menu?
Would they be likely more accurate?

What would be symptoms of such a wide voltage range?

Yes the BIOS readings should be more accurate.
Just go into your BIOS and look around until you find that hardware info page. All BIOSes have it.
The symptoms ? BSOD's/lockups/random restarts etc. etc.

[Hard_ROCKER]

Like i said, i dont think its the psu. If you haven't had any crashes since you got rid off Threatfire than it really cant be the psu can it(since it would still be crashing) ?

[Tarq57]

I tend to agree, it makes sense from where I'm sitting. 4 restarts now, some fairly demanding program stress tests (opening several apps close together to keep the CPU close to max for a time) and a hunt through the BIOS.

The BIOS info page for the hardware doesn't actually record the voltages; it just reports them as "OK".

So it's probably TF that was doing it, then. Curious why it's just started to happen. Maybe something in the last patch Tuesday, or a recent TF updated caused it to throw a wobbly? Who knows. I'll have a wee browse on their forum.