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Sleight of Hand

Sleight of Hand

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Feb 14, 2012
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I just installed my new PSU as my main 'puter went down at the end of last week (my fault for buying a cheap PSU sometime last year) and it booted up the first time, but only to the point where it checks how much RAM you have at the POST screen; I rebooted, and the second time it booted up as usual, I put my Windows password in and got onto the desktop. I thought everything was working okay and got my AVG updating and opened Steam, at which point I got a blue screen... I wish I'd written down what it said, but it was something like NOT_ENOUGH_NOTEPAD (it didn't say notepad but I remember thinking that I thought it did, but I can't remember what the exact word was :eek:o) and it told me to reboot and ignore it if I hadn't seen it before. I hadn't, so I rebooted but this time it went back to what happened before I replaced my PSU: meaning when you boot up, the computer boots up as normal, fans working, but nothing appears on the monitor (the LED just flickers, meaning it doesn't recognize that the computer is on) and no POST so eventually it'll just reboot and try again.

I've had this problem before and it was the PSU, which as I say I've since replaced with a much better quality one (Corsair) but now I seem to be back to square one. My hard drive is only about 18 - 24 months old so I am skeptical that it's the culprit, but of course it may be.

Could anyone provide any information to help me here? I've triple-checked the connections to the motherboard and everything looks okay. I can give my specifications if it will help, though I'm fairly sure the motherboard, RAM and graphics card are okay (and the last two are both pretty new).
 
Really hard to say, from those symptoms. Yes it could be the PSU, but the CPU, motherboard and system memory are all possibilities too. It doesn't actually sound like a hard disk issue though. I'm afraid you're going to have to find a good PC shop (or just buy a new machine).
 
What are the usual signs when the hard drive is dying/dead?

I have a spare motherboard so I'll try that. I hope it's not the CPU.

Thanks for your help, Andrew.
 
With a dead hard disk it will put up an error saying something like "no boot device available", and you would be able to boot from, say, a Windows 7 DVD or Linux Live test DVD. But from what you say it's not getting as far as even looking for a boot device.

One fairly easy thing to try is pull out all system memory, give their contacts a clean with an ordinary (non-abrasive) pencil eraser, wipe off with lint-free cloth, and replace in different slots. So if you ave say 4 sticks of memory, let's call them A B C D, plug them in C D A B instead. That way if the first memory or second stick is dead you will at least be able to boot with half your memory available.
 
I've tried replacing each stick of memory individually and tried both combinations in both slots, but sadly to no avail. My memory is 2x 4GB DDR3. Do you know what the common reasons are for a computer booting up but not going to POST? I just want to try any alternatives before I swap motherboards.

I don't think it's the memory, graphics card or (according to you) hard drive. I only replaced the PSU yesterday so it won't be that.

Thanks a lot for your help.
 
Also, I don't understand why the second time I booted up yesterday (after replacing the PSU) I got to the desktop and then got that blue screen. After that, I couldn't get to POST.

There's something fishy there.
 
Well it seems to be working at the moment (I hate typing that because I know what can/will happen before I manage to click reply) -- I unplugged and re-plugged everything in and replaced the orange SATA lead (just in case). I had a spare so thought it couldn't hurt.

I had to go into BIOS and re-affirm my hard drive as my primary boot device (even though it already was) as before then I just got a blinking _ in the top left of the screen. After saving my changes in BIOS it loaded to the desktop.

I have no idea what will happen now but hopefully everything is okay. I didn't think it was the CPU and it doesn't appear to be. All of my memory is recognized as well.
 
It seems I'm now back to square one. I left my computer on for two days to test it worked (no blue screens or random reboots etc.) and it did, so I shut it down before I went to bed. Now it's back to the problem explained in my original post.
 
The sporadic nature of the problem points to a bad connection or a badly soldered joint somewhere. Aside from unplugging everything and plugging it back in, there's really not a lot more you yourself can do - it's time for professional help, or stumping up for a new machine.
 
Probably. What does multiple beeps followed by a shut down mean? This is when I boot up, before BIOS (which it's still not going to).
 
The beeps will have a pattern, which is particular to the brand of your PC. You should be able to google your PC brand/model and "startup beeps" or things of that nature. Three quick beeps might mean "no ram detected" for instance.

One common cause is that the CPU fan is not spinning up, for instance my Lenovo laptop simply refuses to start then.
 
Thanks. I Googled that as suggested.

I finally got it going (using it now to type this) but it seems random as Hell. I can't work out exactly what's wrong. Maybe it's something as simple as a bad connection/something coming loose? I keep tightening everything after every failed boot. I've also unplugged everything and plugged it back in, and blowing the connectors a little too.

I need one of those voltage testers I think.
 
Okay, sorry to bother you again AndrewT but I have some new information that could help diagnose the problem.

I had the computer running for a couple of days and nights (again) and had no problems, but when I booted it up today (it took a couple of tries but it worked) I got to the desktop, checked my e-mails etc. and after about ten minutes I got a blue screen with this error:

PAGE_FAULT_IN_NON_PAGED_AREA

I thought this may be a one-off so I did what it said and rebooted -- the computer went to POST as normal and to the start Windows repair/boot normally screen, so I selected boot normally and assumed it was going to work, but at the Windows logo screen I got another blue screen with this on:

SYSTEM_SERVICE_EXCEPTION

...followed by STOP: [random huge line of numbers] at the bottom.

This now seems to happen whenever I reboot. It's strange because the original problem was the computer not going to POST at all, but now it seems to be working okay in that regard (more or less) but I can't seem to move past blue screens. I even tried running the debugging mode from F8 (where it lists all your drivers until the one that is at fault) but I got this blue screen before it would load it.

I know this isn't anything specifically to do with CK II anymore but if you could throw some light onto the situation I'd be very grateful to you. I've read the text on the blue screen and it says to check new hardware, and disable something about shadowing (?) and caching in the BIOS but I'm not sure what they are or how to disable them.

Any ideas?
 
A blue screen just means a serious system error, and can be caused by almost anything. Hardware, Windows and driver faults are the most common. But you got two unrelated ones which tends to rule out a software bug.

Have you tried booting in safe mode?

Are you 100% sure your new PSU puts out enough power for all your peripherals?

That aside, I remain convinced you have a serious hardware fault, but without specialist equipment we really can't diagnose where it is. In my judgement the likelihood is something like in order: System memory, CPU, motherboard, other peripherals. In that situation, I myself would ditch the thing entirely as I would feel I could never trust it again.
 
I tried booting it up again but it didn't go to POST, so I turned it off and swapped the two RAM sticks around and it booted -- I went to 'start Windows normally' and got another blue screen on the loading screen:

DRIVER_IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL

Never seen that one before. I'll try loading up in safe mode, but then what am I supposed to do? I'm not sure how to diagnose the problem.

I do have a spare (identical) motherboard I could try but after that I'm out of ideas as the RAM, GPU and PSU are all relatively new. I can't really afford another CPU.

I wish there was just an LED on the side of computers that told you exactly what was wrong. :eek:o
 
Ah, according to this thread on the Microsoft forum it could be the motherboard. I suppose I may as well try the other one. I've got nothing to lose, and it could explain why I'm getting different types of blue screen and rarely getting to POST anyway.
 
I think in hindsight you may have been right -- I ran an extended memtest overnight on both sticks (separately) and one seemed to have a problem. Since then I've had no blue screens or reboots so long as it's been in slot A. I've since re-ordered some more RAM.
 
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