Computer tries to start up and shuts down.

  • Thread starter Thread starter Guest
  • Start date Start date
G

Guest

My daughter's computer (Win XP) just started doing this in the last week. She
obviously can't ask the question because her computer won't work. What can
she do to freeze it up as it is trying to come on? I made a boot disk. Can I
try this and hit F-8 and go into safe mode to try to run a virus check? We
are clueless.
 
Lynn said:
My daughter's computer (Win XP) just started doing this in the last
week. She obviously can't ask the question because her computer won't
work. What can she do to freeze it up as it is trying to come on? I
made a boot disk. Can I try this and hit F-8 and go into safe mode to
try to run a virus check? We are clueless.
Click to expand...

If the computer is shutting down before it even boots Windows, then your
daughter's computer has hardware problems. This can be anything from a
failed power supply to a dying motherboard. There is no way for us to
troubleshoot it with so little information.

Here are general hardware troubleshooting steps:
http://www.elephantboycomputers.com/page2.html#Hardware_Troubleshooting

Testing hardware failures often involves swapping out suspected parts
with known-good parts. If you can't do the testing yourself and/or are
uncomfortable opening your computer, take the machine to a professional
computer repair shop (not your local equivalent of BigStoreUSA).

Malke
 
Malke said:
If the computer is shutting down before it even boots Windows, then your
daughter's computer has hardware problems. This can be anything from a
failed power supply to a dying motherboard. There is no way for us to
troubleshoot it with so little information.

Here are general hardware troubleshooting steps:
http://www.elephantboycomputers.com/page2.html#Hardware_Troubleshooting

Testing hardware failures often involves swapping out suspected parts
with known-good parts. If you can't do the testing yourself and/or are
uncomfortable opening your computer, take the machine to a professional
computer repair shop (not your local equivalent of BigStoreUSA).

Malke
--
Elephant Boy Computers
www.elephantboycomputers.com
"Don't Panic!"
MS-MVP Windows - Shell/User
Click to expand...
 
Thanks for all the good info.
If I take out her hard drive ......everything is lost ...correct?
I was thinking if I put it in another then I would know if it works. I have
not yet done anything.
Malke....your site was very informative. I will take off the cover to listen
first. She did not mention any knocking or any previous noise.
 
Lynn said:
Thanks for all the good info.
If I take out her hard drive ......everything is lost ...correct?
I was thinking if I put it in another then I would know if it works. I
have not yet done anything.
Malke....your site was very informative. I will take off the cover to
listen first. She did not mention any knocking or any previous noise.
Click to expand...

No, if you take out the hard drive all the data is still on it. A failed
hard drive is not the first thing I would test. I would test:

1. Dirt and non-working fans possibly causing overheating.
2. Power supply failure.
3. Bad hard drive.
4. Bad RAM.
5. Bad motherboard or processor.

Malke
 
Back
Top