On start up system hangs and then shuts down

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When i start up the computer (windows XP, about 4 yrs old) the system sounds
like its struggling and then the whole thing dies. The green light on the
front of the unit remains lit and given about 20 seconds it tries to start up
again. The fan at this stage sounds normal and it enters the advance set up
under safe mode. It reports the system has hung during startup for an
improper CPU speed. The screen shows 2000MHz. Its an Athlon 2400+ which I
believe makes the speed about correct. I proceed and save the settings
expecting it to then load up and it then shuts off.
More often than not I dont get to even start up in safe mode.

I have carefully given the fan and the insides a good clean and the only
other thing to add is that sometimes when attempting to start it up the
system sounds fine yet it dies immediately.
Is this a fan problem, a power supply problem or something else - help please?
 
woof! said:
When i start up the computer (windows XP, about 4 yrs old) the system sounds
like its struggling and then the whole thing dies. The green light on the
front of the unit remains lit and given about 20 seconds it tries to start up
again.
Click to expand...

This is an “interesting oneâ€, of which I have no precise advice on how to
resolve. When you do your research in various forums, there are many articles
and posts regarding shutdowns and restarts, but not so many covering your
case.
Is this a fan problem, a power supply >
Click to expand...
Your cleaning and check regarding the fan is of course the first and correct
step. And yes, power supply is another (hardware) possible cause for your
trouble, so the output voltages should be checked / verified. Another
possibility is of course the board / CPU itselves.
or something else >
Click to expand...
The little of information I have found on your case very much point at
problems with “overclockingâ€, “CPU speed to conform to the specifications of
the CPUâ€, need for clearing the CMOS and correctiing the CPU clock. However
did I not find any responses to the advices given, stating that the problems
were resolved.

So I guess I have no valid recommendations concerning resolution of your
booting problem, rather than referring to an article from PCSTATS WEB pages
regarding the AMD AthlonXP 2400+ Processor:

PCSTATS.com: http://www.pcstats.com/articleview.cfm?articleID=1221

and two threads concerning problems that seems to relate to yours:

Tech Support Guy:
http://forums.techguy.org/hardware/379621-cant-boot-into-windows-xp.html

Computer Hardware:
http://forums.devshed.com/computer-hardware-103/computer-won-t-boot-bios-freezes-175405.html

the first incident by a coincidence (?) occuring after 4 years, like yours.

Regards,
Ka2H
 
woof! said:
When i start up the computer (windows XP, about 4 yrs old) the system sounds
like its struggling and then the whole thing dies. The green light on the
front of the unit remains lit and given about 20 seconds it tries to start up
again. The fan at this stage sounds normal and it enters the advance set up
under safe mode. It reports the system has hung during startup for an
improper CPU speed. The screen shows 2000MHz. Its an Athlon 2400+ which I
believe makes the speed about correct. I proceed and save the settings
expecting it to then load up and it then shuts off.
More often than not I dont get to even start up in safe mode.

I have carefully given the fan and the insides a good clean and the only
other thing to add is that sometimes when attempting to start it up the
system sounds fine yet it dies immediately.
Is this a fan problem, a power supply problem or something else - help please?
Click to expand...

It could be the power supply (which is where I'd start) or other
hardware issues. Here are general hardware troubleshooting steps:

http://www.elephantboycomputers.com/page2.html#Hardware_Tshoot

Standard caveat: 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). Have all your data backed up before you take
the machine into a shop.


Malke
 
Thanks to both Ka2H and malke for the replies - i'd much rather have a common
problem than a unique one. Well I will have a go at reading the links
provided and have a go with attempting to test the hardware. I don't want to
take it to a repair shop as at 4 yrs old i am more tempted to replace it. But
that means being defeated by the problem. f I get any luck in solving this I
shall post the solution.
thanks again to a great bunch of people
 
woof! said:
Thanks to both Ka2H and malke for the replies - i'd much rather have a common
problem than a unique one. Well I will have a go at reading the links
provided and have a go with attempting to test the hardware. I don't want to
take it to a repair shop as at 4 yrs old i am more tempted to replace it. But
that means being defeated by the problem. f I get any luck in solving this I
shall post the solution.
thanks again to a great bunch of people
Click to expand...

Go for it! - good luck, and I am certainly looking forward for the outcome -
in any case.

Regards,
Ka2H
 
woof! said:
Thanks to both Ka2H and malke for the replies - i'd much rather have a common
problem than a unique one. Well I will have a go at reading the links
provided and have a go with attempting to test the hardware. I don't want to
take it to a repair shop as at 4 yrs old i am more tempted to replace it. But
that means being defeated by the problem. f I get any luck in solving this I
shall post the solution.
thanks again to a great bunch of people
Click to expand...

Well, replacing the power supply is a fairly cheap fix ($45-60 USD -
don't buy the cheapest one but unless you're a gamer you don't need some
700 watt one either).

Let us know if you need more help.


Malke
 
Great news - -Its fixed and all it took was replacing the power supply unit.
The fault was getting predictable in that every time it would start up, die
out after 30 seconds, restart on its own and get to the bios screen reporting
an improper cpu speed setting. The settings actually looked okay and i
suppose they were. Then it would die completely and time out from being able
to power back up.

I've certainly got a better understanding of hardware and the fix was cheap.
Probably going to upgrade a few more items as there are more squeaks
appearing here and there. Its more satisfying than jsut buying a whole new
system although probably wont be able to resist that either

Thanks for the help
 
woof! said:
Great news - -Its fixed and all it took was replacing the power supply unit.
The fault was getting predictable in that every time it would start up, die
out after 30 seconds, restart on its own and get to the bios screen reporting
an improper cpu speed setting. The settings actually looked okay and i
suppose they were. Then it would die completely and time out from being able
to power back up.
Click to expand...

Glad to hear you managed to fix it and thanks for the feedback, which is
another lesson of learning.

Regards,
Ka2H
 
woof! said:
Great news - -Its fixed and all it took was replacing the power supply unit.
The fault was getting predictable in that every time it would start up, die
out after 30 seconds, restart on its own and get to the bios screen reporting
an improper cpu speed setting. The settings actually looked okay and i
suppose they were. Then it would die completely and time out from being able
to power back up.

I've certainly got a better understanding of hardware and the fix was cheap.
Probably going to upgrade a few more items as there are more squeaks
appearing here and there. Its more satisfying than jsut buying a whole new
system although probably wont be able to resist that either
Click to expand...

Glad that sorted it for you. Thanks for taking the time to post back.


Malke
 
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