F
Frustrated
Last week my W2K computer would just power off. The computer would randomly
shutdown until the point was reached where the computer consistently shuts
down 2 minutes after Windows 2000 is fully loaded; no message of any type -
just like someone pulled the power plug out of the wall. I've been running
this computer for years without problems.
The computer is a 3 year old IBM Aptiva with an Intel Pentium 3.
If I boot up from a Linux CD (InstantRecovery), the computer does not crash.
If I boot up from a 98 floppy disk, the computer does not crash.
If I load Norton Anti-virus program and have it start scanning the whole
system before the 2 minute shutdown window, the computer does *not* crash.
At least not while Norton is actively scanning the hard disk. I FIND THIS
INCREDIBLE.
I've run Spin Rite, level 4, on all the partitions of the disk. Didn't
help.
I've disconnected the Internet card. Didn't help.
I've disabled as many services as I could. Didn't help.
I've replaced the power supply, video card, mouse, keyboard. Didn't help.
I've reformatted the hard disk, used FIXMBR and FIXBOOT on all the
partitions. Didn't help.
I've put the hard disk as a slave disk onto another computer and run the
latest (Aug 11,03) Norton virus definition and found no problems whatsoever.
If I try to do an emergency reinstall from the preloaded software in the
hidden partition, the computer shuts down in the final phase of setup --
because 2 minutes had elapsed since Windows was loaded from the hard disk.
If I reinstall disk images (Using InstantRecovery) that were backed up well
before the incident began, the problem still exists. I also reinstalled the
backed up MBR.
Two other curious failures that started in the past day or two....
The computer will not start the boot process (from CD, floppy or HD)
until the hard disk fan turns on. It doesn't matter whether or not the hard
disk is in the computer. I have to turn the computer on and wait several
minutes for the computer to warm up. This made me think that this was a
hardware failure except that once the computer is up, I can run under Linux
or from a floppy for hours.
I can't boot from the CD any longer. I press F1 when the computer turns
on to get to the BIOS settings and the computer reports that IDE CD-ROM
Drive 2 is installed, not CD-ROM Drive 1 and there's no way of changing the
boot sequence like on my other computer.
In a nutshell, the computer will instantly power down 2 minutes after
Windows 2000 is loaded from the hard disk unless the anti-virus program is
scanning all of the files on the hard disk. The 2 minutes is very
consistent.
I'm baffled and I'm exhausted. Any ideas?
shutdown until the point was reached where the computer consistently shuts
down 2 minutes after Windows 2000 is fully loaded; no message of any type -
just like someone pulled the power plug out of the wall. I've been running
this computer for years without problems.
The computer is a 3 year old IBM Aptiva with an Intel Pentium 3.
If I boot up from a Linux CD (InstantRecovery), the computer does not crash.
If I boot up from a 98 floppy disk, the computer does not crash.
If I load Norton Anti-virus program and have it start scanning the whole
system before the 2 minute shutdown window, the computer does *not* crash.
At least not while Norton is actively scanning the hard disk. I FIND THIS
INCREDIBLE.
I've run Spin Rite, level 4, on all the partitions of the disk. Didn't
help.
I've disconnected the Internet card. Didn't help.
I've disabled as many services as I could. Didn't help.
I've replaced the power supply, video card, mouse, keyboard. Didn't help.
I've reformatted the hard disk, used FIXMBR and FIXBOOT on all the
partitions. Didn't help.
I've put the hard disk as a slave disk onto another computer and run the
latest (Aug 11,03) Norton virus definition and found no problems whatsoever.
If I try to do an emergency reinstall from the preloaded software in the
hidden partition, the computer shuts down in the final phase of setup --
because 2 minutes had elapsed since Windows was loaded from the hard disk.
If I reinstall disk images (Using InstantRecovery) that were backed up well
before the incident began, the problem still exists. I also reinstalled the
backed up MBR.
Two other curious failures that started in the past day or two....
The computer will not start the boot process (from CD, floppy or HD)
until the hard disk fan turns on. It doesn't matter whether or not the hard
disk is in the computer. I have to turn the computer on and wait several
minutes for the computer to warm up. This made me think that this was a
hardware failure except that once the computer is up, I can run under Linux
or from a floppy for hours.
I can't boot from the CD any longer. I press F1 when the computer turns
on to get to the BIOS settings and the computer reports that IDE CD-ROM
Drive 2 is installed, not CD-ROM Drive 1 and there's no way of changing the
boot sequence like on my other computer.
In a nutshell, the computer will instantly power down 2 minutes after
Windows 2000 is loaded from the hard disk unless the anti-virus program is
scanning all of the files on the hard disk. The 2 minutes is very
consistent.
I'm baffled and I'm exhausted. Any ideas?