whats wrong with my computer

  • Thread starter Thread starter steve
  • Start date Start date
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steve

I have a computer running XP, it works fine for most of the time and when I
turn it off overnight and return to it no problem. However if I leave it
longer than 9-10hours it locks up on XP start up. When I reboot I get a
boot disk error message and cannot go any further. If I go into the bios
and go through the motion of 'checking' boot sequence it will come on and
work fine. I don't need to save anything.
I have changed the cmos battery for a new one and still the problem
persists.
Anyone any idea of what maybe wrong?
Thanks
 
steve said:
I have a computer running XP, it works fine for most of the time and
when I turn it off overnight and return to it no problem. However if
I leave it longer than 9-10hours it locks up on XP start up. When I
reboot I get a boot disk error message and cannot go any further. If
I go into the bios and go through the motion of 'checking' boot
sequence it will come on and work fine. I don't need to save anything.
I have changed the cmos battery for a new one and still the problem
persists.
Anyone any idea of what maybe wrong?
Thanks
Click to expand...

HDD bearings (or motor) failing and the drive not spinning up fast enough
when it's cold? In any case I would be backing up my data quick/smart if I
were you.
 
Yeah, I'd say hard drive too. I'd suggest switching out the hd with
another one - got any old boxes sitting around? I had a second hard
drive in my pc that went bad, and even though I never actually used the
drive for anything, the very fact that it was bad caused Windows to
pause for long periods at each stage of startup without giving me any
error messages at all. Problem went away as soon as I disconnected the
drive. Good luck.

Michael
 
Thank you for the helpful comments, as the unit is under warranty, back to
the shop with it.
 
I have a computer running XP, it works fine for most of the time and when I
turn it off overnight and return to it no problem. However if I leave it
longer than 9-10hours it locks up on XP start up. When I reboot I get a
boot disk error message and cannot go any further. If I go into the bios
and go through the motion of 'checking' boot sequence it will come on and
work fine. I don't need to save anything.
I have changed the cmos battery for a new one and still the problem
persists.
Anyone any idea of what maybe wrong?
Thanks
Click to expand...

If part of the error message says something like, 'install system disk
and then press any key to continue'...

Put your XP install disk in the cdrom. Don't boot from it...just let
the computer go thru its motions. When you get the error message, hit
the Enter key. If the machine now boots, you've either got a
power/power lead problem going to the hard drive or an IDE cable
problem going to the hard drive.


Have a nice week...

Trent

If the cheese isn't yours...its Nacho cheese, man!
 
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