WinXP automaticaaly goes into standby on boot

  • Thread starter Thread starter Devang Devani
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Devang Devani

A client purchased 20 windows XP home based machines (HP A420N) to set up
their small business network. All have booted up perfectly except for one
which when turned on it automatically goes into standby mode.

Does anybody know what may be wrong (possibly power supply or the RAM?) The
computers themselves are actually discontinued so it's pretty tough finding
another for the client so I figure I can replace the part that may be
defective. They have UPS' hooked up to all the computers, and thought the
UPS was faulty but when I plugged in another computer it was fine.

I know this newsgroup is for homebuilt, but I figure this might be a problem
that may have been encountered with a faulty component which may be found in
a homebuilt computer.

Thanks in advanced.
 
Devang Devani said:
A client purchased 20 windows XP home based machines (HP A420N) to set up
their small business network. All have booted up perfectly except for one
which when turned on it automatically goes into standby mode.

Does anybody know what may be wrong (possibly power supply or the RAM?) The
computers themselves are actually discontinued so it's pretty tough finding
another for the client so I figure I can replace the part that may be
defective. They have UPS' hooked up to all the computers, and thought the
UPS was faulty but when I plugged in another computer it was fine.

I know this newsgroup is for homebuilt, but I figure this might be a problem
that may have been encountered with a faulty component which may be found in
a homebuilt computer.

Thanks in advanced.
Click to expand...

Check the CPU fan. Make sure it is connected to the motherboard and that it
is turning when (briefly) powered on. If these computers were recently
transported from one place to another, it wouldn't surprise me if something
got knocked loose in transport. Start with the CPU fan connector. Then
while you're in there, check all other connectors to make sure they are
properly seated. -Dave
 
Devang said:
A client purchased 20 windows XP home based machines (HP A420N) to set up
their small business network. All have booted up perfectly except for one
which when turned on it automatically goes into standby mode.
Click to expand...

This may sound silly but have you checked the power settings to see if
someone put a ridiculous standby time-out in it so that it's already timed
out by the time boot finishes?

Do you happen to know if there is any software, such as "slawdog smart
shutdown" installed on it? I downloaded that cute little thing and after I
did a 'shutdown' test the stupid thing was redoing the shutdown on every
boot up. Fortunately I had put a 10 second 'warning' message in it and was
able to jump in and stop it on the second or third go round (heck, I don't
usually sit here and 'watch' the boot up but after it went back DOWN again
I sure did. LOL).

Or do you mean "I hit the power button and it's instantly in standby (no
boot)"? If you mean the latter then it sounds like someone forced it off
(as in pulled the plug) when it was in standby and it's set to 'return to
previous state' on a power restore.

There's a number of ways to try and get out of that but since you have
other machines to use as a guide the easiest might be to reset CMOS and
then put the settings back, using one of the others as a guide.
 
A client purchased 20 windows XP home based machines (HP A420N) to set up
their small business network. All have booted up perfectly except for one
which when turned on it automatically goes into standby mode.

Does anybody know what may be wrong (possibly power supply or the RAM?) The
computers themselves are actually discontinued so it's pretty tough finding
another for the client so I figure I can replace the part that may be
defective. They have UPS' hooked up to all the computers, and thought the
UPS was faulty but when I plugged in another computer it was fine.

I know this newsgroup is for homebuilt, but I figure this might be a problem
that may have been encountered with a faulty component which may be found in
a homebuilt computer.

Thanks in advanced.
Click to expand...

1. A new computer that acts up like that should be replaced under warranty.
If you try repairing it you will likely void the warranty.

2. XP Home is probably a poor choice of OS for a 20 workstation network
setup for a number of reasons. It is limited on the number of connections
(5) it will support, it will not "logon" to a network without aftermarket
hacks, and its' security is not as good as other versions of windows. Not a
good place to cut corners. There will likely be inconsistant, random
problems with the network.

JT
 
1. A new computer that acts up like that should be replaced under
warranty.
If you try repairing it you will likely void the warranty.
Click to expand...

As the computers are discontinued and hard to get, I was under the
impression that this was a pallett of used equipment the OP was writing
about. -Dave
 
no all the machines are brand new and sealed, we had to get the machines
from our other retail outlets across our province (Ontario) to accommodate
the number of PC's this client wanted ... the operating system is actually
being upgraded to XP pro instead of home.
 
If you are the dealer, then what is the problem with doing warranty
properly? Or are you a "grey market" seller?

Looking at the specs on these machines, I really wonder how appropriate
they are for most businesses. Especially since they have been discontinued
by HP.

Then as a dealer you come to usenet instead of the manufacturer or your
supplier for help. Glad I don't live in Ontario.

JT
 
I am not the dealer .. I am a sales rep/tech from a retailer that these
people chose to purchase the computers from. It was their decision as to
what specs they wanted from the manufacturers because of the needs of their
proprietary software ... as such I am trying to work with their problems and
trying to troubleshoot them because another one of these PC's are hard to
find and they would like all there PC's to have the same configuration, so
making them purchase a newer machine with different specs is not an option.

I would rather go and replace the power supply or a stick of RAM if that was
the problem through components from my store (if I can determine that indeed
is the problem) so that this company does not have to wait 2 to 3 weeks to
get it fixed by HP.

They got our extended warranty with the computers as well, so there is no
worries about voiding any manufacturers warranty since we will be covering
any warranty work that needs to be done in the future.

The problem that they are facing with this machine is very unusual and
judging by the lack of any direct answers to my question from yourself also
means its got you stumped. I would personally would like to face the
challenge of fixing this machine rather then shoving the work off to someone
else (HP) and letting them fix it without me knowing the procedures they
followed.. this way I will know in the future if a similar problem arises, I
may be able to fix it ... and I believe that this is the valid forum to pose
such a question. Not every technician knows the answer to every problem,
and I believe this newsgroup is one resource that can be utilized to help
those of us with questions regarding computers. Why not ask HP directly? I
have ... they told me to send the machine over to them and wait 2 to 3 weeks
so they can test it out ...

By the way ... the problem was fixed .. all that needed to be done was reset
the BIOS settings using the jumper on the motherboard. Instead of 2 to 3
weeks, our clients will get their computer in one business day, thanks to
those that gave suggestions to troubleshoot my problem.
 
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