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PC hardware forum: Boot Problem

by: arkyduck November 1, 2012 7:08 AM PDT

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Boot Problem

by arkyduck - 11/1/12 7:08 AM

I have an HP desktop that was running Windows Vista that is 3 years old. It has 4 gigs of ram and a Asus A8MN2N-LA motherboard. The past year it has a problem of not booting up after setting overnight. Sometimes I receive a warning that "hard drive failure is imminent" and sometimes it says it can't find the drive. During the day I can do a restart and it boots OK. I bought a new SATA Hard drive form Western Digital and the installation went without a hitch. After about 3 months I had the same problem. I now have updated to Windows 7 Ultimate because I heard that Vista was "Buggy", but I have the same problem.. I have run all the hard drive tests that I know of and found nothing. Is there a test that will check the boot sector of the drive? I am beggining to think it's the motherboard now. So far, I have been able to boot with the windows repair disk if there is a problem. Sorry about the long post!


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Sorry but if Vista was buggy.

by R. Proffitt Moderator - 11/1/12 8:35 AM

In Reply to: Boot Problem by arkyduck

This issue would have been there at day one.

Let's check for the more common issues.

1. Did you try a new SATA drive cable?
2. Did you inspect all cards and power supplies for BAD CAPS? (see the web about that topic for pictures.)

Bob


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Re- Boot problem

by arkyduck - 11/1/12 8:57 AM

In Reply to: Sorry but if Vista was buggy. by R. Proffitt Moderator

The hard drive came with a new cable. I did not inspect the caps but I will. I've had issues with the Chinese caps in other devices!


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Just replace the PSU

by Willy - 11/1/12 10:25 AM

In Reply to: Re- Boot problem by arkyduck

After 3yrs. of use, the wear&tear on the PSU(power) may have gone downhill. Including any possible "bad caps" just having the same PSU after some time will on its own be a problem more for some and not others. I would replace the PSU with a better rated wattage and buy quality brands. Just be sure it can be used in the HP, as some HPs are physically sized different from generic PSUs, but it may accept one. Having the PSU in hand and visiting the local shop could easily size one up. -OR- online website using your PSU measurements to find a replacement and/or reading the decal/sticker on PSU.

Of course, clean the desktop out of dust bunnies, use care.

tada -----Willy happy


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Re Boot Problem

by arkyduck - 11/9/12 9:22 AM

In Reply to: Sorry but if Vista was buggy. by R. Proffitt Moderator

Well, I think I may have solved my boot problem by accident! I inspected for swollen caps and found none.Then I swapped sata cables and that did nothing. I then moved the sata cable to a different connector on the Mother board and that did it!! After several re-boots and shut down overnights, the problem appears to be solved!! I'm guessing there might be a bad solder joint or a bad sata socket. Whoopie, for now!! Thanks for all the input.


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