blue screen problems again

[System_Error]

I'm experiencing the BSOD on my desktop computer. It's been doing this off and on for a really, really long time now. I once got it temporarily fixed by updating the bios, but shortly after that I got the screen again and now I can't even boot into safe mode. It takes about 15-20 times of pushing the power button on the tower to get it to turn on. When it eventually turns on it goes to the BSOD before getting to windows.

What could be wrong?

[Arrow_Raider]

It could be a motherboard problem. Are there any buldging capacitors on the board?

[eranga262154]

May be the CMOS battery.

[Arrow_Raider]

Here is some information about the "Capacitor Plague". It could be a long shot, but I have seen computers have this problem. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capacitor_plague

[Aaron_Redmond]

The best thing you could do is take your PC apart, put it together again component by component.
Hopefully this will help you find the faulty component, because from the symptoms you describe it could be one of many things including the Motherboard, chip, RAM, Graphics Card, etc...

It takes about 15-20 times of pushing the power button on the tower to get it to turn on.

Do you get any system beeps?

[Davadvice]

have you installed any new drivers programs?

I have had the BSOD when i installed new graphics drivers previously.

to fix this i had to boot to safe mode and roll back using system restore. however it is rare to get the BSOD in xp

dav

[System_Error]

I haven't installed any programs or used the computer in a while. I did put this thing in the back of my car and drive it to a new location, so I'm wondering if I jarred something loose. Maybe a loose power cable or not enough power coming through the socket at this condo.

I will take it apart and put it back together sometime later today. I'll check for bulging capacitors and a few other things. Hopefully it's just a loose connection somewhere. I will let you guys know as soon as I get it apart.

Do you get any system beeps?

No. I don't get anything. It just doesn't seem to be getting power.

[Arrow_Raider]

If the board shows no sign of faulty caps, your power supply could be going bad if it doesn't show any signs of recieving power. In this case, your power supply probably has faulty caps. If you are so willing, you can open up your power supply to see if there is any brownish stuff spewing from the capacitors. If you do open your power supply, you must be careful. Don't touch any of the components inside as the capacitors may still have a charge.

One of my power supplies died once and I opened it just to see if it had the capacitor problem and it clearly did. Brown crud had leaked out of a few of the capacitors spilling onto a lot of the components.

[Aaron_Redmond]

If the board shows no sign of faulty caps, your power supply could be going bad if it doesn't show any signs of recieving power. In this case, your power supply probably has faulty caps. If you are so willing, you can open up your power supply to see if there is any brownish stuff spewing from the capacitors. If you do open your power supply, you must be careful. Don't touch any of the components inside as the capacitors may still have a charge.

One of my power supplies died once and I opened it just to see if it had the capacitor problem and it clearly did. Brown crud had leaked out of a few of the capacitors spilling onto a lot of the components.

Arrow_Raider is 100% correct, checking the power supply is your best bet, as most of the symptoms fit. Before you take it apart, try swapping in a different power supply.

[System_Error]

I opened the case up and took the power supply out. The Power supply looks okay, and no signs of the capacitors being bad. What's weird is the light for my wireless adapter is on. I don't have an extra power supply, so should I just go ahead and by another?

[Arrow_Raider]

Let me make sure I understand this right: When you press the power button on your computer, nothing happens; no lights come on, cd drive doesn't spin, harddrive doesn't spin, etc. If so, with the power supply connected to the motherboard and switched on(if the power supply has a power switch), see if there is a light on on the motherboard. Motherboards have an LED somewhere on them that emits light when they are powered even if the computer is off.

[zynder]

It could be HDD problem. Ran a surface scan and checkdisk it could ba a damage boot sector.

[System_Error]

Let me make sure I understand this right: When you press the power button on your computer, nothing happens; no lights come on, cd drive doesn't spin, harddrive doesn't spin, etc.

That's correct.

If so, with the power supply connected to the motherboard and switched on(if the power supply has a power switch), see if there is a light on on the motherboard. Motherboards have an LED somewhere on them that emits light when they are powered even if the computer is off.

I don't see any light coming from the motherboard. The only light that's on is the small green LED from the wireless adapter.

[Aaron_Redmond]

Rather that spending a bundle of cash, you need to get a proper qualified tech to check your machine for you, as the problems you are having could have one of many causes.
It could be your PSU, Mobo, CPU, RAM, etc..

[System_Error]

Rather that spending a bundle of cash, you need to get a proper qualified tech to check your machine for you, as the problems you are having could have one of many causes.
It could be your PSU, Mobo, CPU, RAM, etc..

I know it's not the RAM so that eliminates one possibility. My power supply came with a watts viewer that I could hook up ( http://www.bigbruin.com/reviews/tota...?file=pic1.jpg ). Maybe that could tell me if it's the power supply or not?

By the way, I think my mobo has fried two sound cards and I can't get the onboard sound to work anymore either.

[Lord Orwell]

why didn't you post which stop error was giving you the BSOD? That would have been a HUGE help in this instance. Without it there is little likelyhood your problem will be solved. Even a bad sector in the hard drive, if in the file table, will give you a BSOD with an Inaccessible_boot_device error. We need more info!