Computer shut down

Discussion in 'Hardware' started by dmd31842, Sep 12, 2006.

  1. dmd31842

    dmd31842 Corporal

    I have a Dell Dimension 8200 with XP. Lately, when I leave my computer on at night and come on in the morning, I have a black screen which says Press F1 to reboot or F2 to acess setup. I press F1 and get the same message. I have to shut down and restart. What is the reason this is happening and I do I resolve this problem? Thanks:confused:
     
  2. erikske

    erikske Sergeant

    This error is caused by your computer being unable to locate the operating system. Probable causes are an invalid boot sector, an invalid boot order (your hard disk is not the first boot device) or a dead hard drive.
    Get into the BIOS (F2 key for a Dell Dimension) and verify it can detect your hard drive and that it is set up to boot first (it can be set to boot after CD rom drives, but set it to boot first now). If the drive is not detected by the BIOS, verify all connections (IDE/SATA and power). If all connections are good, the drive is probably dead. If you wish, you can connect it to a different computer to test it.
    If the drive is correctly detected and listed, get into the XP recovery console (from the XP setup CD) and use the fixmbr and fixboot commands to fix the HD's boot sector.
    Report back.
     
  3. dmd31842

    dmd31842 Corporal

    Thanks for the response. My drive is correctly listed. Can you detail the recovery disc thing? I am kind of a novice with this. Thanks, David
     
  4. padams

    padams First Sergeant

    Is your computer set to go into standby after so long?
     
  5. erikske

    erikske Sergeant

    Turn on the computer and insert the Windows XP cd. If you were fast enough, Windows XP Setup should open. Else reboot the computer with the cd already in the drive.
    The Windows XP recovery console is explained here.
    Follow the first steps to access the console and ignore the rest. Use the fixboot and fixmbr commands (fixboot will probably be enough) to fix the problem. The explanation of this commands are in the links i posted in my previous post.
     
  6. dmd31842

    dmd31842 Corporal

    No, the computer is set for "Never" in all those categories. Will changing that prevent me from doing the recovery disc thing?
     
  7. padams

    padams First Sergeant

    well i'm kinda stumped. if the computer was going into standby then that could have been an issue but it isn't. is the computer in a cabinet or enclosed area? if so then it could be overheating running over night to the point it shuts itself down.
     
  8. erikske

    erikske Sergeant

    Overheating, power surge, power failure, software failure, virus, ... All possible.
    Your windows settings will in no way affect the recovery console.
     
  9. dmd31842

    dmd31842 Corporal

    OK. Thanks. I guess I will wait a bit and see if it keep happening and if so, will try the recovery thing. Thanks again
     

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