Random Pc Freezes & Reboots, Now No Boot Or Image

My computer has been freezing, and rebooting sporadicaly this week. Sometimes more than once a day, though it does end up running fine after after a few reboots/shutdowns. I can't seem to find out what the problem may be.

It all started when I was moving some cables connected to the back of my pcs very expensive pci soundcard. So I figured that I may have loosened the pci card inside by moving the cables connected to it too hard. I tried opening up my computer and pressing down the cards real hard, yet the freezes/reboots still happen. The next thing you know I turned my computer on today and the pc started up, than froze at the desktop.

& now worse... I shutdown my computer manually [holding the power button for 5 secs] after it froze, and powered it back on. Now my power supply turns on, so do the power/hdd lights, but my HP bios screen which flashes on every boot with an "All's OK" motherboard beep does not show [you don't hear the beep either]. Nor does any image appear on my monitor. My monitor light is now blinking as if it isn't connected to anything!!!

:crybaby

I don't know what to do, please help... As a precaution I will be taking out all pci cards, cleaning the gold connectors on the cards and pci slots, with a lint free cloth dipped in isopropyl alcohol. & hopefully it all works again... Though I think I tried this months ago when this happened last year and it did nothing. I'm not sure, maybe that fixed it...

Just so you know I had scanned my pc yesterday while it was working with Malwarebytes, Spybot, & my Eset antivirus. Nothing bad came up... I also ran check disk, and all was fine... Than I ran Western Digitals "Smart Status" tools and everyting passes at normal values so it can't be the hard drives!

This type of issue has happened before in the past year as I've mentioned before, for about a week just as it is happening now. I can't remember how I fixed it. It may have fixed itself...

What the heck is going on?


Here's what happened the previous times this occured. Problem is this time I'm getting no image, no boot screen, or motherboard beep codes.

http://forums.majorgeeks.com/showthread.php?t=215783

http://forums.majorgeeks.com/showthread.php?t=222695


Thank you in advance.

 

I would say, Can you post a speccy log but as you can even get it to post that seems out of the question. Are you using onboard GPU or separate (PCIe/AGP)

I would suggest that you take you PC down to bare bone parts. ie disconnect everything inside apart from MB, CPU, RAM and PSU. with these four components you should at least get the PC to POST. If so you can then add things back in one at a time until it fails.

If it still doesnt POST then I recommend you rule out a grounding/shortcircuit issue by removing the motherboard from the case and placing it on a piece of cardboard. leave only the CPU, RAM and GPU attached then attach you PSU and monitor and try to boot. If it posts then you probably have something shorting out underneath your motherboard.

If it still wont post then one of your core components is faulty and the only way to test is by replacing with spares. I suspect that it is either MB or PSU. Hope that gives you a starting point.

 

As I said the problem is intermittent. But now all the more frequent. And no I did not press down too hard on the motherboard when trying to reseat the cards yesterday.

What I did now is unplug the computer from the wall for a couple of hours. When I plugged it back in the Pc started up fine. I was able to see the Bios screen, hear the "All's good" motherboard beep, and use my Pc for a bit. I than decided to restart after about 20 mins. The computer froze while starting up the desktop, so I had to manually press down the power button on my tower for it to shut off.

Wanna know the odd thing? My Pc shut off... BUT THE POWER LED STAYED ON!!! I've never seen this happen. OMG this is incredible... I'm stumped... I looked at the power led on for a whole minute than decided to flip the switch on the power supply to "Off," and it went away.

I'm going to try and clean the copper connectors on the motherboard now, and reseat the pci cards after doing that. Although I really don't think that's the problem.

UPDATE:

I didn't try cleaning the copper connectors on the pci cards yet. But I did try another psu. And when I plugged it into the wall the power led was on yet the computer wasn't turned on. So I flipped the switch on the psu to off, and than flipped it back on and the power led on my computer tower was off. I turned on the Pc and it booted up fine, displayed the desktop, I used the Pc for a bit, than it just froze after about 5 minutes. I had to manually shut off the Pc by holding down the power button. I rebooted and the Pc turned on without an image on the screen yet again (monitor led blinking as if it weren't connected). So I manually shut the Pc off again, and tried a different hard drive. It booted up fine than the computer randomly rebooted itself out of nowhere.

What's going on? If it is my motherboard how did this happen, and why?

Does anyone know if I can buy the same motherboard and swap it (worse case scenario) without having to reinstall Win Xp?

I found the same motherboard on eBay. I can get another one that's the same. I just don't know if I'd have to reinstall windows or not. I really don't want to reinstall windows. This was my perfect setup... It took me years to tweak it just the way I liked it. Every program, registry, installs, etc. I don't want to see this bad boy go.

Do advanced techs do motherboard repair or is it expensive? Is there something I should look at on the motherboard I can potentially fix myself? I have soldering experience.

 

Can you post a speccy log then if you can get in please?

 

What's a speccy log? Do you mean specs? If so I know all of my system components by heart. This is my favorite computer of all time. It took me years to configure it. Btw I am using AGP...

 

Ok so I've tried the following and the computer still freezes or reboots:

- Different power supply

- Taking out all pci cards

- Using a different hard drive

- Unplugging all disc drives

- Taking out the AGP card and using the onboard graphics with just a simple setup of cpu, ram, mobo, and hard drive


Now I'm still stumped. I haven't tried it without a hard drive at all. Nor have I tried to place the motherboard on a piece of cardboard (to see if something shorting), and try it on there with just the cpu, ram, and psu. But will try that right now. OMG this computer lasted me years... Took me years to tweak every software, bios, etc. Literally years, my first build, and favorite pc. It's going to be hard to find the exact motherboard if that is the ultimate issue. But I have faith I'll find it.

What are the chances that the mysterious issue has caused any damage to my pci cards, agp cards, cpu, ram, hard drive, or other devices? I'd like to know that all my stuff is still working in case I can find the same board. If you have any other advice on this issue let me know...

I FEAR THE DAY I LAY MY MOTHERBOARD TO REST. IT WILL BE A SAD, SAD DAY.

 

Speccy is a piece of software from piriform that will list all the specs and configuration of your PC. Saves you having to write things down. You just have to remember to delete your Windows serial as it gives you that too.

I dont think your problem is likely to be overheating although it does bare a lot of the trademarks. Speccy will give you the temps of some of the main components. You can download it from here. It is a good starting point for troubleshooting and can save a lot of time and questions.

Given that it seems to be intermitent I would hook your rig up on card with the bare bones plus your HD and run it like that for a while. This will eliminate grounding shorts and possibly over heating.

 

If you have two sticks of RAM try them independently in different slots. Could be a bad memory module or bad memory socket

 

Hmmm weird... So I finally got to running the system totally bare boned on cardboard OUTSIDE of the pc case.

Just cpu, ram, onboard graphics, and psu. NO POWER SWITCH. I did the touch trick with a flathead screwdriver. & the pc froze after about 5-10 minutes...

BUT I than realized that I had the cpu fan unplugged. & touched the heatsink... It was hot as heck! Not dangerous hot, but probably enough to have froze the system.
So I reattached the cpu fan and the pc actually worked like that bare bones on cardboard for a whole hour without freezing!!! The heatsink was nowhere near as hot as it was before either. I'm wondering... With the pc being over 5 years old maybe the Power button is causing this? I can't think of anything else other than that or a shortcircuit which is corrected by laying the motherboard bare on cardboard. I've pressed that power button a million times before. Could that somehow cause the freezing/reboots for some reason if the buttons bad? I have an identical power button that came with the custom case I could try. Should I try adding parts back to the system one by one and see what happens? Or should I be testing ram with Memtest, or cpu with some other software?

Any ideas? I'm so excited that it worked for a bit!!! I shut it off for now.

Thanks

 

Is this an HP computer?

 

Yes it is an HP VECTRA VL400... I run analog, and digital hardware for sound engineering devices that no longer run on newer computers. They go hand in hand with this old setup.

On another note I've been "bread boarding" the motherboard for hours without a freeze or reboot (eg: barebones on cardboard). I've had nothing connected to it other than my CPU, CPU fan, ram, psu, and monitor. No problems for hours, even when rebooting with ctrl-alt-del. I have now just added one DVD rom and am running "Memtest86+" to see if my ram is bad. It's been testing for over an hour. So far no errors...

I really think maybe my power button caused this issue, or just the fact that placing the mobo on a flat surface is causing and shorts to fix themselves???

Well thanks I hope you can help me.

 

This may or not be related, but I had an experience similar to yours just recently. I had a new build that would just not run right.

Just before I was going to do a total OS reinstall, I decided to overclock through the BIOS options. Well, it fixed everything. Crash free for weeks. Although I don't recall what the default voltage settings were as I did not get a chance to tinker, my assumption is that it upped the voltage with the overclock a few tenths. That seemed to do the trick.

So, maybe try to up the voltage a few notches, it sounds as if you have nothing to lose.

Good luck.

 

@20valve Overclocking won't help, thanks for the tip though.

-----------------------------------

Ok so this is The verdict so far.

I ran my pc barebones last night. No power switch just CPU, ram, onboard graphics, and a spare PSU. Though my Pc still froze... When it did I was ready to pick up my motherboard to try something else. Than all of a sudden I noticed the CPU heatsink was hot like hell. The Pc could have froze during my first barebone test due to the small over heating, so I reattached CPU fan... Mind you the CPU fan has always been attached (of course), until i started diagnosing the freeze/reboot issue and unplugged it just to check if the board would start, and forgot to reattach it. Well there's been absolutely NO FREEZE since I reattached it. Before going to bed last night I attached one of my two disc drives and ran Memtest86+: I awoke to 8 complete passes with no errors so my memory is fine (The Pc didn't reboot/freeze overnight either obviously). I've made multiple reboots using the Memtest86+ disc as well as the PSU switch and no issues have occurred. So in essence I could have fooled myself this whole time diagnosing the initial problem, by unplugging the CPU fan and not narrowing down the REAL reason why my Pc was freezing/rebooting. Today I tried reattaching the Power switch/Power led/Hdd led one by one, and my system tested fine without freezes/reboots. I also attached a spare hard drive I always use to diagnose this Pc (which had froze before possibly due to my testing with the CPU fan detached), and well the Hdd ran fine. So I figured I'd unplug everything again and check for freezes/reboots by booting without a power switch just CPU, ram, onboard graphics, and this time try attaching the regular Antec Earthwatts PSU I always use. Just to see if its my PSU. An hour later and no freezes/reboots. I attached the*Power switch/Power led/Hdd led at once and still no issue. I figure it must be something else so I'll continue reattaching parts now until I find the culprit. I hope the problem isn't my motherboard shorting somehow. As mentioned all tests I've been running since yesterday have been barebones laying the mobo flat on a wooden board with an anti static bag under the mobo.

Any suggestions while I continue testing?

 

Ok, Im not sure, but some HP lap computers had some MB issues, although I think they showed up early before the computer warmed up. And I don't think its your model, but you might want to try out an HP forum (if there is one) and look for the problem specific for your model.

The way the one guy fixed it was to bake the MB in the oven at a very specific temp.

Again, don't think its your model, but you might look at an HP forum and ask.

 

I meant to try to bump the voltage up a few notches, not to overclock!

 

That sounds interesting... Are you saying this guy had cold solder points somewhere on his mobo so he had to bake it? If so let me know, because if that's my issue I will definitely try anything to get mine working again. Lol.

 

Sometimes computers just get either dry joints or a loose connection or something shorting out the board. Taking it all apart and putting it back together is sometimes enough to sort the problem. See how it goes.

I wouldn't recomend increasing the voltages as that will increase heat generated and reduce component life.

 

Well, yes, but he did it in a special oven at a perfect 385 degrees, not sure where I saw that, but you would have to take the MB out. Ill look for the link, I might have it.

 

http://laptopsall.com/hp-motherboard-reflow-laptop-baking

If you google: hp laptop motherboard bake, you will get alot of links, but I don't know if its an issue with your particular board, you would need to do more research if the symptoms are the same.

 

So I've reattached every single component one by one [while bread boarding - bare bones outside of the case], and haven't experienced any freezes/reboots again. I'm actually on the computer right now!!!

I don't know what the heck could have caused any of this. All I know is I'm switching the Power switch with the identical one I have that came with the case. & well... I'm going to place everything back in the case and hope it still works. Because if it doesn't than I guess that means somethings wrong with the motherboard. Because it all works fine laid out bare bones on my wooden board.

Any tips, comments, or suggestions are welcome.

 

its not the switch. the switch simply shorts the two pins on the mb that you shorted with a screw driver.

sometimes computers do this when they have been around for a long while. I have heard of baking system components before. Essentially you get a dry joint on a component on a board (ie the solder joint has broken) you would have to go through every resistor and capacitor to find the broken joint. By baking the board in an oven you basically melt all the joints and re set them.

Problem is, if you melt every joint on the board it is quite conceivable that they wont all set properly. I suspect that success rate of this process is pretty slim and personally wouldnt recomend it. I am willing to put money that if you had to you could get a replacement of ebay.

As far as you problem goes I would put money that you had either a short on your motherboard or one of your cables had a dodgey joint which has been rectified by taking it apart and putting it back together. I have seen this several times.

If your system is now working I would leave it well alone until you have other problems.

 

On that video you only bake for like 40 seconds at 380

 

That is about the same temperature as a soldering iron and you dont need to leave a soldering iron on a joint for 40 sec to melt it.

The whole point of the baking process is that it melts ALL the solder joints on the board then when it cools they set back again. It saves you the hastle of checking every component/joint on the board. Trouble is you have no control and the moulten solder could drop off the board from a previously good joint thus rendering it useless.

Whilst I accept that this process could fix things it could also do more damage and I wouldn't recomend it unless as a last resort and your board is dead. I also dont know how well the plastic for the CPU mounting would hold up in that heat. Might be OK but personally I wouldnt chance it.

 

One thing I didnt mention earlier is that in the past I have made an insulating board out of card that I sat under the motherboard in the case. This was cut from a cerial box and had holes cut to allow the retaining screws to go poke through.

It helps prevent anything on the bottom of the motherboard shorting out on the motherboard tray.

 

I like your cereal box idea but is it safe? And how long would that last? Surely it isn't a permanent solution right?

Btw I'm putting my system back together and should know good or bad news in just a few hours.

 

Well I've got the computer carefully assembled back together nicely in it's case. Hooray no more bread boarding! & I'm using it right now... No reboots, no freezes... I'm good. Everything is connected as it was when there were no issues [ie: usb external drives, mouse, monitor(s), headphones, every case fan, etc]. What the heck could have been the problem? My pc was extremely clean... I mean maybe a bit of dust but like a 1mm film over certain parts nothing drastic. I actually used "Contact Cleaner" on a soft cloth using a credit card to push it down in the pci, agp, and ram slots. Just for some extra clean, also used that to clean the add on card connectors for some extra shine. Even cleaned the ram contacts with it too. Dropped some fresh oil in the cpu fan bearing, cleaned out all of my fans, installed the brand new spare identical power switch front that came with the case, etc. I really don't know what went wrong when my freezes/reboots started happening. Seems like I'm a happy camper now!


Thanks Guys...


Though what the heck went wrong?


I can't lie though there was a small bit of dust film on one of the memory modules contacts. Though that could have just been dust outside of the memory slot that got on the module when I took it out to clean. It was a thin layer but substantial. You know like to the point where dust starts curling into little balls, or braids of hair type looking sinister things. Very small though, and I can't think how it would make it's way into the memory slot. I know I cleaned that before ages ago. The dust was in the slot too but that could have also been due to it falling off the module when I took it out to clean. I can't think of how dust could gather inside the slot with the module sitting on it. Just thought I'd point that out. All the other slots were clean, with the exception of my agp card that seemed to have the same issue.

 

So I've been running my pc on and off for a few days and no freezes or reboots. Until this morning when I booted up it past the bios screen, and just before loading windows [XP LOGO w/progress bar], it rebooted. I promptly did a hard power off holding the NEW power button, and waited a while. Turned it on again and now all's fine since morning time, which was hours ago... Hmmm...