Strange Computer Problem

Hi all,
i have recently been having some problems with my computer starting up.
i am running a dual boot of XP and Vista.

a week or so back they both spontaneously stopped booting up correctly.
they both get as far as the windows splash screen, and then just turn off (black out).
the first thing i assumed was a driver problem, so i disconected my audio interface (external soundcard).
this worked.
the next time a booted up my computer it didnt work and i tried disconecting some more usb devices, again this worked.
however since then i have been experiencing the same odd behaviour, where each day the computer refuses to start into either operating system but also each day me needing to disconnect different usb devices to get it to do so.
once it is booted i can reconnect all the devices and the computer works perfectly.

furthermore i tryed to run some Live CDs (Gparted AND ubuntu) and exactly the same thing happened, the operating system started loading and then just switched off at the splash screen (or equivilant).

(that was a edited version of a letter i wrote to my manufacturer, yes i know, lazy)





Warning lazy boring confusing stuff just below:

since then the damn thing has stopped booting altogether,
so i stripped it down and put it on the floor with a vga monitor, mouse and keyboard.
started it up, and it worked.
so i start adding stuff back in.
starting with my midi keyboard, this worked fine and i shut it back down to add in my audio interface.
which worked also.
just to be sure i rebooted again with the same setup (as i have had suspicions the interface may be to blame).
the computer just shuts of on the splash screen as i have seen already.
so i take the interface out and try to boot up again, the system shuts of on splash screen.
i take out my midi keyboard and it does it again.

infact i strip it down until only my keyboard is in.
then it boots.
of course i cant do much with this setup, so i log on, and oplug the mouse in, this works.
then i plug my audio interface in, which causes the whole system to bsod complaining about e22drv.sys which is the interfaces driver.
i boot up with just the keyboard again and this time i plug in the audio interface first.
this works fine.
then i plug my mouse in and i get the same bsod again.

after that the system isnt booting atall even with just the keyboard plugged in.
so today i unplugged the keyboard and booted it, and this worked, but thats not any good to me atall; and obviously to have all these issues with usb devices something is very odd with my hardware (i have tried unpluggin the hard drive before using a linux live cd, and i get the same switch off).


:end of boring confusing stuff




i know that may all look very confusing, it is to me aswell.
i have ruled out ram and hard drive issues, and the problem seems to be centred around usb devices, however i have tried both the front and back usb ports and have the same problems, which i dont understand because they are connected to different parts of the motherboard, as one is only attached by cables so it is an addon i assume.
windows drivers are definitely not the big problem.
and the graphics card wont have any play i doubt.

i have just managed to get it started with nothing connected and then plugged in my mouse keyboard and external hard drive to perform a backup (thank god), just incase any repairs go horribly wrong, (and i will be reformating the hard drive afterwards anyway as i was already intending too).

my problem is, i dont know what needs to be repaired.
it has been suggested that the motherboard is to blame, as there is a fault in the usb hub, but why would that affect both hubs unless its a software glitch?
and why would i be getting such erratic behaviour unless its a hardware glitch?

 

Welcome to Major Geeks.

Go to device Manager and check for yellow flags to do with your USB hub.

 

hi,
thanks, this is a great forum, cant believ i havent signed up before.

the only flags in device manager are for the microsoft isaatap thing under networking.
which has always been like that and after googling it is apparently a common and harmless problem.

 

theres no chance iv run out of power.
iv got a 550watt supply and it is only powering an athlon x2 6000+
a geforce 8600gt
2gb of ddr2 ram
and 7 usb ports.
and thats the most power hungry stuff.

besides as i have already said, iv tried unplugging everything (besides a monitor) and it will still shut of on startup. and the graphics card isnt causing any issues.
thanks anyway though.


one of the guys at pc world said i should try reflashing my bios and then consider a new motherboard otherwise.
problem is my mootherboards manufacturer needs me to use a floppy disk to flash the bios, and although i have a usb floppy reader, i have no floppys.

also using bootable cd's and digisticks hasnt worked for me.