bootup prob's

[time served]

hi all, had my pc for just over 1 1/2 years now and it has developed bootup prob's namely failing to boot, if i keep trying to boot it does eventually work heres a list of the components of the system;

Diabolic Custom Case Blue - 500W
Int/Ext USB2.0 11in1 Card Reader Bk
AMD Athlon64 3700 San Diego Retail Socket 939
HP 840i 16xDVDRW±DL LightScribe
XFX GEFORCE 6600GT PCI-E 128MB DDR3
250GB Maxtor 6V250F0 SATA2 16MB
3½\" Black Floppy Drive
Logitech Cordless Desktop Black
Corsair 512MB XMS3200 Pro DDR CMX512-3200C2PRO
Abit AN8 Fatal1ty SLi 5.1 AUDIO, 1 x FIREWIRE, DDR400, 2 x PCI-E X1, 2 x PCI-E X16, 4 x SATA, 4 x USB2.0
Netgear WG311T Wireless PCI Adapter 108Mbps
19\" Digimate L-1918 TFT

i have changed the fan on the graphics card has this had got noisey but this has not cured the problem.

i do have a post indicator on this mobo and have checked the code it stops at this just tells me that it has depowered correctly??

any ideas?

[Hosser]

Does it fail to POST or just fail to boot? I take it you mean the former.

Try removing all unnecessary components, using other graphics cards, memory, power supplies if you have them.

[cleggypdc]

if you can get into the BIOS check your voltages.

[Lynx]

I would replace the psu as a matter of safety, even if its working properly. My pc wasnt that reliable till i switched to a branded psu.

[Cheule]

I take it you are using the stock PSU that came with the case - as others have said, in a system like that you will need a stable PSU - forget the fact it's a 500W unit, what's the voltage regulation like? How many amps can it deliver on it's 12V lines smoothly?

These sort of blips can knock out many a computer, unfortunately the PSU is often the most overlooked part of any system. If a computer were human, the PSU would be your heart. You wouldn't want to fit yourself a dud now would you?

[time served]

[quote:1807526038=\"Hosser\"]Does it fail to POST or just fail to boot? I take it you mean the former.

Try removing all unnecessary components, using other graphics cards, memory, power supplies if you have them.[/quote:1807526038]

How can i tell the difference, sorry for being so dumb but this is the only system i've ever built

[Lynx]

Well if it shows bios screen its posting, if it shows nothing its failing to boot.

[time served]

[quote:5d100ac64b=\"Lynx\"]Well if it shows bios screen its posting, if it shows nothing its failing to boot.[/quote:5d100ac64b]

with respect to the above it's failing to boot!! :D

[time served]

it does eventually boot and post this could take up to 15 tries be fore it succeeds, hope this gives you guy's a little more info and thanks in advance..

[M4T VW]

When it does boot have a look in the event viewer in admin tools for any system errors :)

[time served]

[quote:1a060eb02f=\"M4T VW\"]When it does boot have a look in the event viewer in admin tools for any system errors :)[/quote:1a060eb02f]

I've had a look but the real question would be is what am i supposed to be looking for in the systems errors log??

[M4T VW]

Well...Errors!

There should be no errors in there or any with a red cross anyway.

[Aaron]

If the computer runs normally when you actually do manage to get into windows, then I would be surprised if there was anything in the event viewer, as it only shows problems that occur when windows is loading/has loaded. If its not even getting to that point, then it may not have picked anything up - although its definitely still worth checking!

:)

[bouncyb]

What i would do is strip your computer to the basics, motherboard, cpu, memory, gfx card, boot hdd and 1 stick of memory and see how that goes.

[time served]

[quote:bd2daf18d0=\"bouncyb\"]What i would do is strip your computer to the basics, motherboard, cpu, memory, gfx card, boot hdd and 1 stick of memory and see how that goes.[/quote:bd2daf18d0]

ok i will try this, but their is one point that i have fogotten to mention previously, thats once the system is warmed up you can depower and reboot first time to windows log on screen with out any probs, could it be a dry joint on atx psu?

[Lynx]

I would guess that maybe the hard drive either has a dodgy cable or its taking too long to spin up so wont boot sometimes. A very wild guess i know.

[bouncyb]

thats why ive recommended stripping down to bare basics and then eliminating each thing systematically.