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I have and old Frankenstein PC. Been a tank for me for a long time (cant stop it). It started hanging at the win load screen. I was able to restart it a few times and it would go. It started to get worse. It took more than an hour on a regular basis to get it to go, so I formatted. Now the instant that the win load screen starts, it hangs. I haven't even been able to complete the initial setup of the new install; so no safe mode. The event log was clean prior to format and I have changed the hard drive, cable and checked the ram; no improvement. Here is the breaker, I have to fix this with a budget of $0.00.
Help me! Ive been frustrated with this thing for over 100 hours of web and scans.
I need this thing going.
Help!
Try booting to a live Linux disk to see if the issue is hardware or software. Sounds like hardware.
Describe what happened when it was taking a long time to boot.
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I used Slax. It will go to the initial Slax thank you (load) screen then, nothing. Output ceases to my display. The output device and display have been tested.
When it was taking a long time to boot, It was freezing on the windows load screen. I was hard rebooting it a few dozen times before it would finally get to the login screen.
What next?
Thank you for promptly responding.
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Do you have a spare PSU to try? More load on the PSU when the rest of the hardware comes online.
When you say the output device has been tested, do you mean you tried the video card in another rig?
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By output, i do mean video cards. I have tried them in other rigs. The comp im using now, ive been using to swap parts to test.
Also, when running solely on a cd, i.e. windows install or iso diagnostic discs, i have no troubles. everything runs fine.
I am pulling the power supply now.
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No change. I had a new PSU around by luck. No change, Slax or hard disk.
Thank you again for the prompt reply.
wow, i sure butchered the subject of this thread.
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Well, try pulling the system down to minimal hardware and go from there. No extra add in cards, 1 stick RAM, no additional drives connected other than the boot drive. No external hardware other than KB 7 mouse. Disable non essential integrated hardware in the BIOS. Run a drive fitness test from the manufacturer. Run memtest86 on the RAM.
Have you checked system temps at boot up?
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System down to minimal hardware. No add in cards. No additional drives connected other than the boot drive. Keyboard and mouse only. Disabled non essential integrated hardware in the BIOS.
Have already run HD manufacture software. No warnitngs, no errors, no bad sectors. Its clean. I even swapped out HD and tested with known working drive. No change.
Swapped out ram to 512 working stick.
No change.
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"I even swapped out HD and tested with known working drive."
Did you install a fresh copy of Windows on the working drive when you swapped it? You can't install a hard drive into a computer from another system that already has Windows XP on it and expect it to boot when the system you took the drive out of has different chipsets, etc.
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Did you try a different IDE cable? They can go bad and cause problems.
WinSimple Software
CompTIA A+ Certified
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Check the motherboard for bulging or leaking capacitors:
http://www.badcaps.net/images/caps/...
WinSimple Software
CompTIA A+ Certified
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They dont look awesome. Some show some bulge. I have been trying to ignore this as they have been that way a long time and i have, in great detail, examined them in comparison to photos I took during an upgrade last year. They are unchanged, but still some distortion.
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That might be your problem. I can't think of what else it would be since you've disconnected all drives and cards, replaced the PS and hard drive, and swapped the RAM. The processor rarely ever fails unless it's a slot 1 type. Everything is eliminated except the motherboard.
WinSimple Software
CompTIA A+ Certified
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endless safe mode loop
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