I have a challengeing problem and need help.

[DeadMilkman]

I'm having a nasty problem and nasty luck limiting it down. I would love any suggestions.

Problem: Two weeks ago, on cold boots the machine locks up right after the ram check finishes (ok) but before it lists out the data rate (166) and IDE chains. A quick restart yeilds a successful boot.

However, it has now begun to effect the primary boot harddrive in that the C:\windows\system32\config\system file is getting damaged. I've had to restore it on two different occasions now from a backup.

What's really agrivating is most every component around that point seems to check out ok.
Ram checks run ok, HardDrive checks run ok (no bad blocks/sectors, occasional cleanup/filedmg due to the lockups like the file mentioned above, but it appears ok..) No crashes whatsoever after I get past that one problem area.

 

[gsaldivar]

Please post detailed hardware specs. Try swapping out your power supply for a known-good unit. Remove all PCI cards, and I/O devices, see if the problem persists. Slowly add these devices back into your system, one at a time, checking with multiple reboots each time to see if the problem persists. Check your Event Viewer log for any signs of hardware/software malfunction. You might try replacing your motherboard battery. Post your results back to this thread. :beer:😀

 

[DeadMilkman]

That's the fun part, I can't test like that...it'll take months.

I litterally have this problem once a day. Very cold boots only as in hours in between.

Edit: HW
EpoX 8RDA+ mother with a Athalon XP 1700 mildly overclocked to 1.5GHZ
Ram running stably at 166/333
512MB 2700 DDR Crucial Memory (checks out ok)
WD HD 1 (30) 2 (60) (checks out ok)
Tosh DVD drive
Nvidia 4200 128MB vid
2 case fans not including PS(front back)
PS: Server grade 350W, don't remember the manufactor offhand designed to be run 24/7.
Edit2: Fortron Power Supply

 

[gsaldivar]

Then make one of the above-recommended changes daily? Assuming you encounter the problem once-daily, it shouldn't take more than a few days get at the root of the problem.

Unfortunately, much of troubleshooting is trial-and-error - short of the "shotgun approach" of replacing components en masse whether or not they are known to be faulty, there isn't much that can be done to solve the problem immediately without a methodical strategy to finding the cause of the problem. Good luck! :beer:😀

 

[DeadMilkman]

Thanks for the advice gsaldivar.

Oh well I was ever so hoping for anything but that
(yet I probably knew that is my only option)

(spare parts = taken from secondary 100% working computer...my finace's....I see my future "Honey I need to take apart your computer to fix mine..."
*and so the fight begins....the curse of the geekgirlfriend*

 

[gsaldivar]

Also disable an option in the BIOS and/or Device Manager called "Write Caching" on your hard drives. This will have a small negative impact on performance, but may help prevent the file corruption you're experiencing until you can nail the problem down.