Need Help troubleshooting a PC problem

[thecoffeeguy]

So, not sure what happened.
Computer was working great yesterday and last night.

Woke up this morning, turned on my PC, heard it POST, started scanning the IDE devices and it took FOREVER to finish booting. Eventually, Windows XP SP 3 loaded up, but must have been a good 4 minutes to get into the OS (guessing here).

In the process of troubleshooting, but one thing I think I heard was some grinding of some sort on the CD-ROM/DVD-ROM. Not sure, but sure did sound like something was going on there.

Anyway, I can get the PC to boot into windows, just takes forever.

AT this point, I am assuming the CPU, memory, GPU and Hard drive are ok. I fired up Dragon Age: Origins and was able to play fine. Sound works as well.

Looking through event viewer -> system, i see to Red Errors:

MCSTRM service failed to start
X4HSX32 service failed to start

Also, CD-ROM does not apear under my computer.

I then powered down the PC, unplugged the CDROM from the board and power to make sure it was fully disconnected. Booted the PC and still does the same thing (this is with CDROM fully disconnected at the board).

So know, not sure where the problem could be.
CDROM plugged in = slow boot times, does not show up under MyComputer
CDROM not plugged in = slow boot times

Anyone have any ideas of what could be going on?
Memory issue?
Motherboard issue?

Little lost at this point and all help is greatly appreciated.

Thanks

TCG

 

[Malak]

MCSTRM service failed to start
X4HSX32 service failed to start

Services failing to start can slow down windows loading up.

The first service appears to be related to Real player. Is it installed?

The second service appears to be related to any game on demand services, like Gametap. Do you have any of these installed?

 

[thecoffeeguy]

Services failing to start can slow down windows loading up.

The first service appears to be related to Real player. Is it installed?

The second service appears to be related to any game on demand services, like Gametap. Do you have any of these installed?

Hello.
Thanks for the help.

I actually uninstalled Real Player because I googled that message and it said it was related to Real Player.

Dont have gametap, just steam, which loads a lot later.

As I am going through this, I was trying to think of a better way to explain what is going on on the booting process. Hopefully, this sheds some more light.

PC Boots on
PC POSTS
It spools through the memory fine. Starts detecting IDE drives. This point here, it seems noticeably slower than in past times. Usually, it would zip right through it and move onto the OS booting. After it gets through here, next screen shows like all the hardware devices for a bit, then moves on.

THis is where it gets weird.
Right before it gets into XP loading screen, its a blank screen for like 60-90 seconds. Just sits there, almost like its hanging. Eventually, it starts to boot into the OS.

I was trying to think if there is a way to gather additional log information, see where it is hanging.

Was also trying to think of what is going on just before the OS loads.

HOpefully, that helps shed some info.

THanks,

TCG

One other thing to: Definitely seems like my CDROM is dead now. Plugged in it does not show up.
Could something have died on the board perhaps?

 

[thecoffeeguy]

Ok....

Still poking around with this and came across something interesting.

So, trying to rule stuff out and test stuff, I tried a few things;

moved memory to different slots and machine didn't like that for some reason (seemed much more difficult than it should be to put the memory....moved the memory back.)

What was interesting is I tried a new ribbon cable for the DVD/CDROM at the same time I tried the memory thing and guess what...the PC booted up normally.

Another thing that totally stood out to me is that during booting up process, this time while it was detecting IDE drives, I saw the CDROM display, where as before, it was not displaying.

Very odd.

Could it be that the ribbon cable was bad?
Maybe the mobo is in need of being replaced?
System is about 3 years old...need to upgrade some pices, like the mobo.

Thanks.

 

[thecoffeeguy]

great....rebooted and now its doing it again...
sigh

so what should I replace?
motherboard?

 

[Paperlantern]

My first thought would be your hard drive is failing. When you are booting the computer and its in that hanging state between the post screens and the XP splash screen, do you hear the HDD making any sounds? If you do, does the sound its making seem to be repeating over and over and over as if its trying to read but it cant? If it does... your HDD is probably toast (or at least failing and the part that IS failing has the very first parts of windows on it, once it finllay DOES read those files, it will load semi normally, also why you were probably able to play your game, the files for the game were not on a part of the disk thats failing).

Beyond that, my guess would be a possible issue with the IDE channel... which would mean mobo. But i have a feeling its probably hard drive related.

 

[Malak]

THis is where it gets weird.
Right before it gets into XP loading screen, its a blank screen for like 60-90 seconds. Just sits there, almost like its hanging. Eventually, it starts to boot into the OS.

Right here is when those services failing to start could be hanging up windows. I would go into your services and remove the one for real player. The other one I'm not sure, it might be related to Steam. It seems to be a generic service used for various kinds of on demand gaming. Could be related to yahoo gaming, amazon gaming, etc. Do you possibly have, or have had in the past, anything like that? Either way, your services are probably what's causing the slow windows load.

The issue with the CD-ROM is probably a secondary issue, unrelated.

 

[thecoffeeguy]

My first thought would be your hard drive is failing. When you are booting the computer and its in that hanging state between the post screens and the XP splash screen, do you hear the HDD making any sounds? If you do, does the sound its making seem to be repeating over and over and over as if its trying to read but it cant? If it does... your HDD is probably toast (or at least failing and the part that IS failing has the very first parts of windows on it, once it finllay DOES read those files, it will load semi normally, also why you were probably able to play your game, the files for the game were not on a part of the disk thats failing).

I dont hear the HD spinning or making any sounds at that point.
As I think about this, I have noticed in the pass while gaming, when changing a map or something, I hear a little high pitched whine, which seems to be coming from the HD. I could pop another HD in, see what that does.

Beyond that, my guess would be a possible issue with the IDE channel... which would mean mobo. But i have a feeling its probably hard drive related.

Wondering about that, because my CD-ROM didn't pop up again. Popped up earlier, but didn't the next time. Something must be going bad.

In the end, probably need a new mobo and HD.

 

[thecoffeeguy]

Right here is when those services failing to start could be hanging up windows. I would go into your services and remove the one for real player. The other one I'm not sure, it might be related to Steam. It seems to be a generic service used for various kinds of on demand gaming. Could be related to yahoo gaming, amazon gaming, etc. Do you possibly have, or have had in the past, anything like that? Either way, your services are probably what's causing the slow windows load.

The issue with the CD-ROM is probably a secondary issue, unrelated.

Im going to grab a second drive, pop it in and install an OS on it.

However, I am also thinking the IDE channel on my CD-ROM is going bad or something.

The reason I think this is that after the POST, and the PC starts to go through the hardware devices, seems to get stuck looking for the CDROM. And, has not been appearing on the screen like it normally should.

Starting to think i have HD and MOBO issue.

Anyone have a recommendation for a mobo?

Currently have a Gigabyte GA-965P with 4gigs of DDR2-800 memory.

Would like Quad core support, support for my current speed ram and faster RAM.

Do not need anything super fancy like wireless.

Dont need onboard VGA either.

thx