Please help diagnose my startup problem so I can turn my computer off

[Daroo]

Please help me diagnose the problem with my computer:

Abit KT7-raid
Duron 600
Geforce 2 GTS pro
300W power supply came with case
Win XP Pro

I'm having difficulty starting up my computer. What I mean is that when turning it on cold, it would freeze

at various stages (most often the little filling bars under the xp screen). I tried the usual maintainence

stuff like defrag, check disk, cracking the case and make sure no connection loose etc... But the problem

would not go away. I've been getting by with rebooting it and hoping eventually it'll boot thru to windows.

The funny thing is that once started, the system is rock steady. I did this for about 2-3 weeks until

yesterday I tried staring it up and the lights come on but it wouldn't POST. The lights come on, the fans

are spinning but the monitor doesn't turn up. Opened up the case, reconnected everything but still no go

for 10-15 mins. Then next thing I know when I push power button, it started up as usual. Now I'm afraid to turn my computer off, it might not turn on the next time 🙂

All you gurus outthere please point me in the right direction... is it a problem with

1) motherboard
2) processor
3) memory
4) power supply
5) hard drive

Thanks in advance.

BTW

It's funny that I actually have another computer that have similar problem with startups. Except that one

refuse to post when I first turn on (video is blank), but proceeds as normal once I hit the reset button.

That's how I've been turning on my 2nd computer for about a year now. Power follow by reset.

 

[EKAtBzboyz]

maybe its just a cold boot problem
like "cold" solder doesnt conduct too well so its causing a malfunction?

either that or maybe hd is dying...like randomly stops working during cold boots

only way to figure out for sure is to start swapping with parts you know work (like change psu first, ram, cpu, hd, motherboard)

 

[Buzzman151]

just so we're on the same page..... you mean the blue status bar on the XP load page kinda pauses every so often? How long does it usually take to boot?

 

[Smilin]

Same problem on my old box. I'm pretty sure I pinned it down to a marginally underpowered power supply. It's pretty easy to test. Pull power on any non-essential devices. Go to one stick of memory, disconnect CD rom's, floppy's etc. Get it down to just what you need to start windows. Reboot a few times if it comes up every time this is your problem.

Another thing that sometimes helps to get you by: Power the box up, let the hdd's and fans spun up then cycle power again real quick while they are going...there is a nasty power drain trying to get those motors going.