Various Recurring Problems

[latches]

My computer is being weird.

Problem 1:

At random times when turning on or waking up the computer from sleep my monitor remains in sleep mode. The power light just blinks. To remedy the problem I usually have to unplug the DVI cable from my videocard and bam the monitor and desktop appear.

I just replaced the cable TODAY and it happened again. So I dont think that is the problem. The monitor itself isnt showing any signs of problems either and the GPU is running at normal temps with great performance in games.

Whats going on?

Problem 2:

In addition to the monitor problem today I also had a problem getting to my desktop after logging in - this problem also happens at random. I boot up fine, get to the log in screen and then after logging in the screen goes black and I only see my cursor.

To remedy THAT situation I do Ctrl-Alt-Del and end the explorer.exe process. After ending that process I run it again using the New Task command. After starting the process that way the desktop comes RIGHT up in no time flat.

Whats going on?

I really appreciate the help! Let me know! Thanks.

Edit: Computer Specs and Some Software Details:

CPU: Core i5 2500k @ 4.1GHz
RAM: 8GB GSkill 1600
GPU: EVGA GTX 570 Classified
OS: Windows 7 Ultimate
HDrive: WD 640GB 7200RPM
PSU: XFX 550W
Antivirus: Avast!

 

[denis280]

try another monitor

 

[Puppies04]

Problem 1.

Make sure your mobo is set to PCI-E in the bios under graphics (not "PCI-E/IGPU" or anything else)

Problem 2.

Short of reinstalling windows I can't really help here, although maybe you could check what services are under "startup" in MSCONFIG and try disabling a few to see if the problem goes away.

 

[latches]

Alright, I disabled a few services and it did get faster and didnt go to a black screen but today it did it again. With no cursor this time even. I was able to Crtl-Atl-Del and start up explorer.exe but I dont understand what the problem is. SMH. I think the monitor is fine. I adjusted some power settings and it hasnt done it but who knows. It IS random. The settings were fine in BIOs.

 

[Big Roger]

Check event viewer and see if anything shows up as errors or warnings.
Uninstall software that you don't need. So many computers just fill up with rubbish that isn't used and can cause issues.
Disable MSCONFIG items as mentioned and any non microsoft services and see if the problem still occurs. It may be that you need to set these services/startup items back to default so you may need to troubleshoot.

You can also try running sfc /scannow in an admin cmd prompt and verify your files.

Install all your hardware drivers after uninstalling them or using a 'clean install' option like nvidia offers with their GPU drivers. Run ccleaner and clear out any junk but maybe utilise the conservative settings mentioned here:
http://savedtidbits.blogspot.co.uk/2008/11/ccleaner.html

Make sure your memory is performing properly with a windows diagnostic check or use memtest86+.

Make sure all your devices are firmly seated on the motherboard.

Save all your data and as a last resort, reinstall windows...

 

[latches]

Thanks Big Roger, Ive made a few changes to both "services" and have tested both the memory and HDD only to find no problems - mind you Ive tested multiple times on different occasions. I have also done sfc /scannow - each time it happens actually. It never finds anything. Thats why all of this confuses me. I ALSO run CCleaner on the regular - though I appreciate those added tips. I went through and made all those changes. My computer is custom so there isnt any software on there that I dont know about. I keep things pretty clean and manage the HDD as best I can. I just updated the video drivers today as well. Hopefully things will settle for a while.

 

[Big Roger]

Good luck mate. Report back with any event viewer issues...

 

[latches]

Here is what my Event Viewer says:

I have no idea what it means.

 

[Big Roger]

Well I'm not overly sure what these could pertain to, however, the LoadPerf event ID 3012 could be a sign of something and it's happening fairly often. Click on this particular event and see what it says and google for more information.
http://www.eventid.net/display-eventid-3012-source-LoadPerf-eventno-1160-phase-1.htm

The 'I don't have grey hairs yet' link on that page also details resetting performance counters. This might be of help, I've no idea.

I can't help much more than that, there may a whole load of things going wrong that are unrelated but theres no way of telling unless you go through each of the events and maybe find some info.
The necessity to reset performance counters may indicate faulty hardware/software or possibly malware, according to that link, so it's worth looking into.

On CCleaner, I find using those settings are a little less intrusive as I've let CCLeaner do its thing in the past and I'm sure it's caused issues that otherwise shouldn't be there, if allowing it to clean only a conservative amount of crap.

Googled the brother brlog issue and this came up:
http://www.overclockers.com/forums/showthread.php?t=641604

Don't think it's too significant, really.

 

[Puppies04]

I ALSO run CCleaner on the regular

Wouldn't be the first time I have seen CC cleaner fudge up a pc and I doubt it will be the last.

 

[Big Roger]

I know, I've gone by that tidbits guide for a while and haven't had problems. When I used to use CCLeaner and get paranoid about how it found so much stuff and I'd say to myself 'wow, that's great, delete delete delete',...

Well, it was unnecessary to do so and really in the long run I know for sure that problems I ran into were because of my over zealous use of it.

I see many 'guides' out there just say whack all the tick boxes on. I think that's bad advice.