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Multiple boot failures


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#1
DennConn

DennConn

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System: Dell 8400/ Pentium 4 3.6 GHz/Windows XP Pro/2GB Dual Channel DDR2/2 Dell 20 Inch Monitors/ Nvidia GeForce 6800 GTO Geaphics/2 300GIG drives:

Problem:
Have to boot 4 to 5 times to get it to boot up
first three boots yield a blank screen, no boot at all
on third or 4 th try i get dual monitors booted up but both have desktop and in very low res ( Not a good boot)
On 4th or 5th try I finally get both monitors booting up with desktop icons on one monitor and other working as second screen, however the resolution is at max res, works but not a perfect boot.
On final try i get a good boot thee way it is supposed to boot.

On each boot try I have to do a complete power up and then turn on the computer. Thus when i shut down on early boots i have to turn off power strip to computer and re power up from start.

On failed boots or bad boots i usually don't get lights on the internal drives or get a couple cd dvd lights on and no light on the external dvd. When i get lights on all internal and external drives i usually get a boot, whether it is good or bad it boots up in some format.

I had a suggestion it might be a bad Cap not sure what that means. however i did get a few errors in last month of high temp.

Any suggestions?

Denny
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#2
MichWasHere

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I would ask the person that suggested a bad cap what they meant. They could mean bad capicitator. Unfortunately that means a bad motherboard or power supply as capicitators are built into the circuit boards.

What is that machine running for a power supply anyways? That would be the first thing I would check after looking for loose connections.
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#3
123Runner

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I would suspect a power supply with out any more info, but here is a link to what bad caps are.

BADCAPS.COM
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#4
DennConn

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I am not sure of the power supply. It is the one that came with it. I havn't changed anything inside the box except for adding a second hard drive...,

I also checked the bad cap web site and opened the box and did a check on the circuit board, and none of the capacitors looked like the pictures of the bad cap's. i did have a suggestion to replace the battery on the board, that is a cheap item.

I have had a few times when the fan went wild and sounded like a jet engine for a bit. Also had a couple of warnings of high temp, but they went away and were a couple of months ago.

can i get a power supply that matches this one, not sure how to tell what to do or how to replace it.

I have replaced the two hard drives and have cracked tha box open to dust it out. So am not totally ignorant. just half way.

Will check for the type of power supply and maby try to replace it if i can.

I appreciate any suggestions and ideas anyone might have. This is driving me crazy...and i am trying to do my taxes on turbo tax, maby that is the problem....lol

Denny
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