[JohnPants]

My rig has been doing some really silly stuff lately. Whenever I turn it on it doesn't recognize my CD drive, so I have to restart it. Then it requires the system disc for some reason. It starts up Windows Setup and I tell it to repair. I tell it to repair the OS on C and then it does nothing. To actually get the thing to boot up relatively properly I have to cancel this repair as soon as I tell it to do start. The computer then restarts again and boots up windows.
I have to do this every time I boot up.

Now this wouldn't be such a problem if my rig didn't also spontaneously turn off at random (and usually crucial) moments.

So can you guys help me out?

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No one can help?
There has to be some weird way to fix this problem.

[JohnPants]

No one can help?
There has to be some weird way to fix this problem.

[jrm20]

No one can help?
There has to be some weird way to fix this problem.

The spontaneous turn off issue Could be a power supply problem. The harddrive and mobo etc might not be getting enough clean power to run properly. Mobo is a possibility but not very at this point.

Sounds like it might be a couple things but don't worry. Have you had any viruses lately etc?

Might be a corrupted windows install missing files etc or from a virus. If I had more info I could pinpoint the problem more. Sorry if I couldn't be 100% sure as I am troubleshooting as it can be many many different things here.

You might need to do a complete reformat and reinstall windows but don't do it yet.

How big is your power supply and what is your pc specs? Do you have a lot of hardware installed in your pc?

Tell us more info and we will get back.

[JohnPants]

I haven't had any viruses lately. I had considered the possibility of a power supply problem too.

My PSU is 400W.
AMD Athlon 64 X2 Dual Core 5400+
3.5GB RAM (2 1gb sticks and a 2gb)
NVIDIA GeForce 8600 GT
WD 80GB HDD
System usually runs at ~40 degrees.

Thanks for your help in advance.

[jrm20]

I haven't had any viruses lately. I had considered the possibility of a power supply problem too.

My PSU is 400W.
AMD Athlon 64 X2 Dual Core 5400+
3.5GB RAM (2 1gb sticks and a 2gb)
NVIDIA GeForce 8600 GT
WD 80GB HDD
System usually runs at ~40 degrees.

Thanks for your help in advance.

What brand and model is the psu? Open the side case and look for a sticker on the side of the psu it will list the model / brand.

If its a cheapie brand psu I highly recommend upgrading it anyway as it can kick the bucket at any given time especially if its the kind that came with a cheap case for free. 400W is fine for your setup but not if its a cheap unit. A lot of the cheap units specify 400w but they actually put out more like 250-300W if that of unclean power.

[JohnPants]

It's a Coolmax CX-400B

[jrm20]

It's a Coolmax CX-400B

Id recommend getting a new power supply as those are not that great of a brand. That particular model has issues of not lasting long and or DOA (dead on arrival).


I'm positive a new GOOD Quality power supply will fix the Random shut down ISSUES for sure. About the windows setup coming up every time it could be that all of your drives and the mobo itself was not getting enough clean power or not. Those other issues together are weird and throwing me off some.

IMO I would get a new high quality TRUE power supply in the 450W+ range or so. Just don't go for a cheapie.

Start on a Power supply first and go from there. It will fix what I said but on some of the others it might not.

[JohnPants]

Alright, thanks for your help.
What would be a good brand of power supply to get?