[zapka]

Hi. I have been trying to fix a problem that wont seem to go away. Usually when I turn my PC on, I end up with nothing but a black blank screen with a blinking cursor. I can get into the BIOS and past the stage where the PC detects the drives installed. But after that, I am not able to boot anything.

However, there are times when everything goes by smoothly. Windows XP loads, like the problem has vanished. This happens only when I have kept the PC turned off a long time. I have to let it stay off for a couple hours before it runs again - meaning I usually cannot restart.

I'm thinking maybe theres something wrong with the hardware thats causing this. Maybe a loose wire or something with the power. I am wondering if anyone has exprienced this. Can anyone help me? Any ideas or suggestions? Any help would be great. Thanks.

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I had a similar problem before, but my PC was also freezing during high loads, so I changed the heat sink and fan and now works just fine, I am not sure if you have the same problem, but since it works after you keep it off for a period of time it could be a heat problem.

[HQZ]

I had a similar problem before, but my PC was also freezing during high loads, so I changed the heat sink and fan and now works just fine, I am not sure if you have the same problem, but since it works after you keep it off for a period of time it could be a heat problem.

[zapka]

I was thinking the same thing. Did you get the black screen as well?

Anyway Id appreciate hearing from other people. I really need all the help I can get.

[zapka]

Update: I tried changing the CPU fan and heatsink... Nothing changed.

Can the hard disk be overheating? Is it even a heat problem?

[HQZ]

I guess it is possible, but not very common issue I never had a HDD overheat, how about the video card and also can you give some more info about your system.

[zapka]

My system has 4 hard disks installed on it. Its got a 1.7 GHz Athlon, with 768 MB of RAM, 32 MB GeForce2. Its a pretty old system, but only now am I encountering this problem. The problem started after I got a new motherboard.

Maybe theres something wrong with the power cables. Could loose or faulty cables do this?

Ive tried replacing the CPU heatsink and fan, and also replacing the motherboard battery. Im out of ideas.

[HQZ]

I really don't think is the cables, I don't see any difference if you let the cable sit for an hour or so, if it is a faulty cable it just won't work no matter how long it sits without power. And since you rulled out the CPU, I guess it will be the HDD or VGA, or maybe something wrong with the mobo. Have you tried to boot from a different HDD?

[zapka]

No, I havent tried that. To be honest, I really dont think its a heat problem. My system has been cleaned recently, and overheating has never really been a problem. In fact, my PC is in a very cool environment.

I have had a problem with the connections before, though. I had to open up the casing and push around the cables to make sure they were connected properly. Sometimes, I had to hold them in place to make it run. If I let go, it wouldnt start. Had things replaced eventually.... Could my problem now be similar to this?

[HQZ]

Since you had a problem with the cables before that try to move the cables around (especially these connected to the HDD that boots the system) and see if you can boot up that way, and if it does then some of the cables may need to be replaced, also see if you can boot from a different HDD that way you can rule out problems with the hard drive. And if neither of there works, I gets complicated

[zapka]

Okay, I will try those. But what if I every time I turn the PC on, and it gets to that screen where you can enter the BIOS from (the screen that says Detecting drives), I can clearly see that my main hard disk is detected. Does that mean I can rule out a hard disk problem?

It is complicated, I know. I am confused as well.

[HQZ]

No not really because it is possible to detect the HDD but if the sector where the startup file is bad windows won't start. So I would still try using a different HDD to see if you can get windows started

[zapka]

I see. Well then I'll swap out the hard disks tomorrow. Need some rest now.

Anyway, could it be an electrical thing? Might explain why it runs perfectly if left off for a while - electricity discharging or something...

[HQZ]

I am not very good with the electrical think, but hey who know it could be. Try using different power cable to power the HDD