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Faloma · 01-27-2008, 08:07 PM

I wasn't sure whether to post this in the RAM/PSU section or here, well you can see what I decided.

(Not my PC just helping out someone and in a bind)
Anyways, It was an old PC with a lot of crap on it. They said they were installing or modifying AOL. Then after that when they restarted it it would boot up then just shut off on them. Thinking it might be a HDD problem, lot of addware and such and its an old PC probably never reformatted before in its life, I said I could reformat it for them.

Now when i start the PC the first time it gets to the windows xp login screen then shuts off on me. My second attempt i decided to try and start it up in safe mode. Just before it was able to boot in safe mode it shut off on me again. Still thinking it was just a HDD problem i decided just to set up the boot order in the Bios and reformat. Shortly after i change teh boot order so boot form CD first then to the HDD it shut of on me again.

Now I am worried it isn't a HDD problem. When i restart it for the 4th time and every time after that all that happens is there is power for about a fraction of a second. Just about enough to spin the fans for 3 secs before it shuts down but its almost like in a sleep mode. I have to hold in the power button to turn it off (but in all essence it is already off before i have to hold the power button down for the 5 secs) before I can try to turn it back on again.

Its not my PC so i cant give exacts off the top of my head but the PC is an old DELL. It has onboard Video, one 256 stick of RAM and the HDD is a 80-100GB's. I guess i should also say that I have checked to make sure all the components are not loose or such taking out and putting them back (Everything but the CPU) and same stuff still happens

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

01-27-2008, 08:07 PM	#1 (permalink)
Faloma Registered User Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: Wisconsin Posts: 22 OS: XP Pro and Vista Ultimate	Old Dell not booting up. I wasn't sure whether to post this in the RAM/PSU section or here, well you can see what I decided. (Not my PC just helping out someone and in a bind) Anyways, It was an old PC with a lot of crap on it. They said they were installing or modifying AOL. Then after that when they restarted it it would boot up then just shut off on them. Thinking it might be a HDD problem, lot of addware and such and its an old PC probably never reformatted before in its life, I said I could reformat it for them. Now when i start the PC the first time it gets to the windows xp login screen then shuts off on me. My second attempt i decided to try and start it up in safe mode. Just before it was able to boot in safe mode it shut off on me again. Still thinking it was just a HDD problem i decided just to set up the boot order in the Bios and reformat. Shortly after i change teh boot order so boot form CD first then to the HDD it shut of on me again. Now I am worried it isn't a HDD problem. When i restart it for the 4th time and every time after that all that happens is there is power for about a fraction of a second. Just about enough to spin the fans for 3 secs before it shuts down but its almost like in a sleep mode. I have to hold in the power button to turn it off (but in all essence it is already off before i have to hold the power button down for the 5 secs) before I can try to turn it back on again. Its not my PC so i cant give exacts off the top of my head but the PC is an old DELL. It has onboard Video, one 256 stick of RAM and the HDD is a 80-100GB's. I guess i should also say that I have checked to make sure all the components are not loose or such taking out and putting them back (Everything but the CPU) and same stuff still happens Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.