random shut down

collegeguy · 12-21-2008, 10:00 PM

Hey everyone,

This is my first post so be kind, haha. I am building my parents a pc out of some parts I had laying around. Ill post a full build spec when I am near the tower (at their house).

This is my current dilemma, I boot the system and it gets right up to where the XP setup is asking me where I would like to install. When I select the C: drive (already partitioned w/ info since its an old HD) the PC shuts down. I have removed all the ram but one stick and its done the same thing. Then I switched to the other stick, same thing. So unless both sticks are bad I have ruled out the RAM.

I just switched the power supply to a mad dog 430W supply that was running my linux box just fine. So I am pretty sure that isn't the culprit.

I have had the PC running Ubuntu off of a live disk for over an hour without a problem. So an overheating CPU seems to be out of the question.

This brings me to the conclusion that the hard drive is the problem. I just need to know if this is the most likely before I go out and pick up a new drive.

I appreciate your thoughts

Thanks,
Bryan

**grimx133** · 12-21-2008, 10:05 PM

Since it's an older hard drive, a low level format might be just the ticket, specially when there is an old OS present on the drive. Run killdisk on it, make sure it's the only drive hooked up, should be anyway, since you're trying to install an OS. It does take some time to run. Download the free version and create a bootable cd.
www.killdisk.com

collegeguy · 12-23-2008, 06:54 PM

Thank you, I will try this tonight

12-21-2008, 10:00 PM	#1 (permalink)
collegeguy Registered User Join Date: Dec 2008 Posts: 2 OS: XP	random shut down Hey everyone, This is my first post so be kind, haha. I am building my parents a pc out of some parts I had laying around. Ill post a full build spec when I am near the tower (at their house). This is my current dilemma, I boot the system and it gets right up to where the XP setup is asking me where I would like to install. When I select the C: drive (already partitioned w/ info since its an old HD) the PC shuts down. I have removed all the ram but one stick and its done the same thing. Then I switched to the other stick, same thing. So unless both sticks are bad I have ruled out the RAM. I just switched the power supply to a mad dog 430W supply that was running my linux box just fine. So I am pretty sure that isn't the culprit. I have had the PC running Ubuntu off of a live disk for over an hour without a problem. So an overheating CPU seems to be out of the question. This brings me to the conclusion that the hard drive is the problem. I just need to know if this is the most likely before I go out and pick up a new drive. I appreciate your thoughts Thanks, Bryan

12-21-2008, 10:05 PM	#2 (permalink)
grimx133 Mentor Hardware Team Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: Canada eh Posts: 3,144 OS: xp mce sp2, xp pro sp2, windows 7 beta My System	Re: random shut down Since it's an older hard drive, a low level format might be just the ticket, specially when there is an old OS present on the drive. Run killdisk on it, make sure it's the only drive hooked up, should be anyway, since you're trying to install an OS. It does take some time to run. Download the free version and create a bootable cd. www.killdisk.com __________________

12-23-2008, 06:54 PM	#3 (permalink)
collegeguy Registered User Join Date: Dec 2008 Posts: 2 OS: XP	Re: random shut down Thank you, I will try this tonight