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Turk Inner circle Portland, OR 3546 Posts |
I recently have discovered a problem with one of my computers.
I leave all of my computers turned on 24/7 but recently I had to shut down one of my computer. When I turned the computer back on (i.e., a cold boot and not just a "restart"), the computer stuck on the opening screen that first appears when the monitor comes on (i.e., the black screen that shows the basic information on the computer chip, the motherboard, the bios, hard drive size(?) and other computer info, etc.) This is the screen the shows up and asks "boot from CD" etc.) In addition to freezing on this screen, the hard drive activity light stay "on". The computer will not respond to any key commands (like trying to get into the computer Bios Setup menu, or F8 for trying to get into SAFE mode.) I shut down my computer, disconnected the power cord and then got inside the computer and disconnedted the hard drive. I reconnected the power cord and turned on the computer and it "unfroze" and went through the normal boot up process until, of course, it could not fine any Operating System. I shut down the computer, disconnected the power cord and re-instaled the hard drive, re-conected the power cord, turned on the computer and--I was back in business. (Note, when I first re-plugged in the power cord and turned on the computer, I thought I heard a slight sound coming from the hard drive; a sound indicating that the hard drive was being "accessed". I cna't explain it nay better than that.) Last night, I again tried a cold boot and the computer again froze as described above. I went to bed and left the computer off all night long. Thinking hard about it this morning (and suspecting that the problem did not involve the hard drive), I realized that the only other procedure modification I had done in the past was to unplug the power cord from the computer. So, I unplugged the power cord again. Ten seconds later I plugged the power cord back in and turned on the computer and,--it booted up perfectly!! So, it appears that some sort of "residual" power stays in the computer (while it is turned off but still plugged in) and that is causing the problem and that "something" is not resetting (cpu? Something in memory?) so long as the computer has any electrical power in its system whatsoever. Any idea what is causing this problem. I suppose I can continue to just unplug the compuet and then replug it back in. How long that would "work" is anybody's guess. I'm just wondering if the cpu or motherboard is going out. Or...? Any info (either public posts or PMs.) in these regards would be greatly appreciated. Mike
Magic is a vanishing Art.
This must not be Kansas anymore, Toto. Eschew obfuscation. |
MagicSanta Inner circle Northern Nevada 5841 Posts |
You know Mike, I'm having a similar problem. I keep having to unplug and plug in the computer until it decides the power is going to stay on more than a few seconds. I get a black screen then a quick blue one with text but it is too fast to read. It took over an hour to get it going so I leave the dang thing on now.
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Doug Higley 1942 - 2022 7152 Posts |
The only thing I can think of besides a pesky BUG (there are those that will do that stuff) is when I had this problem a couple of years ago I ADDED a small fan in the back. Cleaned out the vents etc. and it hasn't done it since.
Higley's Giant Flea Pocket Zibit
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Bill Veteran user and Pretty Nice Guy 373 Posts |
I had a very similar problem. It turned out to be a failing power supply. Sometimes it worked sometimes it didn't. I don't know why yours would work by plugging and unplugging, but you might want to check the Power Supply.
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Doug Higley 1942 - 2022 7152 Posts |
Or the chord or connection hardware.
Higley's Giant Flea Pocket Zibit
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Turk Inner circle Portland, OR 3546 Posts |
Thanks for all the suggestions, guys.
I just got off the phone with Seagate. They advised me to download and run their hard drive diagnostic program. "If the hard drive passes, the problem is NOT the hard drive." I'll try this next. Seagate also suggested that the problem might be a virus that infects the boot sector and prevents the computer from booting up. (Maybe, by unplugging the power cord the residual memory required to keep the virus "active" for boot up shenanigans is removed?) I ran my virus program's "Scan Computer" and discovered a virus (Trojan Generic 1595811) and I removed it from the system. A Google search describes this virus as a malware virus. After I run the Seagete utility, I'll report back and update the situation. Come to think of it, the last time I had this problem and finally got the computer running (after the unplug "solution"), I ran the "Scan Computer" virus scan and, again, a virus was discovered. (Can't remember it's name.) Perhaps this problem is being caused by an insidious boot sector virus that stays "alive" so long as the machine is plugged in and the cpu and motherboard is receiving even the small "residual" charge. Hmmm, weird. As Pete Biro says, "Stay tooned".
Magic is a vanishing Art.
This must not be Kansas anymore, Toto. Eschew obfuscation. |
Turk Inner circle Portland, OR 3546 Posts |
Well, the hard drive checked out perfectly and the malwar virus was removed. Now,...if I only had the guts to turn off the computer and see if the darn thing will cold boot. I think I'm gonna leave the computer on for a while, transferall my precious Word docs, .pdf files and video files onto an external hard drive and THEN shut the computer completely off and see if it'll cold boot.
Thanks for all the suggestions, guys. They were all helpful and were certainly things to think about or to try. Mike
Magic is a vanishing Art.
This must not be Kansas anymore, Toto. Eschew obfuscation. |
MagicSanta Inner circle Northern Nevada 5841 Posts |
I'd be right there with ya not turning the dang thing off!
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Doug Higley 1942 - 2022 7152 Posts |
Be AWARE! That virus could STILL be there in the RESTORE points.
You MUST make sure your computer is clean and then create a new RESTORE point and get rid of ALL the old ones. Or down the road you'll inadvertantly reload the 'THING'. Manytimes your anti iraus will show a bug by scanning the restore points. Also remember when cleaning some of these bugs they will REPLICATE themselves when hit by the anti virus...so there is a new one waiting for the boot.
Higley's Giant Flea Pocket Zibit
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