PC trouble

[Kinag]

Lately I've been having some problems with my computer, it automatically turns off.

I hear a beeping sound and it shuts down, now I know it's not a temperature issue cause it's steady at 40 degrees but I have a feeling it might be my PSU as it's close to 4 years old and it's not the very best (350W Q-Tec which came with my Tower).

Anyone know if this is something I can fix cause it seems to interupt ALL games and suddenly turns off in the middle of it.

It has also happened while browsing the internet

 

[Tualatin]

To be sure it's not your PSU, you'll need a PC health program or something similiar. Google for stuff like that, think motherboard monitor is a nice one. The power lines need to be stable.
http://mbm.livewiredev.com/

Most likely you could have gotten a virus too, get AVG Free, and scan your pc.
http://free.grisoft.com/softw/70free/setup/avg71free_392a744.exe


If it turns out the be a PSU problem, there's no other option then to buy a new one. Visit some tech sites with reviews about some. Get a brand A 350W one, pretty normal price and very good. Difference between brand A and brand X is, if "A" says it's 350W, it can constantly supply that, with higher peaks. And the unkown cheap brand "x" will say 450W (for same money), it can only peak for several seconds @ 450W, but can only supply 350W (just an example) steady. Also, brand A's tend to be more quiet then the cheap ones, and last longer.

 

[Kinag]

I got Norton Anti Virus, it didn't find anything.

And I got the health program which followed my computer..

Can show you a picture of how it was earlier.

EDIT: Pay no attention to the two fans that is said to be off, as I have made sure countless of times that they are working correctly.

 

[Kinag]

I also checked the event viewer on my machine and I found some weird things.

One is a warning that's noted in the event viewer every time my computer reboots, other is a WARNING message which seems to be noted ALOT.

The Disk warning:

An error was detected on device \Device\Harddisk0\D during a paging operation.

For more information, see Help and Support Center at http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/events.asp.

The ERROR:

The device, \Device\Scsi\nvidesm1, did not respond within the timeout period.

For more information, see Help and Support Center at http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/events.asp.


Here's another picture:

 

[Kinag]

http://www.komplett.co.uk/k/ki.asp?sku=308625

Ordered that PSU now, hope it's ok.

 

[Tualatin]

never heard of that brand, but im not UK, so maybe the "vauxhall - opel" thingy,

anyway.. It seems aslike it's a HD problem? (not sure tho) If you can tell me 2 things quick:

how many Harddisks have you got (physical, not C:\ D:\) and what brands they are.. There are programs by the manufacturor which can make a quick HD diagnostic and tell you if there's any problem.


also, those given voltages etc.. need to be stable and not far off.. Which they don't seem to be.

 

[Kinag]

They are both Seagate Baracuda.

Different sizes though.

 

[Tualatin]

Download and run this program (i think):
http://www.seagate.com/support/npf/seatools/seatoold.exe
- it's for diagnostics.

and this is another:
http://www.pcworld.com/downloads/file_download/0,fid,22945,fileidx,1,00.asp

 

[Kinag]

The Seatoold.exe doesn't work for me cause I need to use a floppy disk to create a boot sequence. Thing is, I don't have a floppy drive ;p

The HDD program from PCworld showed no problems with any of the drives.

 

[Jeremiah]

I'm really sorry if some of these suggestions sounds noobish but bear with me

If you run scan disk, does it complete ok? Sounds like either theres some file corruption, or perhaps even some bad sectors.

Also, when you reboot after a failure, does the windows error reporting tell you anything useful? (Apologies if this is the same as displayed in the event manager )

 

[Kinag]

Haven't run scandisk, as I only know how to do that from DOS only ran scandisc back when windows 3.11 was on top

 

[Jeremiah]

My Computer -> Right Click on drive -> Properties -> Tools -> Error Checking.

I think thats the XP equivalent - I think its the same thing that scans the disc if windows isnt shut down properly, if you know what I mean

Alternativley, you can boot to the recovery console and run "chkdsk /r".

 

[Coolan]

kinag it might be worth poping into your local pcworld store and asking them if they can make you a bootable cd with the seagate programs seatools on it,
if they got different versions best one imo is version 3. If they can't help just let me know via this or pm.

 

[Ballard]

Under XP from the dos prompt you can run 'chkdsk'

 

[Gahn]

Under Xp u can open My Computer, right click on the hd/volume u want to check -> Properties -> Tools and u'll find both Scandisk (which actually force u to reboot cause it works only under "dos" environment) and Defrag.
That Scsi device fault is weirdo tbh, ofc it's something to deal with only if u got Scsi HDs .
Anyway in that healthy Sw there's a warning value (imo) Vio is at the very lowest value possible to be health, if u hear a beep and pc resets i reckon that 95% is a psu problem anyway.

 

[ceixava]

pretty clearly a HD problem

http://www.almico.com/speedfan.php

download and install that, theres a HD tab where you can see your hd's stats, and theres a button that analyzes it and tells you something about the hd's verbally

generally uncorrected read/write errors are bad, especially write errors

 

[Kinag]

Well, yesterday the computer just turned itself off.

There used to be a red light coming from my motherboard which is pretty much a signal that it is getting power, but after the computer shut down, the light just went away.

Now my computer won't even turn on, so I really doubt it's a HD problem ;p

Can't check it now anyway, waiting to get my new PSU which I ordered on Sunday, it should be here either toninght or tomorrow.

Seems to me like this is a PSU problem and not a HD problem anyway.

Writing at a friends house atm ;p

 

[Kinag]

Got myself a new PSU, and everything is working correctly, except ONE thing

I checked MBM5 just now and the only problem it can find is that the -5V is showing 3,60V.

My friend says it's serious, but how come I have no problems logging onto windows or when I'm in windows?

Anyone know how I can fix this?

 

[Cylian]

voltage on those lines depend on your PSU, so a fix would be getting a replacement.
Though, grab a voltmeter and double check what MBM5 reports, or try another tool like EVEREST Home Edition.

What's your new PSU called? Brand etc.

 

[Ballard]

I checked MBM5 just now and the only problem it can find is that the -5V is showing 3,60V.

Your computer would not work if that really was happening

If your computer does appear to be operating normally then it is likely a cable is not plugged in right or some part (probably PSU) is faulty or the program is reporting incorrectly.

If your bios supports checking the voltage rails, go in there and check what it is reporting for each rail.

If your not confident with a voltmeter then grab a friends PSU and plug that it so see if you still get the same results. as yours, if you do then its probably another part thats reporting incorrectly.

 

[Kinag]

In the BIOS it shows 0.00V.. on the MBM5 it shows 3,60, on the Hardware doctor that followed my Motherboard it shows 3,60V.


The brand is Fotron/Source (FSP) and it's quite a good brand.

The place I bought it from said it is either faulty, or my software reports wrong values.. he said it's most likely the last one.

 

[Ballard]

In the BIOS it shows 0.00V.. on the MBM5 it shows 3,60, on the Hardware doctor that followed my Motherboard it shows 3,60V.


The brand is Fotron/Source (FSP) and it's quite a good brand.

The place I bought it from said it is either faulty, or my software reports wrong values.. he said it's most likely the last one.

Check the plug that goes from your PSU to your mobo, try taking it out and putting it back in again, double check that it is correctly slotting in.

 

[Kinag]

done that multiple times.

 

[Kinag]

Nevermind, it's working correctly.

The problem was that there was a pin missing, and that was the -5V pin

In the new PSU's the -5V pins is removed cause they used to cause trouble.

My motherboard is quite old so it is expecting it to be there, but it's no problems at all connected to the missing pin.

So now it's working correctly ^^