this one has me totally confused.... the memory module went down last month during a recovery so I changed the memory but had to take it to the shop as it only has oem xp and no disc.... they installed the basic drivers and service pack 3 it offered a choice of operating systems to boot (both xp home) of which, I removed one choice(but this problem occured prior and after). it has 2 users... user and owner not relevant I'm sure but anyway... if I shu down and restart all is fine, but if I install anything and have to restart, it always freezes after a few seconds into the reboot and if I press the reset it still freezes unless I turn off and back on... it's mildly annoying meaning every install is followed by a complete shutdown and start up. Just curious as to why ?

I'm sure you've heard this before (it's all over google) but one of my drive constantly opens on start up and refuses to stay shut. it also opens at random intervals.... the pc has had a new drive installed... same problem... the hard drive wiped and new operating system installed... same problem.. most odd.. I just unplugged the power lead from the back now and do not use it... initially I thought it must be a virus but unless it wrote itself to the bios I cannot see how it survived a format and new operating system...

that's just the poltergeist! call Ghostbusters!

no just kidding, i get this too sometimes and i know it's a common annoyance. could be a faulty connection somewhere? i'm not sure what causes it, not even Google is very helpful apart from some people reporting the problem just goes away. maybe it will for you.

or...upgrade the firmware and see if that does the trick.

i'll mark this thread [Open] so one of the techs or our experienced users can come and help you out!

Hello and welcome back to PCHelpForum.

We have a great Tech Team who will help you with your issue do not worry.

I have marked your thread as "Open" in readyness for the team.

Could you open command prompt and type in the box chkdsk /r and hit enter and post the results.

Then type in sfc /scannow and hit enter.

Could you run these for me also:

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

http://www.memtest.org/

When was the last time you installed new drivers for your hardware and when did you last update your BIOS?

Could you open the computer while powered off and clean all fans.



JB.

Hey Guys,

@ Gravy, my welcome to PCHF as well. I really think that we want the techs to be working on both of your issues at the same time, they may be related. Consequently, I am going to merge your threads so that all of the techs and users who are helping have all of the information in one place.

Have you opened up the case and checked all of the connections to make sure none were loose?

Also, one other point, it seems that you might want to contact the PC manufacturer, and request a physical restore CD, they may charge you a fee, but it is usually marginal.

What did the shop use to reload your OS? That may become important as we troubleshoot.

Looking forward to your reply,

TTFN

LGW

Hi gravey, welcome to PCHF.

It could be a faulty drive (I know this is your second one). Faulty cable, or as you said this could be a software or malware issue as you suspected. It will very easy to pinpoint any of these three categories. The first step is to connect the power cable back to your CD-ROM drive, and disconnect the ribbon cable instead. If you still have the problem, then it will be a drive issue.

The only different between a shut down, and a restart, is that when you restart your PC the memory is not cleared. So anything that resides in memory after you restart may cause an issue. Memtest as Jelly Bean suggested is certainly a good start.

EDIT: Marked as Answered.