yournamehere

Last night I went to turn my computer off. As usual, there was a dark screen (but with a mouse arrow visible, which was unusual). I jiggled the mouse as I always do to get the computer out of hibernation, but nothing happened. Ctrl-Alt-Del didn't work - I finally had to turn it off by holding the power button for 7 seconds.

I decided to turn it on again to make sure everything was alright. It booted up fine, but just as the last few icons started to appear on my desktop, the system rebooted. This happened a few times until I decided to start it in Safe Mode. It wouldn't work - a bunch of lines scrolled, and every time it stopped after listing a app40.sys file (or something close to that).

Then I decided to try "Last Known Good Configuration." It ran a CHDSK and stopped at 25% of the index (Step 2). I kept trying combinations of Safe Mode and Last Known Good Configuration; finally the LKGC booted up, completed the CHDSK, but rebooted as soon as the desktop was starting to appear. On my final attempt, I successfully started in Safe Mode, but as soon as I started to do a scan with Malwarebyte's Anti-malware, it rebooted again. At that point, I thought it might be a temperature problem, and called it a night.

I should probably add that earlier in the night, I had received a few warnings from Norton that several attempts to attack my computer were blocked, while visiting what were previously safe sites.

The last thing I did earlier in the night was try to find a stream of Flash Forward - I didn't start recording it until 7 minutes in, and hoped I could watch the first 7 minutes online (no success). Lots of sites wanted me to "take surveys" or install a video player - I did none of those.

I'm running XP Home on a 6-year old Gateway P4. I suppose I'm lucky to have gone this long without any problems.

As I'm writing this (on another computer), it seems to have booted okay using Last Known Good Configuration - it found and repaired lots of files, but I got a window pop up later that says one is still missing (A URL, though ?) I just deleted a lot of, err, videos to make more free HD space - it was getting quite full. That shouldn't be a problem now - it's almost 40% free space. Also, it asked if I wanted to report the problems, and I clicked "yes." I got a web page pop up from Microsoft saying "the report was corrupted, which is very rare, and usually indicates a serious problem with your computer."

Right now, I'm running a Malware scan (it's running excruciatingly slow - an hour now and only 70,000 objects scanned), and when that's finished, I'll run a full Norton scan, followed by an Adware scan. So far, nothing has shown up, but it hasn't gotten to the Windows folder yet. I have a feeling I'll have to re-install Windows, but when I tried that earlier this morning, it asked me for my Administrator password, of which I have not a clue. It gave me three tries and that's it - then it said "To reboot, press Enter." Plus - even if I can do a re-install, aren't I going to have to reset all my network and e-mail configurations?

Anyone with some helpful information out there? I'm no expert - far from it - but I think it's either malware or corrupt Windows files.

On the plus side, the computer has been running for over an hour now without rebooting, so it's an improvement from last night.

I'll edit this in a few hours if there's any news on the scans.

Thanks in advance for any advice.

.

__________________
If you want to avoid 95% of internet spelling errors:
"If your ridiculous pants are too loose, you're definitely going to lose them. Tell your two loser friends over there that they're going to lose theirs, too."
It won't hurt your fashion sense, either.

Cynthetiq

I would start with the powersupply. I suspect that is the culprit right away...

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Lasereth

The probable cause is a bad power supply. And the system rebooting so many times without being properly shut down probably led to the corrupt files. Of course it could be anything but that'd be my guess.

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Shauk

reinstall windows ;p

yes you'd have to reconfigure the net/email stuff, but it's so easy now it practically does it for you with all the mail programs out there.

I hate nickel and diming solutions with my computer anymore, it's the whole reason I use a 2 or 3 hard drive setup. programs and content go on non primary drives.

windows and temp content go on primary drive.

though yeah 320gb is a lot of room for temp content but it's stuff that I know I have disks for or aren't things that I'd care about if I lost it.

Fact is, it's faster for me to install windows, firefox, noscript addon, adblock plus addon, update my video drivers, and do the automatic updates. than it is for me to google a solution for a random performance issue at times.


TBH I haven't had to reinstall windows 7 except for the swtich from beta to retail.

I don't generally point the finger at hardware until it becomes a persistent issue beyond the reinstall.

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2nd alternative anecdote:
had a neighbor with this issue. Checked the bios for cpu temps, was running at 170. took the fan off, cleaned it, dropped the temp by like 10 degrees, but still too hot, pulled the heatsink off, completely dried up. So I told him to order a 3$ tube of thermal paste and try that.

Got his temps down to reasonable levels.

still was doing the reboot thing, got a new stick of ram and it worked.

fucking e-machines.

yournamehere

Wow - thanks, guys - I'm impressed. Went out to walk the dogs for 1/2 hour and came back to 3 replies already.

Power supply sounds like something I could handle.

As for the fan - I did have to replace it right after we bought the computer. Gateway was real nice about the warranty; trouble is, thanks to UPS, the new fan arrived in about a hundred pieces. After running into a brick wall later with Gateway ("Our records show we already sent you a replacement . . "), I took it to a local computer shop and the jerk there jury-rigged a fan that "almost fit" onto it. Ever since, I've had to leave the top partially open or it overheats. I'm constantly blowing dust off everything due to its exposure. So that's gonna be the first fix I try - nowadays, it's much easier to order parts. I'll order another power supply, too - it probably wouldn't hurt to get more power anyway - it's only 180 watts.

I'll also keep scanning today - Malwarebytes is still at it after 2 hours with only 113,000 objects scanned (I figure it's about half-done); then I'll see what Norton AV says.

Thanks for the couple of clues - I appreciate it.

Oh - and the RAM is only a year old.

In the meantime, I'll transfer all my important files to an external drive and plug it into this machine (I hope it has USB 2.0)

Thanks again for the input.

EDIT LATER:
Malwarebyte, Norton, and Adaware scans all came up negative. Since my unemployed status dictates I spend my money in small doses, I think I'll order a power supply first, then another heat sink / fan. So far everything seems to work okay - it's been running seven hours now - but I'll sure be nervous the next time I start up Windows.

Also - because of the mini-case I have, it looks like I'm stuck ordering the same 180 watt P.S. $60 from the "We're the guys who supply all the outdated Gateway parts" store.

__________________
If you want to avoid 95% of internet spelling errors:
"If your ridiculous pants are too loose, you're definitely going to lose them. Tell your two loser friends over there that they're going to lose theirs, too."
It won't hurt your fashion sense, either.