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General discussion

system crashes and reboots to easy mode?

Nov 24, 2004 7:05AM PST

help! after being on for various, indeterminate amounts of time, my computer freezes. it then will eventually reboot itself and then only be able to boot into easy mode--attempts to start up in regular mode are met with a screen freeze. what i do after this is let it boot in safe mode and run scandisk for a few hours. i can then reboot in regular mode, but i'm not sure if the scandisk is doing the trick or if my computer would be fine by itself after a number of hours.

i have no idea if this is software or hardware related. i am running 98SE. any suggestions on what to do or where to start? i've run Norton and it discovered/diagnosed nothing. thanks.

Discussion is locked

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Re: system crashes and reboots to easy mode?
Nov 24, 2004 1:15PM PST

Hi,
It sounds like you have deffective hardware.
You will need to test everyone to see which one it is.

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Re: system crashes and reboots to easy mode?
Nov 24, 2004 1:17PM PST

thanks for the reply!

is there a program or something you are aware of that i can use to check this?

thanks.

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Re: need to test everyone
Nov 24, 2004 3:27PM PST

I'm ready to be tested, but I'm not easy mode.

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Re: system crashes
Nov 24, 2004 8:38PM PST

use the search box at top of forum page to search: "system crashes","PC crashes", "computer freeze", "PC freeze". It takes a lot of time to run through many of the results but you will ad to your knowledge base. Some good responders here get tired of the same old questions and repeating answers.
Top Reasons for Occasional Freezes, No Reboot in Normal Mode:
1. Heat buildup, mobo shutdown.
Open up PC and look at processor heatsink/fan for dirt buildup-blockage; also vents on power supply; also case fan and case vents.
2. Hard drive shutdown.
Control Panel>power management. Check time set for inactivity before Hdd is powered down. Some PC's don't like this and will not power back up. Reset time for longer or none.
3. Too many things starting at startup.
start>run>msconfig>startup. Send this forum the list of items starting with Windows. We'll respond about what can be turned off and what may be spy related.
4. Bad application.
You need to note what you are running that may make this happen. Some apps will start to use up too much resource (ram). Some have become corrupted and need to be uninstalled, re-installed.
5. Hard drive problem.
at the bootup menu choose command prompt only:
C:/> scandisk/autofix/surface and look at the surface map for bad sectors.
hard drive needs defragged badly.
6. Virus, malware, pest interferring.
Get cleaners and clean.
7. Hardware problems.
Sound card, video card, modem, others. Usually a bad device will not allow boot at any time but there are some that act up after you are on for awhile. More info needed from you.

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Re: system crashes
Nov 24, 2004 11:31PM PST

thanks for the info. i'll give all of your recommendations a try.

now if only i can stay awake after all that turkey today...

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Re: system crashes
Nov 29, 2004 9:08PM PST

thanks to those who responded. i touched the exhaust area of my power supply and found it hotter than usual. i prodded the fan there and it seems much weaker than the fans on my other 'puters. i popped the cover and left it off to disappate the heat. my computer has been on for the last four days with no problem whatsoever (cover is off). i'll do some more investigating on that power supply fan.

thanks again.