Ack! Computer meltdown!

[mipadi]

This is loosely related to the other post I made in storage last night.

Well, I took my computer apart and reconnected all the internal components--and the computer seemed to work again at first. It not only went into standby, but it also turned down all the fans, as well as the hard drive and CPU (it used to not turn down the fans).

Everything seemed to work at first, but then one time when, while testing, I brought it out of standby, the computer came out of standby, but the monitor did not. Then it spontaneously restarted. When I tried to log in, the computer froze, and when I restarted, XP ran CHKDISK. CHKDISK fixed some errors, but then when I finally logged in, Windows said it had recovered from a serious error that had something to do with a device driver. The computer then worked for a while but eventually froze again, which rarely happens.

I guess it's an issue with a driver? But I just reformatted, and I installed the exact same drivers (from the CD's) that I had installed before, so what gives? Should I be installing in some order, like all my Windows updates first, then all my drivers, or vice-versa? Should I reformat, reinstall, and start all over again?

Also, I don't have the second hard drive installed anymore--I took that out, for now.

[neb1211]

When you install windows, the first thing you should do is install drivers and then worry about windows updates.  You might also want to check the manufacturers' sites and make sure there aren't any updated drivers that you should download and install instead of your old ones.

[mipadi]

I did install the drivers first. Hrm.

Shouldn't it still work though? I never got updates before, and the computer is about the same as it was prior to the meltdown over the weekend.

[neb1211]

That depends.  It could possibly be a conflict with one of the windows updates that a newer version of the driver would fix.  There are also many other variables that can come into play as well such as newly installed software, changed settings, etc.

Another possiblity is that it could be a hardware problem.  Something may not properly be connected or something could have been damaged when you were disassembling/reassembling your computer.  I would go through and make sure everything is properly connected and that none of the cables are loose.

How old is the windows install on that computer?  It is possible that a few windows files are corrupted.  Before reinstalling windows backup any data.  When asked what partition you want to install windows on delete the windows partition (and if possible any other partitions if they don't have any info you want to keep).  Then recreate the partition(s) and choose the "Format with NTFS" option.  Do not use the quick option.  Basically by doing this you are elimitinating the possiblity of the partition tables and what not being messed up by a virus of some sort.  The full format option will take more time but it will also check for bad sectors on your hard drive and mark them as bad so windows is not trying to use those sectors.

[mipadi]

Well, when I reinstalled Windows on Sunday night, I did a full format. So the install is new, and the hard drive has been fully formatted.

I'm going to check over the motherboard for damaged parts. Hope everything is okay.    

[tomalakborg]

Yes, check your motherboard for puffed capacitors and such. If the problem persists, you may want to discover if it really is a hardware or software error. If this is a problem with device/driver you will be fine running a live os. Give that a go.

In a problem a had one time, my audigy sound card would crash the computer on hotplug. I found this the hard way, but unplugging things device by device. I figured it was overheating and moved it down a few bays from my graphics card. Works now. So, try to determine if it's windows, check your hardware, and then eliminate things one by one.

-Bill