windows xp problems?

[mikef80]

hi,

i have a packard bell imedia computer which is a few years old now. when i first got it, everything worked fine. now however, problems have started to creep in.

the biggest problem i'm left with is that my computer doesn't reboot. if i turn it off, wait ten seconds and then turn it on, it works fine. however, if i just select restart from the start menu, it shuts down, goes to reboot, then just freezes half way through and sits on a black screen. i honestly don't know whether this is a hardware problem or a problem with the o/s or some thing.

any ideas as to why this is happening would be gratefully received!!!

cheers,

mike

[Gecko]

Go to Start > Control panel > Administrative tools > Event viewer > look in the system section.
You are looking for any red or yellow icons, double click on the icon.
Click inside the 'Description' section then highlight the text and copy and paste it into notepad.
At the bottom of the event window check 'words' and then copy and paste that text also
Then past it all of it into this thread.

If you don't show any errors in the event viewer then:
Go to Start > Control Panel > System > Advanced tab > Startup and Recovery section
Settings button > System Failure section > check the box 'Write an event to the system log'
Then recreate this error and it will show in the Event Viewer.

[mikef80]

this is the last "red" entry in the system log. i tried to reboot the computer, it failed, i turned the power off then waited 10 secs as i always do, turned it back on and this is the latest error log in the system bit.

Description:

The Icatch(IV) Video Camera Device service failed to start due to the following error:
The service cannot be started, either because it is disabled or because it has no enabled devices associated with it.

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

there was nothinng written in the bottom box where you get the choice of bytes or words.

cheers,

mike

[Gecko]

Well the Icatch(IV) device error would not halt windows form loading.

When do you get the "black screen" in the boot process?
Do you see the bios loading or is it just black from the time windows shuts down and tries to restart?

[mikef80]

ok, i have recreated the error, and here's what i get.

i went to the turn off computer option on the start menu, and clicked restart.

the computer appears to shut down ok, then restarts. it goes through the BIOS screen and gets to the "Please select the operating system to start" screen. i select the normal start-up, which it woould do automatically after the selection time has run out.

than it just goes to a black screen. when booting up normally from when the computer is turned off, this is where it normally displays the windows xp flash, with the moving status bar underneath. however, it does not display this if i restart, it just sits at a black screen and does nothing.

i then have to power off altogether, wait for 5-10 seconds and then power on again. if i turn it back on straight away, then it does the black screen thing.

i initially thought it might be an overheating thing, but even if i do this first thing in the morning, when the computer's been off all night, the result is the same. i have checked the event log again and there is nothing in there abnormal.

i have no idea why this started happening and i can't really remember when either!!

cheers,

mike

[Gecko]

This sounds like a hardware problem to me most likely a daughter board like a network card, sound card, video card but it could be the motherboard.

Here is what I think is happening:
Almost all chips are nothing more that a bunch of on/off switches (binary 0 or 1)
By design the default position for these switches is off when there is no power to the chip.
Most chips also have an onboard self test that must pass before the chip will allow the device to be powered up.
When you restart, one of these switches is not being shut off because the micro circuit that controls it is broken so it remains on.
When the chip runs it's onboard self test it fails because that one switch is not closed.
The device fails to power up and the system boot process is halted to prevent damage.
But when you power down the system for more than 10 seconds all electricity leaves the chip and the switch closes.
When you power it back up the self test now passes and the device is powered up and the system is allowed to boot.

Now trying to find the device that has the chip problem is pretty much trial and error.