I'm trying to fix my sister's computer and have tried many things. Not sure what is going on. This is what I've tried so far along with the problem she was originally having.
Problem she reported to me
She said when the computer would go to sleep (after the screen saver was on for a while) and she would try to "wake it up" by moving the mouse or pressing a key on the keyboard she would never see anything on the screen...just a black screen. Then she would hear clicking. Her only option would be to force the computer to shut down by holding the power button down for a few seconds. If she would power it back on after this, it would display a BSOD. Not sure what the code was. She would then power it down again and power it back on and usually it would boot to Windows. Once up and running in Windows XP however it would be incredibly slow. She also reported that she would hear a very loud clicking sometimes and would just have to force it off.
Things I tried
1) I updated everything via Windows Update.
2) Updated and ran a full system scan using AVG Free. (no viruses found)
3) Updated and ran a full scan with Search and Destroy. (no spyware found)
4) Ran CC Cleaner
5) Still noticed issues with slowness but never received a BSOD after all of this. Due to the slowness I decided to try a Repair Installation by booting from the Windows XP disk.
6) When I tried this I received my first BSOD. 0x0000007 was the error code.
7) Then downloaded Ultimate Boot CD and ran a MemTest (memory passed fine...no errors after 14+ passes, also tested each module twice placing each one in a different slot...all tested fine), and ran a Maxtor hard drive diagnostic utility (no hard drive errors)
8) Decided to just format the hard drive and reinstall Windows XP. Hard drive formatted fine.
9) As soon as it reached the point it was copying system files to the hard drive I got a BSOD. error 0x00000024 this time.
10) Freaking out at this point because I'm running out of ideas. I have a gut feeling to check the hard drive one more time. IT FAILS THE TEST THIS TIME!!! EUREKA RIGHT?! nooooo... I went out and bought a SATA hard drive to upgrade the system. $80 at BestBuy and it's a 500GB vs. the original 80GB. Format it to NTFS and try to install Windows XP...get a BSOD at the moment it states "Setting up Windows." BTW, I did disable the IDE channel for the original ATA drive, and also set the jumper on the new drive to limit it to 1.5 instead of 3 because I read this system won't support anything faster. Also enabled the SATA port in BIOS. It detected the drive fine in the Windows Setup but I got a BSOD when it started to copy files. 0x0000007f this time I believe. Which made me think Memory Again!
11) Checked the memory again. All passed fine.
12) Now I'm checking the Video Memory and it's passed 5 times with zero errors.
That's all I've tried up to this point. It's a Dell Dimension 4600c (the tiny form factor computers from 2003). My only guess now is that it could be the motherboard? Power supply? I hate to buy a mother board though because at some point it will just make more sense to buy a new computer. This thing is ancient.
This post is somewhat similar to my first post so I hope I'm not breaking any forum rules here. I'm new to the new Tom's Hardware. Used to come here all the time back in 97 or so. haha. Showing my age.
Any advice is greatly appreciated. Thanks!
Problem she reported to me
She said when the computer would go to sleep (after the screen saver was on for a while) and she would try to "wake it up" by moving the mouse or pressing a key on the keyboard she would never see anything on the screen...just a black screen. Then she would hear clicking. Her only option would be to force the computer to shut down by holding the power button down for a few seconds. If she would power it back on after this, it would display a BSOD. Not sure what the code was. She would then power it down again and power it back on and usually it would boot to Windows. Once up and running in Windows XP however it would be incredibly slow. She also reported that she would hear a very loud clicking sometimes and would just have to force it off.
Things I tried
1) I updated everything via Windows Update.
2) Updated and ran a full system scan using AVG Free. (no viruses found)
3) Updated and ran a full scan with Search and Destroy. (no spyware found)
4) Ran CC Cleaner
5) Still noticed issues with slowness but never received a BSOD after all of this. Due to the slowness I decided to try a Repair Installation by booting from the Windows XP disk.
6) When I tried this I received my first BSOD. 0x0000007 was the error code.
7) Then downloaded Ultimate Boot CD and ran a MemTest (memory passed fine...no errors after 14+ passes, also tested each module twice placing each one in a different slot...all tested fine), and ran a Maxtor hard drive diagnostic utility (no hard drive errors)
8) Decided to just format the hard drive and reinstall Windows XP. Hard drive formatted fine.
9) As soon as it reached the point it was copying system files to the hard drive I got a BSOD. error 0x00000024 this time.
10) Freaking out at this point because I'm running out of ideas. I have a gut feeling to check the hard drive one more time. IT FAILS THE TEST THIS TIME!!! EUREKA RIGHT?! nooooo... I went out and bought a SATA hard drive to upgrade the system. $80 at BestBuy and it's a 500GB vs. the original 80GB. Format it to NTFS and try to install Windows XP...get a BSOD at the moment it states "Setting up Windows." BTW, I did disable the IDE channel for the original ATA drive, and also set the jumper on the new drive to limit it to 1.5 instead of 3 because I read this system won't support anything faster. Also enabled the SATA port in BIOS. It detected the drive fine in the Windows Setup but I got a BSOD when it started to copy files. 0x0000007f this time I believe. Which made me think Memory Again!
11) Checked the memory again. All passed fine.
12) Now I'm checking the Video Memory and it's passed 5 times with zero errors.
That's all I've tried up to this point. It's a Dell Dimension 4600c (the tiny form factor computers from 2003). My only guess now is that it could be the motherboard? Power supply? I hate to buy a mother board though because at some point it will just make more sense to buy a new computer. This thing is ancient.
This post is somewhat similar to my first post so I hope I'm not breaking any forum rules here. I'm new to the new Tom's Hardware. Used to come here all the time back in 97 or so. haha. Showing my age.
Any advice is greatly appreciated. Thanks!
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