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), and rand a Hardware Diagnostic (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.
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, cables, power supply or something else maybe. The MS BSOD error codes from my experience are nearly useless.
Do you have any suggestions? I thought about trying one more hard drive if I can find a spare to just see if I can install Windows on it. The clicking she was reporting seems to be a hard drive going out but I haven't heard it do that once since I've had it in my home office. The thing is so old though I'm not sure it's worth buying any parts unless I know exactly what the issue is.
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), and rand a Hardware Diagnostic (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.
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, cables, power supply or something else maybe. The MS BSOD error codes from my experience are nearly useless.
Do you have any suggestions? I thought about trying one more hard drive if I can find a spare to just see if I can install Windows on it. The clicking she was reporting seems to be a hard drive going out but I haven't heard it do that once since I've had it in my home office. The thing is so old though I'm not sure it's worth buying any parts unless I know exactly what the issue is.
Any advice is greatly appreciated. Thanks!
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