Windows startup problem

[Krusader]

Hello, I'm new to computer building so please bare with me.

I recently put together an okay PC (It's my first attemp) and am having Windows startup problems. When I start the unit in the morning I get the post beep, and then right before desktop BSOD, it metions possible drver issues, memory issues, hardware issues.

I restart and do the system recovery and start up repair from utilities supplied by th OS so I can get to desktop. Then if I open any app the unit crashes and I go though the process again. Then I get to desktop again and everything is fine.

Memtested twice, says okay. RAM is seen in task manager as installed.

Some posts say RAM problem, some say Motherboard and others say drivers. I'm at a loss on how to troubleshoot this properly. Any help would be very welcome, Thanyou in advance.

Note: When checking drivers status I found one that had no driver installed (Intel(R) ICH10 Family SMBus Controller-3A30.
Is this normal?

System:
Windows 7 64bit OS
i7 950
GA-X58A-UD3R
EVGA GTX460 R
Corsair 750TX
2Gx3 Corsair 1600
Seagate Baracuda
Asus DVD BRN DRW
Norton Anti Virus 2011

No games are installed on my system yet, just a few photos.

 

[mibix19]

Have you checked to see if everything is seated and connected properly. Have you tried starting in safe mode to see if you get to the desktop OK? If you can, go to device manager and check for yellow exclamation marks next to any devices. also update/ re-install your drivers

 

[Krusader]

Have not tried safe mode yet I picked start normally. No yellow markers in device manager either. I will check all seatings and update and reinstall the drivers.

One other part of the symtom is it only happens on a cold start. First thing in the morning. If I were to shut this unit off now and come back in lets say 2hrs it would pop right off.

 

[mibix19]

I am not a hardware expert but I think it could be a motherboard fault as dry solder can cause this problem and as it warms and expands a little, the connection gets better making the fault disappear.

 

[Krusader]

I understand what your saying and if that is the case I have a real problem. My only question is, most of the time I can get to my log on screen and sign in my password before it happens.

 

[mibix19]

In that case it sounds more like a software problem. Type msconfig in the run command. In the startup tab disable all non microsoft startup programs. Do the same for all non microsoft services. restart your computer and see if everything is ok. If it is re-enable them them one at a time and re-start after each one until the problem re-occurs It may seem a long winded process but if a service or startup program is causing the problem it is the best way to find it.

 

[Krusader]

I agree that it's very likely a software issue. I've seen a quite a few posts around the the net that give very similar conditions. I will continue working on troubleshooting. I will need to shut down now to check all the internal seatings.

And mibix19 thankyou for your help thus far I really appreciate it.

 

[Krusader]

I've checked my drivers in Device Manager and everything seems okay along with checking the boot file and hardware seating inside the case. I can find nothing wrong.
Since this only happenens in the morning I submit it ma be as mibix19 suggested. Dry solder on the main board.
Just one thing though, could it be a power supply problem? I wish I had another to swap out.

 

[mibix19]

It could be. Is the power supply sufficiently powerful enough to run all your hardware?

 

[Krusader]

The PS should be sufficiant. When I configured my system I used 2 power consuption utilities and the both came back about the same with room to spare.
System:
Windows 7 Home Premium 64 bit
i7 950
GA-X58A-UD3R
EVGA GTX460 R
Corsair 750TX
2Gx3 Corsair 1600
Seagate Baracuda
Asus DVD BRN DRW
Norton Anti Virus 2011

I went into Event Veiwer and found like 900 errors and warnings, some critical both in admin events and summary page events in the past 4 days. I think I gotta start over.

 

[Krusader]

This is one of the error messages I received.

Log Name: Application
Source: ESENT
Date: 2/19/2011 7:09:14 PM
Event ID: 399
Task Category: Database Page Cache
Level: Warning
Keywords: Classic
User: N/A
Computer: XXXXXX
Description:
Catalog Database (1188) Catalog Database: The database page read from the file "C:\Windows\system32\CatRoot2\{F750E6C3-38EE-11D1-85E5-00C04FC295EE}\catdb" at offset 12288 (0x0000000000003000) (database page 2 (0x2)) for 4096 (0x00001000) bytes failed verification. Bit 17200 was corrupted and has been corrected. This problem is likely due to faulty hardware and may continue. Transient failures such as these can be a precursor to a catastrophic failure in the storage subsystem containing this file. Please contact your hardware vendor for further assistance diagnosing the problem.
Event Xml:
<Event xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/win/2004/08/events/event">
<System>
<Provider Name="ESENT" />
<EventID Qualifiers="0">399</EventID>
<Level>3</Level>
<Task>2</Task>
<Keywords>0x80000000000000</Keywords>
<TimeCreated SystemTime="2011-02-20T03:09:14.000000000Z" />
<EventRecordID>2325</EventRecordID>
<Channel>Application</Channel>
<Computer>EM-PC</Computer>
<Security />
</System>
<EventData>
<Data>Catalog Database</Data>
<Data>1188</Data>
<Data>Catalog Database: </Data>
<Data>C:\Windows\system32\CatRoot2\{F750E6C3-38EE-11D1-85E5-00C04FC295EE}\catdb</Data>
<Data>12288 (0x0000000000003000)</Data>
<Data>4096 (0x00001000)</Data>
<Data>17200</Data>
<Data>2 (0x2)</Data>
</EventData>
</Event>

I would like to find a source of definitions to to explain the errors.
Why do I have so many errors. Like I said I'm new at this. Anybody?

 

[mibix19]

Hi again. I dont think I have any more ideas for you to try but I have just been reading your log file. Do you think it is a faulty hard drive? the reason I ask is the following statement in the log file

Bit 17200 was corrupted and has been corrected. This problem is likely due to faulty hardware and may continue. Transient failures such as these can be a precursor to a catastrophic failure in the storage subsystem containing this file. Please contact your hardware vendor for further assistance diagnosing the problem.


The words storage subsystem containing this file......... gave me this thought. Hope you get it fixed.

 

[Krusader]

Hi again, Did a clean install with no luck. BSOD with memory dump. Removed all RAM but one and did a reinstall with formatting. All went well perfectly so I started testing all the dimm slots one by one and they worked with that stick. Then I tested the others and the last stick caused BSOD with memory dump. I removed that stick and installed the remaining 4gb back into the machine and all seems well. Time to RMA to the egg. Thanks for all your help mibix19, I have to say you helped me learn a few things in the past couple of days. Cheers

 

[Krusader]

Best answer selected by Krusader.

 

[mibix19]

Hi. Thanks for the vote. Hope it keeps well for you, cheers.