Computer keeps rebooting!

[Plastic Nev]

Hi, are you sure it did at one time make a beep at start up? some motherboards don't have the little speaker to make that beep fitted in the first place.

However if it did beep, one short beep is nearly always the signal that the BIOS has found everything to be in order and will continue to load the operating system.

 

Next a little help for removing the graphics card from the pictures shown in the link to the HP Pavilion.

scroll down a little to the view of the ports, the tab bent at a right angle on the left of that view, and is the top of the card, is where the fixing screw is, the tab on the right just goes into a slot at the bottom.

 

Once you have the graphics card out, plug the monitor in to the port where I have put a red arrow here>

 

http://i48.servimg.com/u/f48/14/68/69/96/pav_mo10.jpg

 

Hope that is of help.

 

Nev.

[Dolbette]

Okay, I've undone the screw and wiggled the video card, but it seems to be attached to something inside the machine... the motherboard maybe (no clue, lol)? It's loosened off at the back of the machine, but I don't know what to do with it from now, the card won't come out :-S I do have a VGA slot, but it doesn't work, as when I bought the PC, it had a plastic cap over it, apparently it doesn't work.

 

Anyway, any more details about taking the card out would be appreciated, many thanks!

[Dolbette]

Nevermind, I got the card out (though I'm not sure if I've done damage as I had to jiggle it away from the motherboard ratherly severely and it make a cracking sound when it came out! The card is now only attached by a little white pin with two thin (one black, one white) wires coming out of it. How do I safely remove this pin? Or am I okay trying to turn the machine on with it still attached?

[Plastic Nev]

Gently rock the card end to end, no more than about 2mm, and pull upwards at the same time, the socket they plug into is quite a tight fit. Beware there may also be a couple of cables plugged into the card from the power supply, remove them as well if they are there.

 

Nev.

[Dolbette]

Thanks Nev, card out, but cable connected I can't seem to remove from the video card without damaging it (uhm, help!), the other end is plugged into the motherboard, but there's no cable from the video card to the power supply.

[Dolbette]

Got the wire out, apparently wiggling worked for that too... the machine's powered up, but since I can't see what it's doing, I don't know what it's doing... I personlly don't think it's even loaded up, as there was very little action from the drive when I turned it on and it doesn't sound like it's doing anything. The green hard drive light isn't doing anything either. Whatever it's doing, I'm pretty confident it's not the same as it was doing before I removed the card (doesn't seem to be rebooting), but I don't know if this is because I've damaged something in some way?

 

I have absolutely no clue how I'm gonna get the graphics card back in, as it was so difficult to get it out - it's really stiff!

 

Any advice on where to go from here would be appreciated... in the meantime I've ordered a case for my hard drive, so I can at least salvage what's on there, if all else fails. Shame really, because I was gonna pass this PC on to my son as he's starting secondary school this year!

 

As an FYI, I want to get ino IT as a career, in a couple of years time when circumstances allow - so I guess this is all good practise (I obviously have a lot to learn, lol).

Edited March 3, 2012 by Dolbette

[Plastic Nev]

Have you tried the monitor in that port now that the graphics card is out? It would be blocked due to the graphics card being in place, the system will have been set to use the card not that VGA port. However if Windows has fully booted, it should have recognised there is no card, and turned on that port by loading at least basic drivers for it.

 

Nev.

[Dolbette]

Well, the first time I turned it on after removing the card, it came on, but not much action from the hard drive, but I pressed the power button and it restarted (I could tell from the sound), this was more like it, the hard drive was active and the green light flashing... However, after a few minutes, the dreaded re-boot :( Will try plugging the monitor into that VGA socket, but I don't hold out much hope, as when I asked the dudes at PCworld (where I bought it from), they said that "that port isn't for use" - plus it doesn't seem to be connected to anything on the inside. Worth a shot though!

[Plastic Nev]

OK, I think now is the time to follow the next bit of Kens advice which is to remove the RAM sticks as shown in the photo Ken Posted.

Do everything he suggested in that post regarding the RAM first, if still no real result, then we will have to go further, possibly with the hard drive and connecting to another computer.

Though Ken may still have other suggestions when he comes back to us.

 

Nev.

[KenB]

Hi

 

I don't like the sound of the "crack". These cards are stubborn to come out at times but they certainly do not come out with a crack.

I assume that your card came out with the brass connections as shown at the bottom in the attachment below ?

 

The only "wire" that I can think of that attaches to the Video Card is a power connection - 4 / 6 pins.

 

If you are putting it back then you sit it in the slot and press firmly on one end of the card - then press on the other end of the card.

It is virtually impossible to push it down in one go.

 

For the moment - leave the card out.

Take the RAM out - this should be easier.

Remember to release the white locking levers.

 

Try the machine with no Video Card and no RAM.

 

Hopefully it will be stable.

[Dolbette]

Hi there, before I take the RAM out, I just wanted to let you know what happened when I plugged my monitor in to the VGA port - The computer booted up and this time I'm getting a rundll.32 error message (something like "Windows host process rundll.32 has stopped working". It tries to search for a solution, then reboots as it has been.

 

I've just Googled what rundll.32 does and from one source I've read, it says that it's not normally a threat and is normally located at "is normally located at \Windows\System32\rundll32.exe", unless "spyware is using the same filename and is running it from a different directory in order to disguise itself".

 

Now I have a few questions: How come this error message didn't show before I removed the video card? Does this error message mean that I have a virus which has disguised itself? Is it possible to disable this host process (considering that my PC keeps shutting down before it's fully booted up)? If there's a problem with rundll.32, does this mean there might be a problem with my hard drive and therefore not be able to retrieve the files on it (I ordered a casing to turn it into an external drive yesterday)?

 

I'll wait until I head back from one of you before removing the RAM and once again, thank you!

[KenB]

Hi,

 

The fact that you can run off the on-board VGA is good as we can remove the Video Card from the equation.

 

rundll32.exe is part of Windows System files.

It controls the Dynamic Link Library - which is another collection of programs and these are used for the efficient running of your system.

If the DLL cannot be accessed - a problem with rundll32.exe for instance then the system cannot communicate with certain hardware and other key functions.

 

You are correct when you say that it could be a virus as some disguise themselves as rundll32 and hide. ( I am not a security expert :) )

The correct location is as you have quoted - if it is elsewhere then the security guys would suspect a virus.

At the moment we cannot say for sure - but the message you are getting sounds like a valid system problem.

 

does this mean there might be a problem with my hard drive

There may be a problem with the hard drive.

The fact that the system shuts down is because it is doing what it is told to.

There is a setting in Windows that says basically - If you detect a problem .....shut down / re-boot.

We can stop it doing this - but we need the system to have booted up to allow us to make the changes.

Then we would get a blue screen that would give us a STOP ERROR code - which could possibly help us determine the problem.

 

When you get the enclosure we can connect it up to a second machine and run a Virus Scan on the drive before we do anything with it.

[i want to try removing the RAM first]

 

Your data is the next priority - so we will see if you can retrieve that next.

 

We can then run checkdisk on the drive to see if there are any obvious problems.

 

=================

 

Back to the RAM:

 

Please take the modules out [ refer to post #24 ]

Leave the monitor connected to the on-board video.

 

Let us know if the system is stable.

 

Are there any beeps ?

[Dolbette]

Okay, will remove the RAM next... there's four modules, shall I take them all out and try them one at a time as you previously suggested, or just leave them all out, providing the system is stable once they're out? How will the machine run with no RAM?

 

I've just been reading about disabling rundll in task manager... my computer may let me do this, as when it's booting up (before it starts to shut itself down), it'll let me do some stuff - albeit very limited as I have to hurriedly do it before it shuts down, but I may be able to get into task manager, if I know precisely what I'm looking for/doing so as not to waste time.

 

I thought I should also add - Just before the computer reboots, the Windows side bar tries to load, but it ends up all bunched up with the different features on top of one another (I have a calendar, two clocks, the weather and photos), enlarged and in the top left of the screen... could this be relevant (it's never done this before I started having this issue)?

Edited March 4, 2012 by Dolbette

[Plastic Nev]

Hi again, lets keep to one thing at a time and try the RAM first. Remove all first and see what happens, the computer won't run, but does it stay stable at the point where it gets to finding no RAM?

Next put one stick in and try again, it should boot then but possibly run slowly, is it stable though?

try each stick one at a time and see if there is one with a different result from the others.

Let us know what you find.

 

Nev.

[KenB]

As Nev says - take ALL of the modules out.

 

It will not boot up without RAM - but it may become stable.

If it is stable then we need to identify which RAM module is the cause of the problem.

We do this logically - putting them back one at a time.

 

Is it stable with no RAM and no Video Card ( running off the onboard VGA ) ?

[Dolbette]

With no RAM I had no display, had one short beep, then one long beep... over and over again. Just trying with the first one back in - machine has booted and is taking forever to fully load, it's still busy, but the rundll error has just popped up, it checks for solutions, then asks me to "close program", which I did... it continued to load the large (out of place) Windows sidebars on the top left and now it's shutting itself down. I'll try the other RAM, I may be some time!

 

To add to that, with the RAM in, I have no beeps at all.

Edited March 4, 2012 by Dolbette

[Dolbette]

RAM #1 was 1GB, if it's relevant.

RAM #2 (512mb) - no beeps on startup, takes ages to boot up, wallpaper is enlarged and no longer fits on the screen, then rundll error comes up, saying "checking for solutions but this time doesn't ask me to "close program", loads large sidebar icon on top left of screen and then reboots (albeit slowly!).

RAM #3 (1GB) -first I tried it in a different slot, as it was easier to get to, no display at all (I wasn't sure if it had to be the first slot I put the RAM into, obviously it is!), so tried in the first slot, display came on fine, no beeps, booted up, wallpaper no longer enlarged, rundll error comes up, the "close program" window doesn't stay for long, didn't get chance to click on it, no Windows sidebar at all, then reboots itself.

RAM #4 (512mb) - no beeps on startup, boots up (can definitely notice the difference in speed between the 1GB and 510mb!), wallpaper is enlarged again, takes ages to boot up, didn't see the rundll error this time (although I had to look away for a short time), then large sidebar icon in top left of the screen, this time says it's loading HP advisor (which used to always run on startup, but hasn't done since this rebooting issue), HP advisor doesn't actually display and then it reboots, again.

 

That's all my RAM tested. Is there anything else to do while I wait for the casing for my hard drive to arrive? Does this indicate that the hard drive has a problem?

[KenB]

You will get beeps with the RAM out.

 

You should also get 1 beep with all cards in - if things are OK.

No beeps usually means a Power Supply problem or Motherboard problem.

 

Let us know the results of the RAM test.

 

=================

 

With the RAM in ....switch on and constantly tap F8 about once per second.

Is "Repair this Computer" an option with the other startup options ?

[Dolbette]

Results are above, it seems we both posted at the same time :)

[KenB]

If it is re-booting with each module then it isn't the RAM ( either that or they all have the same problem - unlikely )

 

Try what I posted earlier:

With the RAM in ....switch on and constantly tap F8 about once per second.

Is "Repair this Computer" an option with the other startup options ?

[Dolbette]

I'm pretty sure it wasn't one of the options... but will check again tomorrow. If there's something wrong with the hard drive, do you think I'll still be able to get my photos/music/video files from it when I've got the casing for it?

[Plastic Nev]

Because it is actually starting to boot, I doubt there is anything wrong with the drive. Now we know there is little chance of the RAM being faulty, I suspect now it is nothing more than a Windows file corrupt or missing.

That does mean that files and data can be rescued at a later date, if needed, just to hopefully reassure you.

 

Nev.

[KenB]

As Nev says - we are fairly confident that you should be able to get access to your data.

It is just a case of waiting for the enclosure to arrive :)

[Dolbette]

Thanks guys for the reassurance and sorry for not posting back sooner - I'm rather poorly with swollen glands/bad throat etc at the moment so not felt much like doing anything! However, the enclosure arrived today, so I plan on getting the hard drive out of the machine (I fortunately found a tutorial online for my particular machine) and fixing into the casing... I hope I got a decent case, spent a bit extra on one with good reviews, it also has a fan as I was unsure if there'd be issues with the drive overheating.

 

In the instructions for the casing, it's telling me that the drive must be partitioned before use... I'm presuming that my drive will be? It also says the drive needs to be formatted before it will be recognised with the system, I obviously can't do that, or I'll lose my data - shall I just put the drive in, plug it into my laptop and hope it's recognised? Obviously I'll run a virus scan on it before I try to open anything up.

 

Thanks again for all the help, much appreciated!

[KenB]

Hi

 

Sorry to hear you are unwell - I hope you improve soon.

 

Your drive is good to go. No need to format / partition etc.

 

Make sure that you are careful when attaching the drive to the enclosure connections - some are a bit delicate.

When you plug in the USB cable ( if it has 2 USB Connections use both as one will supply extra power ) the drive will be recognised by Windows,

It will take a few seconds to install then you should be able to see it in "Computer" as an extra drive.

 

You should be able to right click on it and scan it with your AntiVirus software.

 

Once the scan is complete - if nothing is found - you can take a look to see if you can access your files.

 

We will run a check on the disk after you have backed up anything you need.