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Power surge, now slow shutdown


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Posted

After experiencing a power surge/outage a while back, my Server 2003 system

now shuts down very slowly.

 

The screen clears, the Explorer shell appears to unload, but then it does a

kind of chkdsk thing - the disk grinds solid for over a minute. Then it

does the full shutdown.

 

Any ideas?

 

Thanks

Guest Ryan Hanisco
Posted

RE: Power surge, now slow shutdown

 

Hi DFS,

 

Hopefully you have your network configured so you can lose any one part and

keep working as if nothing happened. While it is certainly possible that

this is a coincidence and something else has occurred, I generally don't

trust equipment that has been through any kind of power event (or water for

that matter). I would look at replacing the server -- it may even be covered

under your insurance.

 

I would also look into fixing your power for the data center as there is

little excuse for a power surge other than poor planning. (OK, maybe money,

but if that is the case, then you can't really afford to have the servers

either.)

 

It will be hard to tell what is really damaged, drives or computer, but I

would look to replacing it while it is still working and the migration is

easy. It is much harder when you are in a disaster recovery mode after the

server actually fails.

 

Forgive me for being a bit harsh, but this should be considered urgent for

your business continuity.

--

Ryan Hanisco

MCSE, MCTS: SQL 2005, Project+

http://www.techsterity.com

Chicago, IL

 

Remember: Marking helpful answers helps everyone find the info they need

quickly.

 

 

"DFS" wrote:

> After experiencing a power surge/outage a while back, my Server 2003 system

> now shuts down very slowly.

>

> The screen clears, the Explorer shell appears to unload, but then it does a

> kind of chkdsk thing - the disk grinds solid for over a minute. Then it

> does the full shutdown.

>

> Any ideas?

>

> Thanks

>

>

>

>

>

Posted

Re: Power surge, now slow shutdown

 

 

Thanks for the answer, Ryan, but replacing the computer because of a power

spike that happened months ago isn't a real solution.

 

It's my home development system, and shows no signs of any problems

whatsoever - except the weird shutdown issue. It's like it's doing a chkdsk

or backing up the registry or something.

 

I really, really don't want to do a repair/reinstall of SP1: Microsoft often

can't make their own installations work - SP2 would not install on this

system.

 

 

 

Ryan Hanisco wrote:

> Hi DFS,

>

> Hopefully you have your network configured so you can lose any one

> part and keep working as if nothing happened. While it is certainly

> possible that this is a coincidence and something else has occurred,

> I generally don't trust equipment that has been through any kind of

> power event (or water for that matter). I would look at replacing

> the server -- it may even be covered under your insurance.

>

> I would also look into fixing your power for the data center as there

> is little excuse for a power surge other than poor planning. (OK,

> maybe money, but if that is the case, then you can't really afford to

> have the servers either.)

>

> It will be hard to tell what is really damaged, drives or computer,

> but I would look to replacing it while it is still working and the

> migration is easy. It is much harder when you are in a disaster

> recovery mode after the server actually fails.

>

> Forgive me for being a bit harsh, but this should be considered

> urgent for your business continuity.

>

>> After experiencing a power surge/outage a while back, my Server 2003

>> system now shuts down very slowly.

>>

>> The screen clears, the Explorer shell appears to unload, but then it

>> does a kind of chkdsk thing - the disk grinds solid for over a

>> minute. Then it does the full shutdown.

>>

>> Any ideas?

>>

>> Thanks

Guest Ryan Hanisco
Posted

Re: Power surge, now slow shutdown

 

Hi DFS,

 

You're right that it wouldn't necessarily make sense to replace a home or

dev system. If it were a mission critical machine or an enterprise server,

that would be different.

 

At this point, I would expect that there might have been some disk damage

that you'll have to scan for or even a potential problem with the controller/

MB. In any case, I would still suggest that being prepared for system

failure is your best insurance policy against losing data.

--

Ryan Hanisco

MCSE, MCTS: SQL 2005, Project+

http://www.techsterity.com

Chicago, IL

 

Remember: Marking helpful answers helps everyone find the info they need

quickly.

 

 

"DFS" wrote:

>

> Thanks for the answer, Ryan, but replacing the computer because of a power

> spike that happened months ago isn't a real solution.

>

> It's my home development system, and shows no signs of any problems

> whatsoever - except the weird shutdown issue. It's like it's doing a chkdsk

> or backing up the registry or something.

>

> I really, really don't want to do a repair/reinstall of SP1: Microsoft often

> can't make their own installations work - SP2 would not install on this

> system.

>

>

>

> Ryan Hanisco wrote:

> > Hi DFS,

> >

> > Hopefully you have your network configured so you can lose any one

> > part and keep working as if nothing happened. While it is certainly

> > possible that this is a coincidence and something else has occurred,

> > I generally don't trust equipment that has been through any kind of

> > power event (or water for that matter). I would look at replacing

> > the server -- it may even be covered under your insurance.

> >

> > I would also look into fixing your power for the data center as there

> > is little excuse for a power surge other than poor planning. (OK,

> > maybe money, but if that is the case, then you can't really afford to

> > have the servers either.)

> >

> > It will be hard to tell what is really damaged, drives or computer,

> > but I would look to replacing it while it is still working and the

> > migration is easy. It is much harder when you are in a disaster

> > recovery mode after the server actually fails.

> >

> > Forgive me for being a bit harsh, but this should be considered

> > urgent for your business continuity.

> >

> >> After experiencing a power surge/outage a while back, my Server 2003

> >> system now shuts down very slowly.

> >>

> >> The screen clears, the Explorer shell appears to unload, but then it

> >> does a kind of chkdsk thing - the disk grinds solid for over a

> >> minute. Then it does the full shutdown.

> >>

> >> Any ideas?

> >>

> >> Thanks

>

>

>

Posted

Re: Power surge, now slow shutdown

 

On Oct 9, 11:25 pm, "DFS" <nospam@dfs_.com> wrote:

> It's my home development system, and shows no signs of any problems

> whatsoever - except the weird shutdown issue. It's like it's doing a chkdsk

> or backing up the registry or something.

 

Is your problem in hardware or software? I don't see where you even

tried to break the problem down into those two parts. Trying to solve

a problem without breaking the problem down can exponentially

complicate its solution. Hardware analysis starts with simplest of

facts including data from the system (event) log, conditions reported

in Device Manager, and (if the computer was built by a responsible

manufacturer) results from comprehensive hardware diagnostics. The

third (last) option is important because hardware is tested without

any Windows complications. All three are important information.

 

Your replies will only be as useful as data provided. Based upon

previous information, every reply will be speculation. Even the

initial reason for failure is speculation. Which is it - an outage or

a surge? Completely different electrical events that may create

different problems.

 

Many make the mistake of trying to fix things without first learning

facts; without first identifying a suspect. For example, would you

reload Windows on defective hardware? Many foolishly make that

mistake to fix it without first identifying the problem. The

principle is bluntly stated in CSI - "follow the evidence". That

means no speculation and no shotgunning.

 

If your manufacturer does not provide comprehensive hardware

diagnostics, then download diagnostics from each component

manufacturer. For example, what does that disk drive hardware

diagnostic report?

 

What happens when doing a shutdown with Task Manager loaded? What

process loads when you start a shutdown?

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