Need PC help tekkies

[Walshy]

A couple of weeks ago I downloaded latest windows update and rebooted as instructed. Only the PC kept rebooting itself continuously. When I stopped it with F8 and set it not to restart on errors I got a critical windows error message.

I reformatted drive and reinstalled windows, all was fine for a couple of days, then here is the really wierd thing.

I heard the fan spinning but neither I nor Lady Walsh had turned the PC on. I once again found it rebooting itself in a continuous loop.

Seems it turned itself on from standby and corrupted windows again.

I totally wiped the disc, reformatted both partitions and reinstalled windows. Did a full Norton antivirus scan which came up clean. But the same happened again yesterday.

Anyone heard of a virus that can start your PC up from standby and reinstall itself ? And that can survive a disc fomat and windows re-installation ?

Any help would be appreciated or if you could point me at a suitable forum would great.

Cheers

Walshy

 

[jay66uk]

Sounds more like a hardware fault. The power switch might have gone dodgy.

 

[Walshy]

I could understand a hardware fault causing the PC to start, but not to cause a fatal windows error twice ?

 

[malkie]

Walshy, have you tried this format command ? format C: /U/S, I think that what the DOS command is, this format wipes everything off, normal format doesn't . This format is unconditional, give it a try it may well work.
Boot from a bootable floopy, then put in the DOS Command C: /U/S.
Hope this works for you.

 

[TINY]

I could understand a hardware fault causing the PC to start, but not to cause a fatal windows error twice ?

My last computer had a hardware fault, the fan was busted, and regularly caused the dreaded blue screen and general crashes etc.

 

[Walshy]

Walshy, have you tried this format command ? format C: /U/S, I think that what the DOS command is, this format wipes everything off, normal format doesn't . This format is unconditional, give it a try it may well work.
Boot from a bootable floopy, then put in the DOS Command C: /U/S.
Hope this works for you.

Hmm haven't tried that. Might give that a go.

Cheers

 

[Doctor Congo]

Duff PSU or motherboard is my guess.

 

[jay66uk]

A memory fault will cause blue screen. A faulty psu could have fecked your memory or mobo as Chris suggests. With Dell knocking brand new PCs out for less than £300 I'd be looking at buying new.

 

[Walshy]

OK fellow Bluemooners thanks for your help.

For the moment I've reformatted the fekker and installed SP2 but none of the hotfixes.

A tekky on one of the other forums thinks that hotfix 890859 is the most likely candidate to have shafted my windows set up.

If it fails again I'm going to take it to the bottom of the garden and hit it repeatedly with a sledge hammer.

 

[TINY]

If it fails again I'm going to take it to the bottom of the garden and hit it repeatedly with a sledge hammer.

worked with my last computer, does wonders for stress too