Member Avatar for Prime Directive

Ok, so my PC has stopped booting 9 out of 10 times. When it does boot though it runs rock solid every time without issue. If I power completely off, chances are I won't be able to boot the PC, but if I hibernate, I can wake the PC back up and Windows will be rock solid. In a normal boot the PC would post, I could hear some type of fan or device spinning up once and then Windows (Vista) would boot. Now the PC successfully posts, but all I get is a blank screen save an underline cursor at the most upper left and I can hear the device repeatedly spinning up and down instead of the one time like normal.
Ok, so here's what's throwing me for a loop, the fact that it won't boot most of the time but when it does it is rock solid, and also the fact that I can boot from the recovery CD and run a memory diagnostic which will always find no issues, but at the end of the diagnostic it reboots the PC and most of the time it will sucessfully boot to windows (Vista).
My gut is telling me PSU but how would that explain the almost always successful booting after the memory test? On a side note the three diagnostics I can run, Mem, CPU and HDD always come back clean.
Any thoughts or ideas greatly appreciated as it's driving me batty.

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Dani AI

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Good thread — useful instincts from and helpful pointers from , and . Below are targeted, practical steps and explanations that complement the replies already posted and help when a machine boots intermittently but then runs fine.

First priority: preserve data. If the system is flaky, make a block-level image of the drive from a bootable environment before doing more tests or repeated writes. Collect logs next — Windows Event Viewer or a Linux live CD’s dmesg will often show ATA/NTFS errors that short tests miss. Run the vendor long/extended diagnostic (short tests can pass while intermittent hardware/firmware faults hide).

Check SMART attributes that are most predictive of trouble: Reallocated_Sector_Ct, Current_Pending_Sector, Reallocation_Event_Count, UDMA_CRC_Error_Count, Spin_Retry_Count and Command_Timeout. A rising value or failed long test is a strong signal to stop using the drive for critical data.

Low-effort hardware checks that isolate subsystems: try a different SATA cable and port, power the drive from a different connector, or connect it in a powered USB-SATA dock or another PC. If the drive behaves when powered externally or on a different controller, that points at the original system’s power delivery or controller. If repeated spin attempts or click/retry noises occur, that points to drive electronics or mechanical issues. If replacing the drive isn’t immediately possible, minimize writes and keep backups.

Cautions: avoid opening or modifying warranty-sealed systems if service is required. If SMART trends or vendor tools fail, transition to a replacement and restore from the image you saved.

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Member Avatar for OlyComputers

This is usually a defective hard drive, so it's odd that it would come back clean. I would suggest:
1. open the case and re-seat all the cables.
2. reset your BIOS manually by unplugging the system and removing (then reinserting) the CMOS battery, if you're not comfortable with this the BIOS should have a "restore to factory defaults" option, it's not as good but it could do the trick.

Member Avatar for sgamble

This is usually a defective hard drive, so it's odd that it would come back clean. I would suggest:
1. open the case and re-seat all the cables.
2. reset your BIOS manually by unplugging the system and removing (then reinserting) the CMOS battery, if you're not comfortable with this the BIOS should have a "restore to factory defaults" option, it's not as good but it could do the trick.

I agree with #2 here. Try that first. Then check the web to see if there is a new BIOS update for you. Then proceed to step 1 IMO.

Member Avatar for caperjack

I agree with #2 here. Try that first. Then check the web to see if there is a new BIOS update for you. Then proceed to step 1 IMO.

computer boots 1 of10 tries ,what possibly could a bios flash do for it ,

Member Avatar for Prime Directive

So here's the latest. The PC is a Sony that is still under warranty so I can't really get into the innards to much as that'll probably void the warranty. Had several chats/calls with their "tech support". They're thinking it's the hard drive so they're going to send out a guy with a replacement.
Here's the kicker again, even with the recovery disks it has not been able to see the hard drive lately but last night I was able with the recovery disks, see the hard drive, pull off about 200 gigs of data, do a complete wipe writing zeros to the entire drive, a complete system restore. Then I started installing apps, antivirus, office, etc. During this procedure I had to reboot the PC a bunch of times and had ZERO problems, everything rock solid. I shut the PC down for the night and of course this morning does not boot at all again, same symptoms.
I'll keep things posted, maybe something can be learned from this, got a feeling it will be ugly though.

Member Avatar for Prime Directive

Wanted to say thanks to those that posted to help and also if this helps anyone with their PC issues.
So it turns out it was the hard drive, Sony tech came out, replaced it, we performed a system restore and everything seems good. I didn't think it was the hard drive because it would scan clean and when the PC did boot it was rock solid, so it this point I'm thinking that possibly the hard drive controller was going bad as opposed to the actual media. Anyway, good luck to everyone else with your issues.

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