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Thread ID: 87784	2008-03-04 03:09:00	PC Taking forever to boot...please help!	ajwhite10 (13469)	Press F1

Post ID	Timestamp	Content	User
646173	2008-03-04 03:09:00	First off, I'm what you would call computer stupid.....not even a novice. I have a 5 year old Dell Dimension 8300 Desktop PC & it has been freezing up on me a lot lately. Just recently, upon re-booting the computer, everything seems to start up just fine & then, after the screen shows the Dell startup page, the screen goes black, except for the blinking underscore key in the top left part of the screen & stays this way for at least 10 minutes until the system boots up & I get into windows xp. From there, XP & all programs seem to run slower than usual. I have system restore turned on...whatever that means. I haven't backed up all my files from my C drive, at this point, as I just bought the drive & doubt seriously that it is crashing. Am I looking at motherboard/cpu issues? Processor problems? Any help would be much appreciated. thanks!	ajwhite10 (13469)
646174	2008-03-04 03:22:00	I'd try running a check on your hard drive to see if there's any bad sectors . Let it boot into Windows as per usual, and open My Computer . Right-click on your hard drive (it's usually your C: Drive), and select properties from the menu that pops up . Along the top of that window, there's a bunch of tabs . . . . click the tab called Tools, and from there, click the Check Now button to launch Error Checking . Tick both the options that are given to you (Automatically fix file system errors, and Scan for and attempt recovery of bad sectors) You'll get a prompt telling you than Windows needs to reboot to check your drive, so click Yes to schedule this on your next reboot . Then reboot your PC, and go have a cup of tea while it's doing its thing . . . . can take an hour or two to do this . Let us know how you get on .	nofam (9009)
646175	2008-03-04 03:23:00	Probably a CPU issue - are you able to check the temperature of it while running? (Use monitoring software, not a thermometer :p.)	pcuser42 (130)
646176	2008-03-04 03:37:00	Probably a CPU issue - are you able to check the temperature of it while running? (Use monitoring software, not a thermometer :p.) Check the temp? Not that I know of. I'm going to try the error check & get back to you guys. Thanks for all the help. Wish I could buy you a beer! ajw	ajwhite10 (13469)
646177	2008-03-04 03:58:00	And post a hijackthis log, its in my sig. We'll see if you've got any nasties / malware on your system Put it in its own folder first, then click on scan the system and save a log. Copy and paste the log here Have you scanned for malware / viruses etc recently?	Speedy Gonzales (78)
646178	2008-03-04 04:01:00	Guys, AJW says he/she is an absolute novice and the Machine is 5 years old. I guess it is reasonable to assume that no maintenance has been done in that time. So, as a matter of interest, why don’t we discuss where we would start to tidy up this machine? My thoughts are that from the explanation given, Windows is having trouble loading so what is the first thing to do? I have doubts about temperature problems because the machine is booting from cold. Personally, I would wait for it to boot and run CCleaner just to get rid of the junk but what do others think? Yes I realise CCleaner would have to be downloaded and installed. And I’m definitely not saying that nofams starting point is wrong either. It would be good to get a consensus on where the best place is to start when this problem is encountered. :thumbs:	B.M. (505)
646179	2008-03-04 04:05:00	Whoops, Speedy beat me, he’s Speedy alright. :D Interesting, we now have four replies and four different approaches. :confused:	B.M. (505)
646180	2008-03-04 04:23:00	Whoops, Speedy beat me, he’s Speedy alright. :D Interesting, we now have four replies and four different approaches. :confused: Fair point B.M - my approach was to start with something built in to Windows - there's probably at least 4 valid places to start with this sort of issue!! :D	nofam (9009)
646181	2008-03-04 04:26:00	Guys, AJW says he/she is an absolute novice and the Machine is 5 years old. I guess it is reasonable to assume that no maintenance has been done in that time. So, as a matter of interest, why don’t we discuss where we would start to tidy up this machine? My thoughts are that from the explanation given, Windows is having trouble loading so what is the first thing to do? I have doubts about temperature problems because the machine is booting from cold. Personally, I would wait for it to boot and run CCleaner just to get rid of the junk but what do others think? Yes I realise CCleaner would have to be downloaded and installed. And I’m definitely not saying that nofams starting point is wrong either. It would be good to get a consensus on where the best place is to start when this problem is encountered. :thumbs: I do run adaware & spyware doctor(free versions) on a fairly regular basis. I recently replaced the c drive, as mentioned above. I haven't de-fragged in awhile & other than the new hard drive, there has been no hardware replacements. I have had to re-install windows a couple times. I'm posting from my palm now...waiting for chkdsk to finish going through my c drive.	ajwhite10 (13469)
646182	2008-03-04 04:27:00	Fair point B.M - my approach was to start with something built in to Windows - there's probably at least 4 valid places to start with this sort of issue!! :D Excellent point nofam. Start with something you've got! I'm convinced! :thumbs:	B.M. (505)
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