Solved Have to boot twice to get into Windows.

[Soulfly]

Hey guys,

For quite a few months, I've had this problem where I needed to boot twice to boot into Windows. For example, the first time I would boot in the morning, it would shut off by itself halfway, but when I booted it up a second time, it would go into Windows like it should.

And also, for some weird reason, If I turned off and back on the power supply switch, I had a 80% chance of it booting into Windows on the first try. And lately, on rare occasions, while using the computer, it would shut off on its own.

I don't think it's a problem with the memory as I've used the Windows memory diagnostic tool to check for problems, and it has given me none. Could it just be the PSU? This computer is old as dirt by the way.

And since I'm such a dumbass to wait at the last minute to fix a problem, could all those failed bootings damage any components of my PC?

Thanks in advance guys!

 

[Jacee]

You may have a bad power supply unit.

 

[mitchell65]

If you were interested in testing the PSU have a look here:
How Do I Test the Power Supply in My Computer?
If you do go down this road TAKE NOTE OF THE DANGER WARNINGS!

 

[Soulfly]

If you were interested in testing the PSU have a look here:
How Do I Test the Power Supply in My Computer?
If you do go down this road TAKE NOTE OF THE DANGER WARNINGS!

Thank you, I'll check it out! I forgot to mention that also before this problem started, sometimes when I would boot the comp, it wouldn't fully start but instead would kind of stutter like if you were trying to start up your car and hear a "chuggah chuggah chuggah", and the led lights on the fans would be stuttering, so I also believe that this could be related to the PSU.

 

[mitchell65]

Certainly souns like it to me but DO TAKE CARE YOU WILL BE WORKING WITH LIVE ELECTRICS!!!!!!

 

[Soulfly]

Certainly souns like it to me but DO TAKE CARE YOU WILL BE WORKING WITH LIVE ELECTRICS!!!!!!

Will do, thanks. Will be updating as soon as I can...If I didn't get electrocuted to death.

 

[VistaKing]

Safer way of testing the power supply is. Taking it to your friends house plug in the 24-PIN and the 4 or 8-pin cable to the motherboard and see if it starts up . You don't want to mess inside the Power Supply.

   Note

Another way of testing the power supply is using a PAPER CLIP . Yes a Paper Clip. Turn it to a U shape . Put one end of the paper clip to the green cable and the other end to any of the black cables on the 20 or 24-pin connector depending on your Power Supply. Then plug in the Power Cord to the wall.

   Tip

Unplug the power Cable from the wall and power supply before you do anything . IF there is a switch on the back of the Power supply be sure to turn that off as well . After you have the Paper clip inside the green and black wire of the Connector plug in the power cable and turn the switch on

 

[gregrocker]

Never open the PSU. The residual power inside can electrocute you even if its not plugged in.

Please post back a Disk Management - Post a Screen Capture Image - Windows 7 Forums

 

[Soulfly]

Never open the PSU. The residual power inside can electrocute you even if its not plugged in.

Please post back a Disk Management - Post a Screen Capture Image - Windows 7 Forums

Here you are.

 

[gregrocker]

It looks correct. Run a couple of Startup Repairs
to see if it finds anything to repair.

Then work through these Troubleshooting Steps for Windows 7 to check over the OS and testable hardware thoroughly.

 

[lehnerus2000]

Old As Dirt

You said it was "old as dirt".

Have you cleaned it to remove dirt/fluff from the fans, heatsinks and vents?

Have you made sure that all of your components and cables are properly seated in their sockets?

If you are going to play around with your PC's internal components, remember to turn the power off and to take anti-static precautions.

You may need to remove the heatsinks, clean the old heatsink compound off of them and the chips and apply new compound.

Remember to read the handling/usage instructions.

 

[Soulfly]

Hey guys, been a while.

So, it turned out to be the PSU. I did the paperclip test on the old PSU, and nothing happened, only heard a faint humming noise. Put it back into the case, and the computer wouldn't power up anymore. I guess it gave out its last breath when I took it out to test it or I did something to screw it up even worse, haha.

But all is good now, I have a new PSU and I no longer have the problems described in my first post; no longer have to boot twice to go into Windows, doesn't randomly shutdown anymore.

I'd like to thank you guys for your help, you rock!