System struggles to Boot

Fast-Eddie

~
Member
About a month ago I noticed that I can no longer put my PC into sleep mode. If I try, the PC begins to power down towards sleep state, but then switches off suddenly, much quicker than it should. Upon rebooting the PC, I am confronted with the Windows Start-up Recovery Screen (Start Windows normally, etc.)

Now a few weeks later, when I power on the PC (first boot of the day) the LEDs on the fans flicker, and you can physically see and hear the PC struggling to start-up.
So now every time I turn the PC on, I must go through this procedure:
Turn off the power at the switch on the back of the power supply;
Wait a few seconds for the LED on the front of the case to go out (about 3secs) to make sure the juice is truly drained;
Switch the Power back on;
Press the case front power button, and then the system boots just fine. Runs all day with no problems, including gaming, etc.
(sleep mode still doesn’t work; I've resorted to turning off the PC completely now every day).

I'm thinking that the initial jolt of power when I switch it back on, juices-up the PSU (or whatever) just enough to get the system going, then it is generally running perfectly. (very occasionally, the power will cut-out before Windows has finished loading, say about 60secs after a "successful boot").

My question is, is this a PSU or motherboard issue, and how do I find out?
Is it worth buying a PSU tester/trying another PSU, given that it seems to cope with anything I throw at it after the PC has successfully booted?
 

My Computer

System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    Vadim (& Me) [orig build: Nov 2007]
    CPU
    Intel Core 2 Quad Q6700 @3GHz
    Motherboard
    Asus P5N32-E SLI Plus
    Memory
    4GB – OCZ DDR2-1150 FlexXLC (4x1024MB)
    Graphics Card(s)
    ASUS Nvidia GTX 470 1280Mb
    Sound Card
    ASUS Xonar DX (PCIe) - 24-bit 192 kHz
    Monitor(s) Displays
    ASUS PA246Q 24.1-inch ProArt P-IPS LCD
    Screen Resolution
    1920x1200
    Hard Drives
    150Gb Raptor 10000rpm (OS)
    500Gb Barracuda 7200rpm (Storage)
    PSU
    OCZ 700W ModXStream Pro
    Case
    Thermaltake 'Shark' - Black Aluminium
    Cooling
    Scythe Infinity Heatpipe CPU Cooler &4 Fans(digital control)
    Keyboard
    Trust wireless 305ks (had it since 2003! still going strong)
    Mouse
    Razer Lachesis + Kensington Trackball + Wacom Intuos3
    Internet Speed
    [very lame]
    Other Info
    Icy Box 16-in-1 internal USB Card reader

My Computer

System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    Dell XPS420
    Memory
    6 gig
    Graphics Card(s)
    ATI Radeon HD3650 256 MB
    Sound Card
    Intergrated 7.1 Channel Audio
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Dell SP2009W 20 inch Flat Panel w Webcam
    Hard Drives
    640 gb
    Cooling
    Fan
    Keyboard
    Dell USB
    Mouse
    Dell USB 4 button optical
    Other Info
    DSL provided by ATT
Hi Richard
Thanks for replying.

I forgot to mention in my original post that when I try to Restart via the windows shutdown menu, the system will shut down, but it wont automatically start back up.
It will switch off and even if I immediately press the power button to start it back up, I get the same flickering of lights and odd noises, etc. (the monitor doesn't even get video feed).

So it must be hardware related. When I switch on I can't even try to run in safe mode because nothing ever gets chance to load. Like I said, when it gets going (after using the PSU power switch trick) the whole system/windows etc runs just fine.

It is literally the first few seconds after switch-on that it seems to be having trouble with.
 

My Computer

System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    Vadim (& Me) [orig build: Nov 2007]
    CPU
    Intel Core 2 Quad Q6700 @3GHz
    Motherboard
    Asus P5N32-E SLI Plus
    Memory
    4GB – OCZ DDR2-1150 FlexXLC (4x1024MB)
    Graphics Card(s)
    ASUS Nvidia GTX 470 1280Mb
    Sound Card
    ASUS Xonar DX (PCIe) - 24-bit 192 kHz
    Monitor(s) Displays
    ASUS PA246Q 24.1-inch ProArt P-IPS LCD
    Screen Resolution
    1920x1200
    Hard Drives
    150Gb Raptor 10000rpm (OS)
    500Gb Barracuda 7200rpm (Storage)
    PSU
    OCZ 700W ModXStream Pro
    Case
    Thermaltake 'Shark' - Black Aluminium
    Cooling
    Scythe Infinity Heatpipe CPU Cooler &4 Fans(digital control)
    Keyboard
    Trust wireless 305ks (had it since 2003! still going strong)
    Mouse
    Razer Lachesis + Kensington Trackball + Wacom Intuos3
    Internet Speed
    [very lame]
    Other Info
    Icy Box 16-in-1 internal USB Card reader

My Computer

System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    Dell XPS420
    Memory
    6 gig
    Graphics Card(s)
    ATI Radeon HD3650 256 MB
    Sound Card
    Intergrated 7.1 Channel Audio
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Dell SP2009W 20 inch Flat Panel w Webcam
    Hard Drives
    640 gb
    Cooling
    Fan
    Keyboard
    Dell USB
    Mouse
    Dell USB 4 button optical
    Other Info
    DSL provided by ATT
Well after your reply yesterday, the problem seemed to get worse and worse. So after taking half the pc apart (slicing my hand open in the process :cry: - as usual) to test the psu using a paperclip to bridge the connections, I noticed that the fan on the bottom isn't spinning any more, and now nothing happens apart from an unhealthy hissing noise.

So off to buy a new psu then!
 

My Computer

System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    Vadim (& Me) [orig build: Nov 2007]
    CPU
    Intel Core 2 Quad Q6700 @3GHz
    Motherboard
    Asus P5N32-E SLI Plus
    Memory
    4GB – OCZ DDR2-1150 FlexXLC (4x1024MB)
    Graphics Card(s)
    ASUS Nvidia GTX 470 1280Mb
    Sound Card
    ASUS Xonar DX (PCIe) - 24-bit 192 kHz
    Monitor(s) Displays
    ASUS PA246Q 24.1-inch ProArt P-IPS LCD
    Screen Resolution
    1920x1200
    Hard Drives
    150Gb Raptor 10000rpm (OS)
    500Gb Barracuda 7200rpm (Storage)
    PSU
    OCZ 700W ModXStream Pro
    Case
    Thermaltake 'Shark' - Black Aluminium
    Cooling
    Scythe Infinity Heatpipe CPU Cooler &4 Fans(digital control)
    Keyboard
    Trust wireless 305ks (had it since 2003! still going strong)
    Mouse
    Razer Lachesis + Kensington Trackball + Wacom Intuos3
    Internet Speed
    [very lame]
    Other Info
    Icy Box 16-in-1 internal USB Card reader
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