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Diagnosing PC Issue

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  • 26-02-2016 5:27pm
    #1
    lawred2
    Registered Users Posts: 24,389 ✭✭✭✭


    My PC yesterday (Windows 10 Dell XPS i7 12GB RAM 128GB SSD etc etc) after 5 years of not one blip went black screen in the middle of it being used..

    A restart got as far as the spinning disc (just before log in screen) and no further.. It's not just a display issue as the PC doesn't show up on the home network and I can't remote desktop onto it.

    Did Win 10 'apps and settings only' reset which seemed to resolve the issue for about 30 minutes only for the exact same thing to happen again.

    I then did a full Win 10 reset (wipe personal files as well) and that again seems to have restored it back to life but I think it's only another temporary reprieve.

    If it does happen again - it's most likely to be hardware fault. How would I go about isolating where that fault lies?


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    #2
    degsie
    Registered Users Posts: 8,748 ✭✭✭degsie


    lawred2 wrote: »
    My PC yesterday (Windows 10 Dell XPS i7 12GB RAM 128GB SSD etc etc) after 5 years of not one blip went black screen in the middle of it being used..

    A restart got as far as the spinning disc (just before log in screen) and no further.. It's not just a display issue as the PC doesn't show up on the home network and I can't remote desktop onto it.

    Did Win 10 'apps and settings only' reset which seemed to resolve the issue for about 30 minutes only for the exact same thing to happen again.

    I then did a full Win 10 reset (wipe personal files as well) and that again seems to have restored it back to life but I think it's only another temporary reprieve.

    If it does happen again - it's most likely to be hardware fault. How would I go about isolating where that fault lies?

    It's a laptop, right? Check for dust buildup, use a compressed air canister to blow out any crud. Reseat ram/ssd/drives. Run a monitoring tool to check cpu/gpu temps, fan speeds etc.


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    #3
    lawred2
    Registered Users Posts: 24,389 ✭✭✭✭lawred2


    degsie wrote: »
    It's a laptop, right? Check for dust buildup, use a compressed air canister to blow out any crud. Reseat ram/ssd/drives. Run a monitoring tool to check cpu/gpu temps, fan speeds etc.

    nope - desktop

    but I imagine all that still applies


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    #4
    T-Bird
    Registered Users Posts: 1,333 ✭✭✭T-Bird


    It could be software related, perhaps something you installed recently? It working after full reset seems to back that theory up for me.


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    #5
    dreamers75
    Registered Users Posts: 20,558 ✭✭✭✭dreamers75


    After a clean and within the 30 mins you have check the temps of your CPU and GPU.


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    #6
    Lu Tze
    Registered Users Posts: 3,495 ✭✭✭Lu Tze


    Just some suggestions.

    Firstly i would back up any irreplaceable files you have so that they arent lost if things go tits up.

    If the problem manifests itself again - try downloading a linux iso (mint or ubuntu or whatever). You can get them to boot from a USB without installing. See if the problem is repeated using the different OS. If it is repesated, it likely is a hardware issue.

    As regards hardware, there are a number of software products out there that will check the health of you hard drives. Hard drives all inevitable fail so it would be worth running one of these programs to see if it is flagging any problems with bad sectors etc.

    Memtest86 runs error scanning on your ram modules and is worth giving ago. Alternatively, if the error is occurring, remove all but one stick of ram, run with that and see if the problem occurs. If it doesn't, swap out for the next stick and try again. Repeat for all.

    Other common hardware faults are PSUs degrading over time (can swap out for a known working one if you have another pc on hand).

    Graphics card if you have one, try removing it and running off onboard graphics to see if it is related to the problem. This could also be related to a degrading PSU, and not necessarily a faulty graphics card

    You could also have a visual inspection of the motherboard to see if there are any failing capacitors (often can be noticeably bulging).

    Its difficult to troubleshoot if the problem is not still occurring.


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    #7
    Skerries
    Registered Users Posts: 12,454 ✭✭✭✭Skerries


    on start up press F12 to get to the boot options which will give you an option to run diagnostics

    if not there it should be on the disk you would have received with the PC
    Untitled Image




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    #8
    [Deleted User]
    Posts: 5,917 ✭✭✭ [Deleted User]


    Just a theory but given the age of the machine, check the health of your hard disk also using something like HD Tune, or boot to a Linux iso which has a hard drive testing utility.

    As always back up before hand.


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    #9
    lawred2
    Registered Users Posts: 24,389 ✭✭✭✭lawred2


    Well I took the lid off and a small plastic part fell out of the cabinet.. (not sure what it dislodged from but it's definitely not an electronic part)

    My guess is that it maybe got lodged in one of the cooling fans. And maybe the machine was just over heating..

    It hasn't happened again even having left it on all weekend. So just have to wait and see


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