Recommended Posts

I have a Windows machine (Win7). I came home and it was sitting at the BIOS info screen saying CPU Fan error. The fan was still spinning and the CPU heatsink was still firmly attached to the board. I tried rebooting and got the error to go away but now, no matter what I do, it will reboot at a very specific point. No matter if booting from the Win7 DVD or the Win7 install, about two seconds after the color window tiles appear during the windows startup process, it shuts off and reboots. Just to be clear, even if I wanted to do a new install of Windows, I cannot do it because it will load the files from the DVD and once it restarts and windows tiles appear, bam, shuts down and reboots. I can't get anywhere beyond this point. I should also mention I noticed an odd smell in my house when I came home and I'm wondering if something electrical went bad...bad capacitor? I need some input on this guys. Thanks. =)

Link to comment
https://www.neowin.net/forum/topic/1071575-pc-problem-w-rebooting/
Share on other sites

Are you using the stock cpu fan? Have you physically inspected the fan for scorch marks or any other signs of damage? I had an issue similar to this before, turned out the the system is looking for the CPU fan to plugged into the CPU fan plug on the board, otherwise it would say that there was an error with the fan, and would have to press F1 to continue. So it could be that the fans motor has burned out, or it could be an erroneous reading. I would suggest that you pull the fan completely off the CPU and clean it, check it for damages, etc. then plug it back in and see what happens. If it continues to give the same error, then perhaps you should invest in an after-market cooler for your CPU.

Turn on the machine. Check the speed of CPU fan in BIOS, in hardware monitor. Also, monitor CPU temp data there and if the value increases over 60C you should replace CPU fan. The speed of CPU fan should be around 2000rpm, often more. Normal CPU temp should be 45C-50C.

Electrical burning smell + BIOS errors + crashing during setup doesn't sound too good.

I'd check the PSU voltages are normal with a multimeter if you have one, or BIOS if you don't

Look on the motherboard for any popped caps or other little components

Also I guess its possible that a sensor died and is reporting the wrong temps to the board which cuts off, you could try disabling CPU FAN errors / shutdown protection if the BIOS lets you and you are sure it is spinning and cooling correctly

I looked more closely at the board. There wasn't any scorch marks anywhere. The CPU fan was still spinning. Also, the smell really could've been anything since this is a multi-unit townhouse. I just mentioned it "just in case". I attached a pic of the main setup page so you guys can see the temps, voltages, etc.

I'm wondering if it could be the HDD. Like I mentioned before it does NOT shut down as it would in a overheating case but, it does come back on, on its own and tries again. This happens right after the reading of the HDD begins.....every time. It doesn't matter if I'm trying to load Windows already installed or when I try to boot from the DVD...loads the Windows files and begins to read them. What do you guys think?

post-40046-0-26179500-1334939622_thumb.j

I looked more closely at the board. There wasn't any scorch marks anywhere. The CPU fan was still spinning. Also, the smell really could've been anything since this is a multi-unit townhouse. I just mentioned it "just in case". I attached a pic of the main setup page so you guys can see the temps, voltages, etc.

I'm wondering if it could be the HDD. Like I mentioned before it does NOT shut down as it would in a overheating case but, it does come back on, on its own and tries again. This happens right after the reading of the HDD begins.....every time. It doesn't matter if I'm trying to load Windows already installed or when I try to boot from the DVD...loads the Windows files and begins to read them. What do you guys think?

All those reading look spot on, have you checked the event logs ? Maybe there will be an error or critical log around the time of the reboots

Event Viewer > Windows Logs > System

Doh, you can't get into windows...

Memtest ?

Reset CMOS ?

Update BIOS ?

Its definitely a possible, could explain crashing and not posting or installing windows, but I would think it would hang on the drive detection part of POST not CPU Fan error

I used to get CPU fan errors when I had it running too slowly for the danger zone I had set in the BIOS, not a fault, just wasn't happy I had it running too slowly

You could burn a copy of Spinrite 6.0 onto CD and run an overnight scan or repair on the drive

Well, I downloaded Western Digital's Data Lifeguard Diagnostics program and ran both the quick and extended tests and it came out fine. I wrote zeroes to the entire drive, erasing it and didn't have any issues then. I went to boot from the Win7 DVD and it loaded the files and as soon as it tried to read those files...the colored windows tiles, bam, it rebooted....hmmm. The computer will stay on indefinitely if I leave it on the BIOS setup screen...

i would try running memtest.

or if you don't want to run a full memtest yet try installing windows with one stick of ram in at a time. if it reboots with one, then switch it out with the other and try again.

I did run memtest and there wasn't any errors.

Well I tried a new hard drive and that didn't solve the issue either. The I was able to get A TAD bit further before it rebooted. So now I'm guessing the SATA controller has gone bad which means replacing my MB or looking into a SATA controller card.

  • 1 month later...

I finally have a follow up to this problem. After all this time, I ended up trying a new CPU, RAM, HDD, PSU, SATA Cables, and I even had ASUS send me a replacement motherboard. I even tried a new case. That covers everything and wouldn't you know it, it still was having this problem. I finally gave up and took it to a shop and they encountered the problem I was having and tried a new motherboard....the problem stops. Which means...f'in ASUS sent me a bad replacement board....ugh. I just sad f it, just bought a new board so I can get the damn computer back. LOL

This topic is now closed to further replies.
  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
  • Posts

    • YouTube has finally brought back its DMs feature, but only in these countries by David Uzondu Late last year, YouTube started testing a "new" way to share videos directly with friends, without having to leave the app. Now, the video giant has announced that is now rolling out a revamped direct messaging inbox, which lets you share videos, Shorts, and live streams and have conversations about them, directly on YouTube. The platform limits this feature to 18+ users who are signed in to a verified channel and use the latest mobile app version. Direct messaging on YouTube first became a thing back in 2017 inside the mobile app (later renamed to "Messages"), where users could chat one-on-one and share clips directly, but all that came to an end on September 18, 2019, when Google decided to shut it down after giving users a month to download a .zip file archive of their past chats. No one really knows why YouTube killed the feature, but users were encouraged to migrate to the public Comments section, on Community tab posts, and via YouTube Stories. The previous incarnation suffered from moderation challenges, prompting Google to implement stricter safety guidelines and age verifications for this new iteration. Here's a list of the countries where the re-launched feature is currently available, though note that Brand Accounts do not have access to it, at least for now: Countries American Samoa Austria Belgium Brazil Bulgaria Croatia Cyprus Czech Republic Denmark Estonia Finland France Germany Greece Guam Hungary Iceland Ireland Italy Latvia Liechtenstein Lithuania Luxembourg Malta Netherlands Northern Mariana Islands Norway Poland Portugal Puerto Rico Romania Singapore Slovakia Slovenia Spain Sweden Switzerland U.S. Virgin Islands United Kingdom United States Before you can use the feature, you first have to send an invite link to your contact. Invite links expire exactly seven days after you create them. If the person on the other end accepts the invite, you can exchange videos directly and text back and forth inside the app. To delete a message, just long-press on the message and tap unsend to remove it for both users. You can also delete entire conversations by long-pressing the thread and selecting delete, but the other person will continue to see the chat history on their end. To make sure everything remains safe, YouTube monitors these messages to ensure they follow Community Guidelines.
    • The problem of course is simply that government does not always know best. My point is that agency is taken away from the EU consumer in these cases. I'm sorry, but I do not believe that governments (politicians) are inherently good, and "looking out for me." Primarily they look to themselves and their own personal desires first, foremost, and always. When the EU or the DOJ fines these companies, claiming to "represent the welfare of the consumer," how much of these billion-dollar judgments are handed to the consumers they claim to represent? Not even a dollar, as I've seen. Yet the EUC lawyers who are paid to sit around and dream up these suits make huge commissions on the fines the EUC adjudicates, which is an ironclad fact I hope everyone is aware of. It's also rank corruption, of course, but that's another topic. Last, when the EU inflicts these judgments, or the DOJ, take your pick, the costs are bundled right along in the cost of the goods and services these companies provide the consumers they are "looking out for." If you are someone who believes his government is his savior then you have my condolences. I think Apple is right here, because the whole scheme of consumer choice is that consumers pick and choose among the products companies offer. Microsoft Windows is more compatible with third party software and hardware than any desktop OS on Earth, which is my sole reason for choosing it. Just because the EUC forces companies do certain things it knows the companies do not want to do, "or else", has no bearing on consumer benefit. This Siri thing is almost idiotic it's so infantile. But this is what the EUC does when the EU in Brussels becomes cash-strapped and needs a big infusion of cash. Some people get upset by "big companies" but it's the opposite when governments dwarf the size and scope of these companies, which is so obvious it hurts.... I mean you can't honestly believe that forcing Apple to do things with Siri it has its own reasons to decline is something that "opens up" Apple, do you? Say it aint' so...
    • Looks like many years since the request was made, a directory tree view finally may be added. https://github.com/files-community/Files/pull/18537
    • Is it still super slow or has it improved on that area?
    • There's this from last year https://gist.github.com/threat...364659a8887841aa43deca4efd9 but nothing about a buffer overflow that MS somehow can't code against. No matter what, it makes sense to take a "protected by default" approach.
  • Recent Achievements

    • One Month Later
      sjbousquet earned a badge
      One Month Later
    • Week One Done
      sjbousquet earned a badge
      Week One Done
    • First Post
      DragonOfMercy earned a badge
      First Post
    • First Post
      bella52 earned a badge
      First Post
    • Reacting Well
      Techinmay earned a badge
      Reacting Well
  • Popular Contributors

    1. 1
      +primortal
      501
    2. 2
      PsYcHoKiLLa
      213
    3. 3
      +Edouard
      156
    4. 4
      Steven P.
      84
    5. 5
      FloatingFatMan
      72
  • Tell a friend

    Love Neowin? Tell a friend!