PC will not reboot after DBAN

studio2000

New Member
Hi,
I have used DBAN a few times on my PC I have had no problems. However the last time I used it I used the most secure method with the most passes - twice!!!
I know, I know, I was just being a bit daft.
Any way. my PC will now not boot up.
I can install windows XP no problem, however when I reboot PC after initial istall from CD the computer gets to the 'windows' page (you know the one with the small blue dots running accross the screen horizontally) and it just hangs there.
Every time I re boot it just hangs in the same place.
Is it possible that the 'over use' of dban has left my hard drive un usable?
If this is the case then a new hard drive will solve the problem.
If this is not the case, have you any ideas what it could be?
 
Hi studio2000 :)

To be honest this doesn’t sound like a DBAN problem.

Once DBAN has done its job it is out of the loop so to speak.

The only slight possibility is that your hard drive was failing or about to fail and DBAN pushed it over the edge. This does not mean DBAN is at fault or that it has done anything wrong but making a faulty or worn drive make multiple passes will show up any defects fairly quickly.

Does your hard drive click at all ?

Sometimes when a computer won’t boot or freezes it is usually RAM. Have you moved it recently ? Could you have not pushed it into the sockets properly ? You can check it with memtest86.

Are all your IDE cables etc ok ?

Is your installation CD ok ?

Disconnect any unnecessary hardware until you get it to boot.

Can you try a new hard drive as that will fix it permanently if it is your old drive at fault.

Give that a try and let me know. :wink:
 
Hi,
I think you are right.
I have 2 hard drives and have tried them both and can not get either to boot up.
I can install Windows XP from the CD but as soon as I reboot the PC to boot from the hard drive the problems start.
As I said before - my PC hangs on the Windows XP page.
It has not stopped doing that and now just turns itself of straight away.
You mention to use a programme to see if my memory is okay.
How can I do that if I can not get into the PC in the 1st place? Is there a special method? - I am sorry but I am a bit of a pc dummy.
Yes I took out the memory cards and re inserted them. But only after I encounted the problems.
I have also taken out the mother board battery for 30 mins and re inserted it and tried again.
i realise now that we are well away from DBAN questions.
is it still okay to continue this in this forum?
Please help, like many many other people I am close to beating my PC to an inch of its sad sorry life.
By the way I have 2 pcs and am using my back up one at mo. (which also has a problem 'cos it will not let me increase the resolution on any of the screens I am using - it says we are 'out of range' thus we have massive icons) - can you help with that also.
Not asking for much am I?
Thanks
 
Hi, :)

I think you are right.
I have 2 hard drives and have tried them both and can not get either to boot up.


If two hard drives are failing then I don’t think it is a hard drive problem. If you only had an issue with one of the drives then I would suggest that the drive was faulty but when two separate drives are not working then that suggests something else.

I can install Windows XP from the CD but as soon as I reboot the PC to boot from the hard drive the problems start.

That is usually a hardware or driver fault. Unplug all unnecessary hardware from your computer until this is sorted. Are you hard drive jumper settings correct ? Actually this could be a graphic card problem.

As I said before - my PC hangs on the Windows XP page.
It has not stopped doing that and now just turns itself of straight away.

Crashing immediately could be a over heated processor or poorly inserted RAM. Or ever bad RAM.

You mention to use a programme to see if my memory is okay.
How can I do that if I can not get into the PC in the 1st place? Is there a special method? - I am sorry but I am a bit of a pc dummy.

You need to make a boot floppy. Download the instructions and program here. Choose the free download option.

By the way I have 2 pcs and am using my back up one at mo. (which also has a problem 'cos it will not let me increase the resolution on any of the screens I am using - it says we are 'out of range' thus we have massive icons) - can you help with that also.

Have you installed the correct graphic card drivers ? Is it an old monitor ? What options do you get with display settings ?
 
Thanks,
I will start with the good news.
The graphics card on my 2nd PC is now working correctly so thanks for that.

Now to the demon PC.
I created a boot memtest cd - no problem so far
I ran it in PC number 2 - no probs
when I put it in demon PC it ran for about 20 seconds and the PC shut itself down.
Thinking this may have been a fluke I did it 3 more times and each time the PC shut itself down after several seconds of the test running.
Please help before I go barking?

Now you mentioned the jumper settings?
They are in different positions on both hard drives, however I have had them running all okay in the past and these jumpers have not been touched at all.
FYI the drives are:
Maxtor Diamond Max 10 200GB SATA 3.0Gb (if that makes sense)
 
Hi

when I put it in demon PC it ran for about 20 seconds and the PC shut itself down.
Thinking this may have been a fluke I did it 3 more times and each time the PC shut itself down after several seconds of the test running.

This suggests that the problem isn’t with your hard drives at all.

I am wondering if your CPU fan is working ?

If you have more than 1 RAM stick take them all out but one of them and see if you can run memtest. If not swap it with one of the others.

Can you swap memory with the working computer ?
 
Just had a thought, has anyone changed the memory timing in the BIOS ? If in doubt set the BIOS to default or fail safe.
 
Hi,
Yes my fans are all working - CPU fan, fan housed in computer case and fan on mains pack.
However, here's a thought. A while ago I took my CPU fan off and cleaned all the rubbish from it and th fins. Now the fan sits on a bunch of fins. on the bottom of this there is a plate that sits ontop of the thing it is trying to cool (sorry is it the main processor) During this process I wiped the bottom of the plates that sits on the processor!!!!!!!
I am now thinking that was maybe not a good move. Should there be some type of grease type substance inbetween them to aid heat transfer at all? If so what should it be?


I can swap memory with working PC and have run memtest on both individually and both are okay.
I have put the cards back in demon PC one at a time and in each slot and booted pc using memtest and all times the pc starts then shuts off after few secs.

I have booted up demon pc and pressed delete. I believe this put me into the BIOS, however i could not see a memory timing option.
So i do not know if this has been changed - what do I do?

Thanks :)
still smiling even though modern technology is ganging up on me
 
Oh I forgot to say,
When I put the RAM into my working PC and did memtest it showed on both that the memory was 248M 855MB/s
when I did it on the demon pc it showed 191M 996MB/s
is this normal?
 
Hi

However, here's a thought. A while ago I took my CPU fan off and cleaned all the rubbish from it and th fins. Now the fan sits on a bunch of fins. on the bottom of this there is a plate that sits ontop of the thing it is trying to cool (sorry is it the main processor) During this process I wiped the bottom of the plates that sits on the processor!!!!!!!
I am now thinking that was maybe not a good move. Should there be some type of grease type substance inbetween them to aid heat transfer at all? If so what should it be?

Yes you need to have heat compound between the processor and the heat-sink. This could very well be the cause.

Also if you weren’t careful when replacing the heat-sink (very tight clip) you could have damaged the processor !

I would suspect heat to be the problem here. At least it should be an inexpensive repair, you just need some heat compound.

I can swap memory with working PC and have run memtest on both individually and both are okay.

So you took the memory from the broken computer and placed it in the working computer and memtest said there were no errors ?

I have booted up demon pc and pressed delete. I believe this put me into the BIOS, however i could not see a memory timing option.

Just select the option that is called something like fail safe or default. Whatever looks to be the most basic setting really. We can tune up after we get it working.

Oh I forgot to say,
When I put the RAM into my working PC and did memtest it showed on both that the memory was 248M 855MB/s
when I did it on the demon pc it showed 191M 996MB/s
is this normal?

I’m not sure, might be something to do with shared RAM for graphics etc. We really just need to make sure that memtest says there are no errors for now.

When in BIOS can you find the temperature display for the CPU and let me know what it says ?
 
Hi,
When I go into set up i have the following options
standard cmos features
advanced bios features
advanced chiset features
integrated peripherals
power management setup
pnp/pci configerations
pc health status
in which one of these will the ram settings be?

yes no errors on ram

the temp of cpu is 72c with the fan at 2636 rpm.
 
in which one of these will the ram settings be?

Probably in advanced bios features.

the temp of cpu is 72c with the fan at 2636 rpm.

That’s hot especially considering you are only in BIOS.

I suspect your processor is shutting down due to excessive heat. It will get hotter while booting up as it is doing more work, you probably don’t get to exactly the same position in the boot up when it crashes, it just might appear to be.

You need to get some heat compound and put it on your processor. Only put a small amount on (don’t smother it). Perhaps read up on it first.

If you keep turning that computer on you might damage it permanently so I would wait until you fix the heat thing before going further.
 
Well, it seems that you have located the promlem with my PC.
The problem lied between the keyboard and the chair......
Yes that is right, the problem was me.
I have put the paste on the heat sink.
Temp in BIOS now 40.
Computer booted up no problems.
It is even running faster and smoother.
So I thank you so much for your time and valuable input.
My PC and I are all best freinds again and I would like to publicly appologise for calling him a demon.
He would like to point out to you people who are reading this that it was my fault entirely and he is totally blameless.
Thanks again
 
Hi

That’s really good news, thanks for posting back to let me know the outcome.

I hope you will continue to use DBAN and Eraser now your computer is working ok.

Well done I couldn’t have done it without you ! :lol:


Just a thought, if you have a friend who knows a little about computers get them to have a look at your BIOS to see if there are any tuning improvements they can make. It would be too difficult to discuss them all with you here on the forum.

If you are on your own you could just set things to “Auto” as a general rule and let it sort it’s self out. :wink:
 
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