Startup issues / restarting (Fixed)Follow

A while back I made this post about my computer randomly locking up. So I took the advice there and got a new motherboard, which, after a series of parts not fitting, pretty much built a new computer. The only thing I kept was my harddrive and disk drives. Now my new computer runs fine, but there is a problem with the startup.

After I click the login screen, if an hourglass shows up (either instead of the mouse or the mouse + hourglass), it means my computer failed. If it's the hourglass, it'll freeze and restart. If it's both the mouse and hour glass, I can move the mouse for a few seconds, but it'll start lagging, freeze, and restart. When it does this, the only icons that show up on the bottom right are the nVidia, folding at home, and yahoo messenger icons. If it starts up properly, it shows those, as well as my zBoard engine icon (for my keyboard), the linksys wireless icon, my printer icon, and the pc antivirus icon.

When it starts up, it should have 4 of the "New found hardware" windows, as well as the four little bubbles in the corner. When my computer works right, both are open as soon as I log in. If not, only one bubble may show up (sometimes doesn't last that long), but it'll crash right after.

While it sometimes starts up and works fine, it does do one other thing when it starts up. After logging in, it'll show my screen for a few seconds, then the screen goes black, and the little green light on my monitor blinks, meaning it's not connected. Blinks once, then becomes solid, and my screen shows again. After that, it works fine.

It seems the only way to start it up is to turn on my PSU and press the power button, then wait for it to boot up and freeze. Once it freezes, I turn off the PSU, turn it back on, wait a few seconds, and press the computer power. That usually does the trick.

Finally, it will sometimes do the Windows XP splash screen, then just turn black. When I restart it, it gives the "Safe mode / last known good configuration / start normally" screen. While safemode always works, the second two seem to work randomly. Sometimes last known works, sometimes starting normally works.

Here are my specs:
Motherboard - EVGA nVidia nForce 630i
Processor - Intel Core 2 Quad q6600
Video Card - Running the onboard graphics, since it doesn't seem to fit any other card.
Memory - Kingston DDR2 220pin 1 x 2G
PSU - Antec earthwatts 500w
Case - Antec 900
Wireless Card - Linksys wireless-N
Heatsink - ASUS V70
Hard drive - Western Digital 80g

I know some of the parts are crappy, but I'm saving up for better ones. Will I need to post pictures of my BIOS screen? One of my friends said it may be a timing issue, but couldn't find anything wrong with it.

Also, this was my first real build, but it seems I have all the cables set right.

Edited, Jul 8th 2008 11:42am by Aarkovi

Edited, Jul 8th 2008 4:36pm by Aarkovi

Alright, I found that turning on the PSU box, then waiting a few seconds before powering on the computer, fixes it. Must have just been turning it on before the PSU could get sufficient power or something. Thanks for the help, though.

Last time I built a new PC and tried to use an old hard drive, it threw a wobbly and demanded that I reinstall XP but it didn't cause multiple reboots, lockups and crashes like you describe.

From what you say it sounds like there's a power-related problem but your monitor losing connectivity sounds really dodgy. Might I ask what kind of monitor you've got Also "Running the onboard graphics, since it doesn't seem to fit any other card" is very confusing - what doesn't fit any other card?

The PCI-Express slot on your motherboard should not be confused with a PCI slot. If you're trying to fit a PCI card in there, that will cause problems although I'm not entirely sure what symptoms you'd encounter.

As for turning your PSU off, I do that albeit at the wall socket after everything has shut down and the fans have stopped turning. It shouldn't cause any problems. Having said that, you shouldn't need to "wait for the PSU to get sufficient power". It's not a capacitor or a rechargeable battery.

Personally I swear by Seasonic, which is a fairly expensive brand but in the first magazine PSU test I saw, did really well. Custom PC magazine did a big PSU test in their latest issue and the Corsair HX620W came out well for the low wattage units.