it looks to me like you have something running silently in the background churning up all your CPU....go to run command and type MSCONFIG and go to the STARTUP tab.

Anything look suspicious there? Is it possible to post it? Spam or spyware can reside there in the startup. If you are not sure about something, Google it and find out what it is. That always works for me. If it is bad stuff, you should also be able to find out how to remove it. Task Manager has the same files, but if you End Task there, they will just return at the next startup. You can uncheck the file in the System Configuration Tool (MSCONFIG) and it will not come back unless you check it again.

In short, your issue could be a software problem or hardware problem. You never know unless you work at it. Sorry

Well that SMART data looks ok...I'm definitely thinking memory now. Go along with john'* idea of remove one, test, repeat. might just be a dying memory module or just one of the chips is bad and the computer is trying to sort around it. do you ever get "memory cannot be read" error messages?

Yeah, Uh I suggested removing a memory chip and rebooting too but I guess it wasnt on the top of the to do list.

Just for a laugh, you might check this as well:

http://www.bonnevilleclub.com/forum/...hlight=desktop

Lol... no disrespect intended, Tony. I was looking for the easy software fixes before checking hardware. I think the RAM test is the next thing to do, as nothing else seems out of the ordinary. I might post my "Startup" list if anything is questionable. I'm still leaning toward hardware malfunction because the change happened so suddenly, without installing any new programs or having any odd software glitches.

Here is a view of my startup tab... it couldn't be resized to fit the whole thing on the screen, so first pic is top of the list and second is bottom of the list.




See anything weird? All looks normal to me, except for that blank line. That'* been there for a while, but I don't know how to get rid of it.

There'* a couple on there that I might get rid of just because I don't like them (auto update checkers), but nothing suspicious or that should cause the symptoms you describe. I hate those blank lines, too, but they require you manually dig through the registry to track them down.

You stated you have a new(er) power supply, so I would move that way down the list as it should be OK...

Motherboard is difficult to test without a spare laying around, and then it has to be identical (to prevent windows from having to look for new drivers and such), so I would save that for last...

HD read fine by the tests suggested...

So, we're back to the physical memory like BLACK94SSEi and I suggested.

Since you mentioned it was during the initial windows boot (the little wavy bar), if I remember correctly, we have to lean towards a potential hardware issue

No disrespect Taken Ben. I hope you find out whats going on with your machine!!

He just like me better....

"Motherboard is difficult to test without a spare laying around, and then it has to be identical (to prevent windows from having to look for new drivers and such), so I would save that for last... "

Actually, if it'* an OEM PC (Windows Preinstalled), you have to buy either:

1) The replacement motherboard from the OEM
2) or a new copy of windows

Even putting in a new CPU will disable windows, and the OEM will not give you the codes you need to reactivate windows if you swap motherboards/put in a new CPU.

The only exception to this is is you have a volume license installed, which I've yet to see outside of a corporate environment.