Hitting the Fan

I've been having some computer issues for the last few weeks.  Basically It won't reboot properly.  If you tell the system to restart or power on from a shut down... well let's just say it's not pretty.  Sometimes it will freeze on the Dell logo (yeah, it's a Dell) not even getting into the boot sequence of the hard drives.... or it will completely boot into Windows 7 but be running at the speed of a TRS-80.

Well I thought I could solve my computer issues with a simple reinstall of Windows 7 on a smaller drive.  it's running off a 1.5 terrabyte drive right now and that's not the original drive to this system.  Couple that with the fact that the system has a 300-watt power supply (thank you, Dell) which is WAY under-powered for the amount of technology packed into this case.

Thank GOD I didn't format and reinstall.

I used a different hard drive... still a 320gb (in fact, it was the original drive that came with the system)... and installed Windows 7 Home Premium from scratch.... fresh install, not an upgrade.  Deleted and recreated the partition on the drive to be sure.  Well... failure is the only word to describe it.  On the very first reboot, it did the same thing that has been plaguing me for weeks... locked at the Dell post screen.

So the sh@* is truly hitting the fan now.  I'll need to invest in some new parts... most likely building my own for the first time in 8 years... and try to limp this thing along until I can afford it.  It's funny how it acts.  I can't reboot the system the traditional way.  Once it's been shut down, I have to unplug every USB peripheral except the keyboard, open the case up and detach the drives from the power and the SATA cables, then boot it up into BIOS.  Once there, I save the settings and exit, then power it down right after I hear the POST beep, THEN reconnect EVERYTHING and power back up.  Voila! The system boots back into Windows 7 normal as if nothing had happened in the first place.

Strange, I know.... but at least it lets me back in.   For now...