Windows 11 keeps rebooting (I am tired)

Ghot · Jun 29, 2023

Scannerman said:
This is exactly what the inside of my daughters X58 platform looks like. Despite this, it still keeps on running and only on occasion it freezes up now and then, requiring a reboot. Yup, they sure don't make 'em like they used to.

If they look like that... they will fail sooner or later. Just so you know. ^^

Scannerman · Jun 29, 2023

Ghot said:
If they look like that... they will fail sooner or later. Just so you know. ^^

It's almost an exact picture. So yeah, I know. We're just seeing how long it will take before it completely craters. I'm already 100% sold on the X58 platform for durability and reliability. For 14 years that system board has served well and I have another on hand to replace it with. Not bad for a Dell. Almost worth replacing the caps.

spapakons · Jun 29, 2023

Don't throw away the old motherboard if it stops working. You could ask a professional to replace the leaked capacitors, if if course he charges a reasonable price for his time.

Scannerman · Jun 29, 2023

I've replaced a few of those myself in my day. lol Definitely keeping the old mobo no doubt about it. Prudent advice!

TechnoMage2021 · Jul 1, 2023

spapakons said:
One day the disk seems to work perfectly and suddenly dies losing all your videos and downloads... Been there done that, unfortunately

Yes, **it happens! And it also happens to some really nice people.
My worse day as a PC tech, was when I had to tell a lady that her hard drive had CRASHED, and all her wedding pictures were gone. She cried like a baby!
30+ years ago, I set up a backup system for the County I live in, and worked for. NO department was backing up their PC's. That was Pre-Windows. We didn't have Flash Drives or External Backup Drives, so we used the media of the day, ,
5.25" Floppy Disks.
I have stories, of HD's that crashed and lost years of records and decrees, but I'll close for not,
and wish you all a very Happy 4th of July.

spapakons · Jul 1, 2023

Fortunately I had cloned my 2TB disk to the 4TB that crashed, so I had most of the data on the old 2TB. The newer data after the clone are gone. The 4TB disk identifies as 0GB, so it is not recoverable. It is a WD My Passport that has the USB to SATA converter embedded in the PCB. Any other brand would be possible to disconnect the 2.5" SATA disk from the USB enclosure and try to read it elsewhere, but WD doesn't want to make it easy for us. I will try to revive it by disconnecting the PCB and heating it (air flow) but the chances are very small. But Hope dies last, as they say.

Scannerman · Jul 4, 2023

spapakons said:
Fortunately I had cloned my 2TB disk to the 4TB that crashed, so I had most of the data on the old 2TB. The newer data after the clone are gone. The 4TB disk identifies as 0GB, so it is not recoverable. It is a WD My Passport that has the USB to SATA converter embedded in the PCB. Any other brand would be possible to disconnect the 2.5" SATA disk from the USB enclosure and try to read it elsewhere, but WD doesn't want to make it easy for us. I will try to revive it by disconnecting the PCB and heating it (air flow) but the chances are very small. But Hope dies last, as they say.

Any pictures? I have recovered data from WD MyBooks and other units as well, where the USB to SATA controller has died. It's a relatively common issue. Usually you can remove the USB to SATA PCB controller from the drive and plug Sata to the drive directly because a separate controller is also on the drive as well.

after thought - If you are able to do this quickly recover the data and reformat the drive or, keep in cold storage. If you use it again, use it in an enclosure that implements the USB to SATA hardware. I've had a few WD drives die completely on me after rescuing the data from them this way and even transferring to another USB enclosure won't always prevent the drive from cratering. I find with WD mechanical drives when that USB to SATA bridge dies the hard drive is not known to last much longer either. I have one exception that I removed from a MyBook that is still running. A 2TB WD Green. Slow and klunky, and likely SMR, it serves as a secondary backup only for my youngest daughter. TBH I'm not really a big fan of WD mechanical hard drives (with the exception of ye olde Velociraptor Enterprise drives which are known to run for decades.)

spapakons · Jul 4, 2023

The usual workaround for other brands is to remove the standard 2.5" SATA from the USB enclosure and connect it on another USB enclosure or directly inside a PC. But as said in my previous post external 2.5" WD USB disks have no standard 2.5" SATA disk in a USB enclosure. The SATA-to-USB adapter is onboard the PCB of the disk! So you either fix the PCB or replace it with a similar model. I could try connecting my new 5TB disk's PCB, but I am not sure if it works on a 4TB model and I already have many data in it I wouldn't risk losing... I will first try to fix the 4TB PCB.

Scannerman · Jul 6, 2023

spapakons said:
The usual workaround for other brands is to remove the standard 2.5" SATA from the USB enclosure and connect it on another USB enclosure or directly inside a PC. But as said in my previous post external 2.5" WD USB disks have no standard 2.5" SATA disk in a USB enclosure. The SATA-to-USB adapter is onboard the PCB of the disk! So you either fix the PCB or replace it with a similar model. I could try connecting my new 5TB disk's PCB, but I am not sure if it works on a 4TB model and I already have many data in it I wouldn't risk losing... I will first try to fix the 4TB PCB.

I apologize for the the misunderstanding. That alone would make me think twice before ever purchasing a mechanical drive from Western Digital again. For some reason my brain just skipped over the 2.5" part of it. Usually those PCBs are not that universal so I wouldn't advise swapping them out unless you know for sure it will work. I've done this with the bigger drives but only for a quick data recovery. They almost always die within a week or so of the swapping so I only do it strictly for data recovery and I haven't done it in years. Fixing or replacing the PCB is your best option apart from sending it to a forensics company and paying through the nose to retrieve your data.

spapakons · Jul 6, 2023

If I could find the appropriate part number of the PCB, I could replace it. I have done it in the past for a Seagate disk and rescued it. But you can hardly find it here in Greece and my best bet is getting it abroad from eBay. Sending the disk in a professional recovery service would cost a fortune I am not willing to pay.

Scannerman · Jul 6, 2023

spapakons said:
If I could find the appropriate part number of the PCB, I could replace it. I have done it in the past for a Seagate disk and rescued it. But you can hardly find it here in Greece and my best bet is getting it abroad from eBay. Sending the disk in a professional recovery service would cost a fortune I am not willing to pay.

Yeah, I hear ya. I rarely ever do this sort of thing and when I do I always let my client know that it is their money they are risking because there is no guarantee that I will be able to retrieve their data. When the controller is gone she's gone! It's a gamble. Alas, there are some little old ladies who are willing to take the risk and bless their hearts I've managed to save the data for all of them this way (with the exception of one who I just didn't have the heart to charge.) Family pictures, projects, and videos etc. are so very precious to some people and I am no exception in this regard. All of the controllers that I ever bought for recovery projects such as the one you are contemplating were from Ebay. I'm not sure whether I've ever done this with a WD drive. I've definitely done it with Seagate 3.5" drives. Come to think of it, that last drive that didn't work out might have been a WD drive. You have to be very careful with the PCB because some of those contacts are spring loaded. lol I wish you the best.

RJARRRPCGP · Sep 17, 2023

Ghot said:
Something is overheating. That's why you have to wait, to be able to Start the computer again.
Could be motherboard, or power supply. Could be CPU thermal paste or even the pump for the water cooler.
If the CPU gets too hot, too fast, it will shut the computer down.

Check the motherboard around the CPU socket... see if there are any bulging or leaking capacitors.
If you find any... you need a new motherboard.

The motherboard can still be bad without bulging or leaking capacitors, but when it takes a while to be able to start again, something is probably getting too hot.

The caps in this pic are bulging AND leaking (silver part on top)...

View attachment 56384

View attachment 56385

OK, just posting this here, even when months old: Where to look for bad caps, especially visibly-bad caps these days, would be in power supplies. They aren't as likely to fail on motherboards as they were in the '00s. Also, they are unlikely to be bad on X58 motherboards, usually socket 775 and earlier. Especially pre-'08 motherboards. And is routine to find them on 2004 motherboards, especially!

Scannerman · Sep 17, 2023

RJARRRPCGP said:
OK, just posting this here, even when months old: Where to look for bad caps, especially visibly-bad caps these days, would be in power supplies. They aren't as likely to fail on motherboards as they were in the '00s. Also, they are unlikely to be bad on X58 motherboards, usually socket 775 and earlier. Especially pre-'08 motherboards. And is routine to find them on 2004 motherboards, especially!

It is said that the exception only proves the rule. Count on me to find the exception.

I'll have to put up a picture of my daughter's LGA 1366 that she's in no rush to have replaced. Definitely has leaked out caps that put out brownish yellow powder all over the board. Takes a lickin' and keeps on tickin'. They just don't make 'em like they used to.