disk boot failure

>>>when I come to work in the morning my pc is left powered on

So you left the power running is this correct? If so then perhaps the power went out at your home and it tried to reboot but something took place that did not allow it to happen. If it is boots ok now then I suspect you this was just abberation.



The Crazy One

You need to check that you have updated hardware drivers for all of your components - especially video.  You should also check that you have all patches applied by looking at Windows Update.
Also look at the power scheme you have set up.

To choose a power scheme
Open Power Options in Control Panel.
Under Power Schemes, select the power scheme you want. The power settings you see will change depending on the power scheme you choose.
 Notes

To open Power Options, click Start, click Control Panel, and then double-click Power Options.
Preset time settings appear in the Turn off monitor and Turn off hard disks lists on the Power Schemes tab. You can change these settings by clicking the arrow and then clicking the time you want.
You can create a new power scheme by clicking the time settings you want, clicking Save As, and typing a name.
Using Power Options in Control Panel, you can adjust any power management option that your computer's unique hardware configuration supports. Because these options may vary widely from computer to computer, the options described may differ from what you see. Power Options automatically detects what is available on your computer and shows you only the options that you can control.

Here's a simpler explanation, but basically similar to what slink9 said. Right-click on desktop, click on Properties. Click on the Screen Saver tab, click on Power button. Set System Standby and Hibernates to Never.

If you really want these power saver modes, you can do a lot of experimentation and fiddling, but they are often unreliable. You can leave the monitor off and hard drive off settings pretty much wherever you want them.

That was directly from the XP help file.  Some people want a direct explanation, some want complete info.  This is probably the case where direct was desired.

There's nothing wrong with your answer. I just try to keep things simple when I can. It's a tough balancing act, especially in a bulletin board format like this one when feedback is gonna be slow. In person, you can watch to see if their eyes glaze over, and switch gears. LOL. Part of the fun of participating here is being able to teach people new useful skills, but sometimes a 1.2.3. simple answer is better.

For a detailed explanation, TechRepublic has a good article:
http://www.techrepublic.com/article.jhtml?id=r00620021115shu01.htm&fromtm=e101-1
You might have to join to reach the link, but it is free. The full power management only works with ACPI compliant hardware. It talks about that in the article.

The only thing I was saying is that I usually take the wrong approach.  When I try to be brief someone else comes along and gives detail and is accepted.  When I give detail all the questioner wanted was brevity.  You win some and you lose some.  I am getting close to 1/2 mil in points so I guess I have won a few.

I only registered here a couple of months ago. My points are about 8100. Often it's the first answer that wins, and that makes sense. Sometimes I can guess from the question what sort of answer they want, sometimes not.

You will be surprised at how quickly the points build up if you remain active.  The points aren't worth much.  They may institute the t-shirt rewards again.  They were pretty nice looking t-shirts.  I never got my 100k shirt, either.

It's fun helping people, and there's the glory of it all.
;-)
Too bad about the shirt. I did notice the blurb about trying to do tshirts again. So long as its fun and I have the time, I will probably continue.

I appreciate ur help, I believe that it was a heat problem.

Selkib you are absolutely right this problem is definetly caused by heat.  i'd recommend a couple of Case fans for your system you can pick them up quite cheap.

Start with one case fan, unless you have a very large power supply. Cost should be under $10. verify that you have an unused power plug available, or also get a splitter cable and put the fan on the plug for something like your floppy drive that doesn't get used often.
 Also make sure your PC is on a good quality surge suppressor or on an uninterruptible power supply.

No comment has been added lately, so it's time to clean up this TA.
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AlbertaBeef
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