PC won't boot up

Greetings,

I have been running into some frustrating issues with my PC over the last few days.
Whenever I put the machine into sleep mode and then try to wake it up about 5 or 6 hours later, Windows fails to boot entirely; instead, I am met with a "Loading system error" message.
I have attempted to perform a hard reset, but to no avail—the result is always the same.
The only way to get things working again is to completely shut down the computer using the power button, unplug it from the wall, plug it back in, and then restart.
However, as soon as I put it back into sleep mode, the exact same problem recurs.
I have already taken the liberty of running several security scans using AVG, Malwarebytes, Microsoft Security Essentials, and Super Delete, and everything indicates that both the system and the disk are perfectly fine.
The computer is four years old, and until this recent development, it has been incredibly reliable without a single hiccup.
It is worth noting that I haven't installed any new software or applied any updates in at least two weeks.

Does anyone have any advice on how to resolve this?

Best regards,

I’m leaning toward this being a software issue—honestly, you might just need to wipe the drive and do a clean install of Windows to get everything running smoothly again. That's just my take on it...

Larry Ortiz5 said:I suspect this is a software issue. Honestly, your best bet might be to wipe the drive and perform a clean installation of Windows. That’s just my take on it..

How does it suddenly start acting up after four years of perfect service? There has to be a specific trigger, right?
I’ll admit, I’m far from being a computer expert...
Could someone walk me through the process?
The PC I received already had Windows 7 installed, so I have absolutely no idea how to actually reinstall the OS myself.
I did find a DVD labeled "Windows 7 recovery Media for Windows 7 product. For distribution with new pc only. 32 bit 64bit English / Spanish".
Is this the actual installation disc? (It says "recovery," which implies repair, doesn't it?)

http://windows7themes.net/en-us/fix-...rating-system/

Thank you.

I did some digging online and stumbled upon several sites suggesting I run a few S.M.A.R.T. diagnostic tools on my hard drive. I went ahead and ran the official Western Digital utility just to be certain, and the drive passed the test without any issues.

Could the culprit be something else entirely?

Go ahead and check the Event Viewer; you can find it under Administrative Tools in the Control Panel.

You should see something listed under Critical errors - click 2 x to open it up and grab the error code—something like 0xC00000...

From what I can tell, this Windows installation hasn't been touched in four years—which means who knows how much digital junk or malware has piled up in the background? Honestly, I still think a clean wipe and a fresh install would be the best way to fix this issue.

Look, if he’s saying he doesn't know... honestly, his best bet is just to ask someone for help. That’d be the smartest move here, truth be told.

[B says:
darkowl72[/B];55971356]Why don't you check the Event Viewer? You can find it under Administrative Tools within the Control Panel.

You should see something listed under Critical errors - click 2 x to open it up and identify the specific error code—something along the lines of 0xC00000...

]

Under Custom views-administrative events:
The list is quite extensive; some entries are marked red (errors) while others are yellow (warnings).
However, there is no error code visible here, only these categories:
level, date and time, source, event ID, and Task category.
Where on earth is the actual code?

@Larry Ortiz5:
So, what you're saying is that every couple of years, one simply needs to reinstall Windows and format the hard drive?

ambergull said:]

Under Custom views-administrative events:
There are quite a few listed—some show up in red (errors) and others in yellow (warnings).
The columns available are just:
level, date and time, source, event ID, and Task category.
Where's the error code?

@Larry Ortiz5/">@@Larry Ortiz5:
So, does that mean I should just reinstall Windows and wipe my hard drive every couple of years?

Honestly, you probably should. Think about it—over those four years, you’ve likely installed and uninstalled dozens of programs, right? You end up with all sorts of leftover junk files. Plus, there’s always the chance you picked up some random malware, or your browser history and cache just start piling up. It's a lot of unwanted clutter. If you were to just format the drive and install a fresh version of Windows, you wouldn't believe how much faster your computer would feel.

Larry Ortiz5 said:Absolutely, because let’s be real—over those four years, you’ve probably installed and uninstalled at least 50 different programs. You’re left with all sorts of digital residue, not to mention any random viruses or malware that might have snuck in, plus your entire web browsing history and mountains of other unwanted junk. Honestly, if you were to just wipe the hard drive and perform a fresh installation of macOS, you wouldn't believe how much faster the computer would actually run.

I regularly scan my PC for viruses and clear out my history using tools like CCleaner.
I don't really have that many programs running, maybe about 20 or so.
I think I'll just ask a friend to handle the deep cleaning once I have some free time, since I'm not exactly an expert at this stuff.

While I was Googling my issue, I stumbled upon an article suggesting I check the SATA cables for the hard drive and the DVD drive, so I gave that a shot. It turns out the cable was slightly loose! I reseated it, and it's been working perfectly for two days now. I even tested it by shutting it down after about an hour of use and putting it into sleep mode just to see if it would wake up properly. Everything is fine now. I'm still a bit baffled, though—how does a cable wiggle loose when I never even touch the case unless I'm dusting it?...

Anyway, thanks to everyone for the help.