I think you need to swap out the power supply. I know you said you had diagnostics run when the HD was replaced but there are no power supply diagnostics I'm aware of. This really does sound like some kind of power problem.
If that isn't the problem I would save my data and start over with a Clean Install. Following is from the Maintenance & Service Guide found here: Manuals for HP Compaq nx8220 NoteBook Computer
Using Altiris Local Recovery
Altiris Local Recovery is a preloaded application that protects the
files on your computer by storing copies of files, called
snapshots. If files on your computer are accidentally deleted or
corrupted, you can easily restore the files yourself. You can also
restore your complete file system to a previous state.
Altiris Local Recovery provides protection of files by backing up
files to a hidden Altiris recovery partition. When you install the
software, the Recovery Agent Partition Wizard guides you
through the process of creating the recovery partition. After the
partition is created, the computer restarts and creates the first
snapshot. After the snapshot is created, the computer restarts,
making the snapshot available for recovery through Windows.
By default, Local Recovery automatically takes snapshots of your
files on a regular basis. You can change the snapshot schedule.
For more information, refer to the Altiris Local Recovery Help.
To access your snapshots in the Altiris Recovery Agent folder:
1. Right-click the Altiris Recovery Agent icon on your desktop.
2. Click Open.
To restore one of the listed snapshots, drag the snapshot file to the
appropriate location on your hard drive.
For more information on configuring and using Altiris Local
Recovery, visit the HP Web site at http://www.hp.com/go/easydeploy,
or open the software and click Help on the menu bar.
Ok I think I have found the problem - overheating!
Beeing more conscious of my computer knowing I have a problem, made me notice that the side case seemed to be rather hot, so I checked if the vent was clogged up but no. So I decided to lift the keyboard and have a look at the fan. The small fan cable connecter block was almost out of it's socket and tilted to one side, clearly either not connecting at all, or a very bad and likely intermittent connection, so I plugged it back securely in.
The machine had cooled and when starting, it fired up instantly and perfectly and is now running with the case hardly warm at all. This will surely be the cause of the restart problems as each successive start will have created more heat to a point where it gradually coped less with each start, the computer's sensors responding to the increasing heat and shutting down at progressive stages during boot up. Once left to run and particularly when left overnight unused it was allowed to cool, which explains why it seemed better to start with on following days.
So I will now check it for a few days to see how it runs and if it is cured. I am hoping no permanent hardware damage has occured.
By the way, I no longer have the Altiris Recovery, as this was lost when the hard drive was replaced, I do however still have the old hard drive but guess it would be quite costly to have it copied over.
bar457
Ztrucker/ terry1966/ Lee
I have just restarted my machine 5 times in a straight row and it behaved perfectly, clearly the fan not working and the overheating was the cause of the problems.
In a strange way, there was a beneficial result from my troubles, as I would not have known about the fan and could have gone on to suffer far worse failures!
My case is now just room temperature so no more overheating.
I would like to thank you all very much for your kind assistance in trying to solve this and your time and persistance, you guys are the best for offering your knowledge to less experienced like myself, I am very grateful.
Many thanks and kind regards
Barry (bar457)
