| Author |
Topic: computer melt down |
winston
From:
Frankfort, Kentucky 40601
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Posted 26 Jun 2006 7:17 pm |
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| Hi guys. My computer is a P4 3G with 512 RAM and a 120G hard drive. I had been running Win98 for a year or so and decided to change to xp pro. I installed xp, anti virus, zone alarm, then did all the microsoft updates. I used the computer a couple of hours, turned it off and went to bed. The next morning I turned it on to finish installing my software and the thing would not come on. The thing powers up as I can hear the fans and the tick of the hard drive, case lites work, cdrom lites work and they open. There is no video, sound or usb ports. I tried a new pci video card, no luck. Hooked a new hard drive to it, no luck. I even took out the battery. The 2 things I am thinking of are the power supply? or the motherboard. The board in it is a ASROCK P4S61. Anybody have any suggestions?? thanks winston may |
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Wiz Feinberg
From:
Mid-Michigan, USA
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Posted 26 Jun 2006 9:02 pm
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| Could it be your monitor died? |
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Gary Shepherd
From:
Fox, Oklahoma, USA
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Dave Potter
From:
Texas
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Posted 27 Jun 2006 3:45 am
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The "no sound or usb" to me rules out the monitor - monitor failure wouldn't take out the sound and usb, I wouldn't think. And, if all the lights, fans, and HD are powering up, it's less likely to be the PSU, I'd guess.
So many unrelated (to me) areas affected sounds a lot like the mobo went tango uniform.
Have you tried to boot to safe mode? WinXP will not function with a lot of older hardware, and there's a compatibility list you can check (assuming you can get online) to see if any of your stuff might be affected. Long shot, but if you're using something that's not compatible with WinXP, it might manifest itself by fouling your system up.
Last thought: With everything powered down, remove all the PCI cards except your video card and see what happens. If it works, put them in again, one by one, and you'll find the one that's causing the problem. Of course, the culprit could actually *be* the video card, but if you tried two, that would tend to reduce that possibility.[This message was edited by Dave Potter on 27 June 2006 at 04:53 AM.] |
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winston
From:
Frankfort, Kentucky 40601
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Posted 27 Jun 2006 6:16 am
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Thanks for the suggestions. There is nothing wrong with the monitor, I am using it now. I have another computer hooked up to it now. I cannot boot to the safe mode without a monitor. There is no signal going to the monitor at all. If I had downloaded a virus it seems to me that avg would have caught it. I have tried a second video card since I posted, still nothing. I am beginning to think about the motherboard but hate to buy one if it is not necessary. Does anyone know if a power supply could go bad and power only part of the motherboard?
thanks again Winston May |
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Dave Potter
From:
Texas
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Posted 27 Jun 2006 8:11 am
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| There is nothing wrong with the monitor, I am using it now. |
I expected that.
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| I cannot boot to the safe mode without a monitor. |
Well, theoretically, it would be possible, but you'd have to hit F8 just right.
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| There is no signal going to the monitor at all. If I had downloaded a virus it seems to me that avg would have caught it. I have tried a second video card since I posted, still nothing. |
I think it's unlikely a virus would disable your monitor. The scumbags who write malware like you to be able to see what they've done. Still sounds like the mobo to me.
| Quote: |
| Does anyone know if a power supply could go bad and power only part of the motherboard? |
Sure. Anything's possible. The PSU for a P4 supplies four different voltages: 1.5v, 3.3v, 5v, and 12v. Your 12v is OK, I think, that's for the fans. Dunno about the others.
PSUs are pretty cheap. It's not a bad thing to keep around as a spare, even if it turns out not to be the problem. Buy more power than you need - sometime, you'll need it. |
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Papa Joe Pollick
From:
Swanton, Ohio
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Posted 27 Jun 2006 9:08 am
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Winston,same thing happened to me.I used my win98 start-up floppy to boot up.Safe mode..Found nothing wrong,so rebooted using the Win XP Pro CD,and every thing worked.Still runnin fine.Worth a shot,try it.PJ
p.s.be sure to tell cmos to boot from floppy before tryin this.. |
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Dave Potter
From:
Texas
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Posted 27 Jun 2006 10:49 am
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Good idea, but, the problem is, if there's nothing on the screen, it's tough to tell cmos anything  |
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Jon Moen
From:
Canada
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Posted 27 Jun 2006 10:58 am
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| Can you get to the bios screen? |
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Wiz Feinberg
From:
Mid-Michigan, USA
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Posted 27 Jun 2006 11:13 am
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Winston;
You can have the PSU checked by the Geek Squad at Best Buy, or any nearby computer builder or TV repair shop.
Other things you can check out are as follows:
* Make sure all RAM modules are tight in their sockets
* Check to see if the CPU heatsink has come loose, or it's plastic cradle has cracked, allowing it to lift slightly off the CPU.
* Make sure all plug-in cards are seated firmly and screwed to the chassis at the back.
* Make sure all power plugs are firmly seated in the MB.
* Check all cables to all drives.
* Test the BIOS battery to see if it is dead.
------------------
Bob "Wiz" Feinberg
Moderator of the SGF Computers Forum
Visit my Wiztunes Steel Guitar website at: http://www.wiztunes.com/
or my computer troubleshooting website: Wizcrafts Computer Services,
or my Webmaster Services webpage.
Learn about current computer virus and security threats here.
Read Wiz's Blog for security news and update notices
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Papa Joe Pollick
From:
Swanton, Ohio
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Posted 27 Jun 2006 12:00 pm
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Very true Dave,but if he can boot with the 98 start-up floppy,it should activate the display..mine did.PJ
And like Wiz said,reseat the RAM mod.and CPU.Another thing we all need to do is blow the dust out of it.One little partictal of dust can cause a malfuntion.[This message was edited by Papa Joe Pollick on 27 June 2006 at 01:07 PM.] |
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winston
From:
Frankfort, Kentucky 40601
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Posted 27 Jun 2006 1:10 pm
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| Good idea Wiz, I will reseat the CPU. I have replaced the RAM and blowed out the system. I will try the win98 boot disc but I don't think it will work. I will keep everyone informed. Winston May |
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Dave Potter
From:
Texas
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Posted 27 Jun 2006 2:16 pm
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| but if he can boot with the 98 start-up floppy,it should activate the display |
If the problem is hardware-related, preventing *any* signal from getting from the mobo to the monitor, as indications seem to be, no alternate boot source will fix that. He'll have to resolve the hardware issue first. |
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winston
From:
Frankfort, Kentucky 40601
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Posted 27 Jun 2006 7:53 pm
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| I tried resetting the CPU, no luck. Tried the 98 boot disk, still no luck. Will try again tomorrow. thanks winston |
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winston
From:
Frankfort, Kentucky 40601
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Posted 28 Jun 2006 9:36 am
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| Just tried a new power supply, no luck. I ordered a new motherboard, hopefully this will fix it. thanks to all Winston May |
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Dave Potter
From:
Texas
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Posted 28 Jun 2006 12:18 pm
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Looks like you've exhausted everything else.
Hope the new mobo does the trick. Let us know. |
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winston
From:
Frankfort, Kentucky 40601
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Posted 30 Jun 2006 7:51 pm
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| I'M FIXED. A new motherboard did the trick. thanks to all. Winston May |
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Papa Joe Pollick
From:
Swanton, Ohio
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Posted 1 Jul 2006 5:30 am
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Winston,
Great news.I had been waiting for your report.Have fun..PJ |
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Wiz Feinberg
From:
Mid-Michigan, USA
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Posted 1 Jul 2006 9:00 am
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| Winston. Please let us know what brand and model/revision your defective motherboard was. |
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winston
From:
Frankfort, Kentucky 40601
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Posted 1 Jul 2006 9:48 am
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Wiz
It was an ASROCK P4S61 motherboard. Winston |
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Wiz Feinberg
From:
Mid-Michigan, USA
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winston
From:
Frankfort, Kentucky 40601
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Posted 1 Jul 2006 10:32 am
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Wiz
I changed the board myself. I cannot see anything wrong with the old one but that doesn't mean much to me. All I know is when I installed the new one the computer came back. Funny but the hard drive did not want to bootup. I reinstalled xp and everything is fine. I have changed several boards and this is the first time the hard drive would not boot. Something damaged the files??? I am sure the problems are connected.
Winston |
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Wiz Feinberg
From:
Mid-Michigan, USA
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Posted 1 Jul 2006 12:34 pm
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Winston;
Look closely at the capacitors on the old motherboard. Check to see if they are leaking fluid, or bulging. This is a known cause of MB failures.
Under Windows 2000 and XP if the bootsector gets corrupted you can rebuild it from the Recovery Console, using the command: FIXBOOT
Using the fixboot command without any parameters will write a new partition boot sector to the system partition you are logged on to.
You can also rebuild the Master Boot Record by using the command: FIXMBR
If you do not specify a device_name, a new master boot record will be written to the boot device, which is the drive on which your primary system is loaded.
Recovery Console is available on licensed Windows 2000 and XP CDs. Boot from the CD and after it stops detecting hardware there will be an option screen where you can repair the Windows installation using the Recovery Console. Select that option, wait for the text to come to a halt, then log onto your boot drive, usually C. If there is only one Windows installation and it's on the C partition, just press 1 to logon to it. If you have an administrator password saved you might need to type it in when prompted.
Once you are logged onto the boot drive run the above mentioned commands. For good measure also run CHKDSK /P to scan for and fix file system errors. When you are done with that type EXIT to restart and let it boot normally.
------------------
Bob "Wiz" Feinberg
Moderator of the SGF Computers Forum
Visit my Wiztunes Steel Guitar website at: http://www.wiztunes.com/
or my computer troubleshooting website: Wizcrafts Computer Services,
or my Webmaster Services webpage.
Learn about current computer virus and security threats here.
Read Wiz's Blog for security news and update notices
[This message was edited by Wiz Feinberg on 01 July 2006 at 01:37 PM.] |
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Dave Potter
From:
Texas
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Posted 1 Jul 2006 4:46 pm
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| Did I miss something important here? I thought Winston said he was back up and running. Why would he want to do all those checks? |
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Wiz Feinberg
From:
Mid-Michigan, USA
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Posted 1 Jul 2006 9:31 pm
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| Winston said he was having intermittent problems with his hard drive, that's why I mentioned the Recovery Console commands for repairing bad sectors. |
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