My computer is knackered

[mole973102]

I got the rescue CD yesterday, and for some bizarre reason my computer now refuses to do anything. It is so dead that the monitor immediately goes into power save mode (ie: the computer isn't even getting to the BIOS screen stage).

I have tried just about everything I (and my PC techy friend) can think of and I suspect the motherboard is now kaput too. God knows how that can has happened given that it was still (trying to) boot XP the last time I used the bloody machin. Now it is totaly and utterly dead.

I am going to try to win a new motherboard on eBay in an hour or so's time and hope that I can get it at least trying to boot again, then I can try the rescue.

A totally frustrating experience. I now hate PC's a lot more than I did before!

StevePSB

Still sounds software related to me - software doesn't kill a PC; except a virus with flash wiping capabilities. Modern PCs with a damaged BIOS even so can still be fixed - done it. You have to make a disk that boots with the image file set to reprogram the BIOS. Modern BIOSs tend to have a part of the chip that will always boot a floppy repair disk regardless of the main data getting destroyed. I don't think this is your problem though. I hope I don't have to do this again, you are blind and its awkward.

May I suggest the following to try as stage 1.
1) Replace the BIOS battery and see if you can enter the BIOS. Also leave it out for five minutes before replacing. Once in you will need to tweak the settings obviously, like boot sequence etc. Remember you may need to set the CDROM to boot then C:

2) If still no joy, disconnect drives at the motherboard and try and enter BIOS.
If the BIOS now lets you in, the drive has an issue that is the problem. Otherwise it has to be hardware related. I could fix it if near you, but usually said person tends out to be at the opposite end of the country. Battery sounds a likely candidate.

3) Take all cards out except for graphics card. Also have no drives. Will it boot now. It's trial and error I'm afraid. How dusty is the PC? The processor can over time need new heatsink between fan and processor. I have found this to be a common cause. I bought a new PC and fixed my old (eventually) but it took a while to work out the cause. I don't like messing with the processor, but was that what it was.

* * * *

If your drive is playing up causing the PC to misbehave etc and you replace the drive, what you could try is buying a cable off e-bay to convert the old drive to run off a USB port. Once back in Windows, recover the data off the old using USB.

[mole973102]

When I fixed an old Pentium 233MMX recently I use for unlocking old Nokias on and playing, I upgraded a faulty drive. After a BIOS file that I hacked to support larger drives was flashed to it, my PC could now see my new drive* no problem. For speed, I put the old drive on USB on my main PC and used Acronis to image the C to an image file. Then I imaged the image file to the new drive and put this one in the PC. The Pentium is too slow and fiddly you see. Makes a good backup system for PSB music though. Gone from 6.4gb and 4gb to 80gb and 40gb!

*Early BIOSes can have a bug that prevents larger drives (up to 137GB working). It can be fixed though using a tool that is freeware. It scans the latest BIOS downloadable and looks for the bugs - all BIOSes start off with the same code. It then fixes the bugs. You then flash this to your PC and all is well. Very fiddly and you have to test it before you can remove the test code. The test code causes some issues, but when sure it works, after removing that option, it can restore an old PC!

I also used a leaked BIOS tool to change the BIOS version info.
So my patched one says v1.4s not v1.3s and the date is now 11/04/08. I gave the modified file to a BIOS forum. This is why I am called Mole. And I'm shortsighted.

[StevePSB]

Tried:

Removing some and all drives. No joy.
Removing all but boot drive and changing jumper to master. No joy.
Removing and replacing battery. No joy.
Moving CMOS jumper to clear. No joy.

Because of these measures I've taken to no avail, I have come to the conclusion the motherboard is dead. I've just got one off eBay (from America) so await it's arrival before I can try again.

If that fails then I will be very annoyed, and I suspect the 'buy a new PC' project I had on the back burner for early next year will have to come forward and I was indeed thinking of connecting the old drives via USB to recover the files I need off the drives in my current machine.


StevePSB

[Electronic Dave]

Could I just mention that it could be a faulty PSU (Power Supply Unit)...usually when a old PC starts playing up I found it to be the PSU as they do get old and dusty -they gradually fail anyway (especially some cheap generic brands). If the voltages are irregular than the PC may suffer system instability, not boot properly or even worse possibly damage the motherboard making the problem worse. The fact that it won't POST suggests either a faulty motherboard or faulty PSU.

With comments mentioned here I've never actually come across a faulty or dead processor - they are very reliable and can go on for many years. Just make sure the fan/heatsink is dust free and clear of obstruction. Most parts in that computer can be re-used if you do gut it and build a new one.

StevePSB has your techie friend checked the PSU? wish you were nearer as I do have a testing spare unit and also an Antec PSU tester. Was the computer freezing before or throwing the odd BSOD? I tend not to write a motherboard off until I've tested the PSU, graphics card and memory modules first...

[gregf]

I think your on the right track.

If PSU hums/blows, probably ok.
So a m/b issue.

I always have a U.P.S. Uninterrupted Power Supply. Very common here.
Mains powers get spikes and surges that cause problems like your describing.
i.e. PSU or m/b.

I also run a similar/simpler unit for my plasma+AVR (amplifier) etc.

[mole973102]

Could I just mention that it could be a faulty PSU (Power Supply Unit)...usually when a old PC starts playing up I found it to be the PSU as they do get old and dusty -they gradually fail anyway (especially some cheap generic brands). If the voltages are irregular than the PC may suffer system instability, not boot properly or even worse possibly damage the motherboard making the problem worse. The fact that it won't POST suggests either a faulty motherboard or faulty PSU.

When I build a PC, I tend to go for a minimum PSU of 550, though my main machine is higher because newer specs need more power. It also has two CDROMs and three SATAs in it.

With comments mentioned here I've never actually come across a faulty or dead processor - they are very reliable and can go on for many years. Just make sure the fan/heatsink is dust free and clear of obstruction. Most parts in that computer can be re-used if you do gut it and build a new one.

Yes, if the PSU has popped, doesn't mean the board, RAM, graphics or CPU necessarily has.
I've never had hardware go wrong with exception of the odd PSU and the odd graphics card.
The PSU can go and CPU fan can need reseating. Don't think I've ever had the RAM or processor just 'die' yet - hope not to either.

StevePSB has your techie friend checked the PSU? wish you were nearer as I do have a testing spare unit and also an Antec PSU tester. Was the computer freezing before or throwing the odd BSOD? I tend not to write a motherboard off until I've tested the PSU, graphics card and memory modules first...

A motherboard cannot go funny just from installing Windows, so it would be worth replacing the PSU - a very good point. I've occurred this several times too - in fact a friend's pc had this very problem - clogged up with dust and went 'pop'. Yes, try changing that and if that is not the cause, then the motherboard. If it is dead with you trying what I suggested before this post, it has to be a power issue really.

I changed a PSU once because it was causing my USB ports to play up.

When you change the motherboard, you'll have to reseat the CPU. That can be a cause - I've found the CPU fan can cause many problems if the sealant over time has dried out and not cooling the CPU properly. Also take it apart and dust it out with a paintbrush. I tend to wipe off the naff default sealant square that you peel off (on the fan's purchase) with special fluid and seat the fan properly with a decent heatsink of around £7.99. If is making a racket, buy a new fan entirely.

****

Nothing to do with this post, but I recently had to replace a cooling fan in my pc as it kept going, er..er.. and getting annoying. The new one had an adapter with it, but only one connector, no through power connector for my DVDROM.

What I did was chopped the fan off the old connectors and then you can buy these 'screw two wires together' plastic type connectors from Wilkinson around 29p area and you cut off two (so they're joined). The new fan had an adapter with it that changed three wires into two (same as the old connectors), so for neatness I stuck a bit of superglue on the adapter and glued it to the fan's three wire connector - changing it into two wires. Then I chopped the end off this adapter cable and screwed/joined it to the previous cables.

Moral - There is always a way round these annoyances.

[StevePSB]

The PSU seems fine as the drives are spinning up, my DVD drives are spinning up, the (separately powered) fan on my graphics card is spinning, as are the CPU fan and the case exhaust fan.

The computer itself is kept internally quite clean and it definitely isn't clogged with dust/dirt.

My motherboard has shipped, but from America it is likely to be 2-3 weeks.


StevePSB

[mole973102]

My motherboard has shipped, but from America it is likely to be 2-3 weeks. StevePSB

I don't know...I ordered a US 12" of Liza Minnelli Love Pains to complete the mixes I were missing and that arrived incredibly quick, yet 2x PC2100 RAM (not for any of my machines I might add - too slow!) I've ordered from someone else in the UK (supposively) has taken over two weeks so far and I've filed a dispute. Communication is lousy too.

You never know, might be quicker than you'd think...then again, could take a while...

[mole973102]

...for some bizarre reason my computer now refuses to do anything. It is so dead that the monitor immediately goes into power save mode (ie: the computer isn't even getting to the BIOS screen stage). StevePSB

Have you tried replacing the graphics card with another (even a PCI one temporarily - I keep an old PCI one I got for £5 just for this purpose in a drawer) to test if that is what it is. I did that first before I bought an expensive AGP replacement.

Another thing to try is a different monitor. Unfortunately, is trial and error, take that out, add that, see if goes approach. I really think the motherboard is unlikely, is very odd.

I think what I would do is:
Disconnect HDs, CDROMs...
Take all cards out except graphics card...
Try it...

Change the graphics card.
Try it...

NB: I had a PC I turned on once and the screen kept being bits of it garbled (is in a cold room during Winter months). I opened the PC and rushed it before work (I had work then) to reseat the processor and it was a P4 with the pins on the board. I caught a pin on my jumper in the process - I rushed it and ruined the motherboard.

It later turned out to be the monitor - it died completely; it had got cold I presume and that was what killed it - was a flat screen - just showing garbled. So the least expected proved to be the problem. It went to the dump and I had to also get a new board, like you, off ebay.

Try changing the monitor...
(Doubt it though)

Change the PSU... Get a nice high usage one!
Try it...

Reseat the processor (Be careful cleaning off the old heatsink; use non-static cloth).
Try it... or at this point replace the motherboard and house it on the new one.

Change the RAM...
Try it (though doubt is this)

[glennjridge]

once the fan on my computer once was making quite a racket so I punched the side of the computer and it started working properly. you could try that.

[DazzerUKUK]

I think Chris and Neil should buy you a new Mac.

I gave up on Windows last year.

D

[Corina]

I think Chris and Neil should buy you a new Mac.

Yes, they definitely should! Otherwise, we could think that they are cheap.

[StevePSB]

New motherboard fitted - exactly the same. New PSU fitted - exactly the same.

I've tried just about everything I can, but I can't breathe life back into the bloody machine. God knows what is wrong with it.

Looks like the last option is to buy a new PC, but I expect that is still something that could take a fortnight to sort out.


StevePSB

[StevePSB]

Ordered a new machine. It's a bit of an animal - a (significantly up-specced) Alienware Aurora. As far as Alienware machines go it's relatively modest, but compared with common or garden machines from other companies it will kick some arse!

It has an ETA of 4th December. I should be able to get online straight away with it, but recovering all the stuff needed off my old hard drives and restoring it to my new machine is going to be a long job, I'm sure of that.


StevePSB

[Undertaker]

Could it be something on your old hard drive thats made your P.C go tits up? If there is a possibility, be careful what you try and recover.