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my_pc_makes_me_cry
Member
Joined: 02 Jun 2007
Posts: 1
Location: Chelmsford
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 Posted: Sat Jun 02, 2007 2:09 pm Post subject: PC lock-up at boot - any ideas? |
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Hi,
I have a desktop PC, a Carrera SSC Octan, with the following components:
~Leadtek NForce2+Graphics motherboard
~AMD Athlon 2600 XP Processor
~2x 256mb DDR 333 RAM
~80GB Hitachi Deskstar HD
~128MB Radeon 9600 graphics card
~Soundblaster Live 1024
~Sony DVD R/RW (not sure of speed but slow... 4x or so I think)
~16x unknown make CD/DVD drive
~230v Power Supply Unit
~56k internal modem, internal floppy drive and 2 or 3 fans.
(It is rather old, almost 4 years in fact, but I can't afford to replace it... It's either fairly cheap repair or no PC. Please bear that in mind because I expect if the problem is difficult to cure, there might be a temptation to say "Dump it". There's also a lot of data and pictures I don't want to lose on the HD...)
The Problem
From the beginning: The PC did sometimes make an ear-piercing beeping noise at startup... Everything would work fine but the beep would persist until the computer was turned off. I have to say this had been going on for a while but as it was intermittent, and because it's my nature, I ignored it. On the fateful day, I used the computer as normal in the morning and it worked fine (not even the beep!), went out for the day, tried it again in the twilight hours but now it would boot to the stage of the "Windows XP" logo appearing and the horizontally scrolling loading bar making a few runs, but then the monitor turned to standby and everything else stopped - drives wouldn't eject, reset button didn't work... It's been that way ever since, expect sometimes, if pressed quickly enough after turning power on, the drives would eject and sometimes it wouldn't get as far as the Windows XP logo...
What's been tried
Friends of mine looked at it and suggested all manner of possibles (none are expert by any means), from graphics card fault to software fault to RAM to HD to Power Supply... As I alluded to above, I'm not at all well-off. In fact, it wouldn't be inaccurate to say I'm quite poor for various personal/family reasons that have come up over the past couple of years. Therefore, I can't just write it off and buy another PC so I really hope someone can give me a more specific idea of what's likely to be wrong...
I've opened the tower up and pressed everything to make sure connected okay - No change.
I've gotten ERD Commander, to bypass Windows XP in case that was at fault - No change (the ERD Commander screen started to come up, then the same thing of monitor to standby and everything locking up).
I've taken it to 2 different Computer Repair places, the first returned it saying they didn't know what the problem was, perhaps the motherboard. The second place said they thought it was probably the motherboard but the cost of them finding a replacement and fitting was a lot more than I can really afford (£100 at least) and they wouldn't guarantee that solving it...
I've bought a second-hand Motherboard, the exact same make and model, and a friend switched the old one out for it - No change except now it doesn't get to the Windows XP logo stage before the lock-up, it just locks up straight away.
Evertime it's locked-up, the LED below the power on/off button stays lit. When the pc was working properly, that light only came on when the HD was being accessed. That makes me wonder/fearful that the problem is with the HD 
Could there have been a power surge that's done something, while I was out? Could it be the second (replacement) motherboard is also faulty (bought from eBay, from a reputable seller who said it came from a working PC) or the leads were not put into it properly? Could the HD be at fault? The Power supply? I suppose it could be all manner of things, but if any kind enough to read and reply could start with what they think is most likely...
Sorry the post has turned out long, I just wanted to put as much detail as I can. I'm not an expert with PCs by any means so I don't know what the most pertinent information would be...
Any suggestions anyone would care to make would be very much appreciated  |
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Stevo
GURU
Joined: 09 Apr 2006
Posts: 308
Location: Tennessee
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| Posted: Sun Jun 03, 2007 9:54 pm Post subject: Re: PC lock-up at boot - any ideas? |
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OK...the first thing I would do is switch back to the old motherboard. If the new one is the tinsiest bit different from the old one, the computer won't start (which adds to your problem). That is, unless you find something like this on your old motherboard (*after previewing post: that is one BIG PICTURE, but I have no idea how to make it smaller - and I really don't care  )
New or old mobo, do the fans spin when you press the power button? Does the hard drive turn on (feel it carefully - it probably won't shock you  )? If the fans aren't spinning, then that pretty much narrows your problem down to power supply and mobo (and I guess the fans could be broken too). If the hard drive isn't spinning, but the fans are, then there is probably a problem with your hard drive (worst case scenerio - you lose all your data ) If the fans and hard drive are spinning, turn the PC off, and unplug everything (mouse, keyboard, printer, etc) and try to start it again. If that doesn't work, I suppose you could have bad or mis-seated memory. To check that, carefully remove, dust off (don't touch), and re-seat each of your RAM sticks (get help if you need it). So far, I have tried almost everything I know to do without spending any money, however there is another member on this board (Davy) who can probably help you better than I can (i'm a software guy). I'll let him know you're here, but this is the old (see below) forum, and i'm not sure he stops by often anymore.
As a side note, your post has to be the best one content wise that i've seen in all of my 300+ replies. I wish others (including myself) could put their thoughts in print like you!
Good luck!
Stevo
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Stevo
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Joined: 09 Apr 2006
Posts: 308
Location: Tennessee
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