computer problem, help is appreciated

This morning my computer just decides not to boot up. It will turn on, and the keyboard will flash for a second then nothing else happens. Fan keeps going but nothing else seems to be working; nothing on the monitor. Is this a sign of my CPU burned out or perhaps other hardware problems? I know for certain it is not software because it would atleast display something. Any help would be appreciated.

 

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Hmmmm could be a bios problem, are there any beeps when you turn it on?
Cant really say without more info

 

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asdf

When I turn it on, no beeps, only quick flash from my keyboard, CPU fan stays on, and LED lights on CPU stays on when I turn on PC. And now when I turn it on, it stays on for couple second and turns off again. Went to couple troubleshoot web sites and they said this was the symptom of a friend CPU. I have a AMD Anthlon XP 2600 CPU and a MSI K7N2 Delta-L motherboard. Went to a couple of sites and learned this is exactly the symptoms of a friend CPU. I have a powerful fan and didnt overclock my CPU so hopefully I can send it to AMD and get a replacement.

 

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One thing to check would be the MBR (master boot record.) First -- try using a boot disk. See if you can get into your computer that way. If you have windows xp, you can use the recovery console on the install cd to fix your computer.

If the computer is not booting anything at all, then it could be a problem with the bios, as harris suggested.

Processors arent supposed to get fried that easily. But it happens..

 

Well this is what I think, It might help or might not:

Firstly use a boot disk if a written error is appearing on your screen like "Harddrive error" or "harddrive not found".

The boot sequence usually passes through stages, First it's the System Bios like Ram checks, then keyboard checks, then it attempts to find any Drives and Scsi adapters and once thats all complete it looks for a Boot record on your first harddrive and tries to boot. If the records corrupt it will fail.

It sounds to me though that your problem either stems to BIOS or a card/ram has been shifted from it's connection.

Check that your BIOS information hasn't altered. Sometimes it's possible to put the wrong configuration in a BIOS and it will do exactly how you describe, so what you have to do is find the jumper on the board that is related to the BIOS/CMOS and move the jumper to the correct pins for a few seconds and back again, once you reboot it should force your system into BIOS mode, where you can reset your information. (very useful for when you upgrade hardware etc)

If you have moved your machine recently or even opened it, make sure all your cards/Ram is in firmly (don't push too hard though, don't want you breaking things)

Next make sure that if you have removed any peripheral cables like the ones to the harddrive that you've replaced them the right way up, and that the cable is rigged in the correct sequence to multiple drives and any jumpers are picked for each harddrive correctly.

(Sometimes errors can occur from having the jumpers rigged for two masters, or two slave, or one cable select and a slave or master etc. Other times the cable plugged into the back of the harddrive or even to the board is the wrong way round.)

Once you've debugged your hardware issues then it leaves the question of your bootup.

Hope this gives you a clue how to fix your prob.

 

asdf

Hey thanx guys, but i cant even get a display on the monitor. I know its not the monitor nor the vid card. The computer is just like dead when i turn it on, a brief flash of light on the keyboard and nothing else, the fans on the vid card, cpu, and powersupply still run but I think the CPU is fried, im trying to purchase a used cpu from around my dorm or from friends in my hometown to replace the cpu for now until amd fixes/replace it.

 

If there is no bleep then i reckon its a bios or motherboard problem, as if the bios was working then it would make the right number of bleeps to indicate what was wrong, how old is your mobo? the bios battery might simply be flat you never know

Save the trees eat a beaver!

 

asdf

Most likely its the CPU or RAM since the monitor doesnt display anything or no beeps upon bootup. Will swap parts with my friend's PC tuesday to single out the problem.

 

The cable that plugs into the back of your monitor has come loose.

 

asdf

lol i wish, trust me, i checked EVERYTHING, and most likely cause is ram or cpu

 

Another possible culprit is the power supply. Of course, in a case like this, there are the usual obvious suspects, and then there is everything else. But with luck, you'll find the bad part on your first try.

 

If at first you dont suceed give up... no wait
If at first you dont suceed get a bigger hammer
Good luck dont forget to earth yourself before handling your RAM (or touching any part of your mobo) or you could end up spiking the chips.

Save the tree's eat a beaver!

 

Oh one more thing about potential reason for problem, If you have just recently purchased DDR ram, did you get the right type?

If your running a too slow type in comparison to what the board is outputting then your going to end up with system problems. (like it not booting). If your BIOS allows multiple types of RAM but your not getting to the BIOS to change it, then you will have to use the jumper method as mentioned in the motherboards manual to clear the BIOS. Then you can enter the correct RAM type.

Other things for maintanence that I've mentioned it before but here we go again:

When messing with your system make sure you remove all the external power cables (If they are left in they can leave a charge along the cable).

When your inside and want to pull boards etc, the best way of earthing if you haven't got proper earthing kits is to touch the insides of the box while moving boards etc. (This might not be called grounding but it does cause the neutralising of static)

When placing a chip or board onto a motherboard, you sometimes have to get firm just be careful that you don't get too firm with it as you could cause board damage by bending the motherboard through too much force.

If you find yourself getting upset at the whole issue of sorting the system out (you can't debug it or you have just had enough), take some time out as it will lessen your chances of breaking anything and allow you to refresh your perspective on what you are doing.

Admittedly Boards are really difficult to clean of dust, one suggested method is a toothbrush (not an electric one or one you use) and occasionally Cotton buds.

Cleaning boards is useful to remove some errors that occur from dust creating "archs" that short out the board/processor.

Notibly the most occurances of arching are down to using a Screwdriver that causes damage to screws when being tightened/untightened. little metal fragments can come of the screws from this, advice there is to seek the screws that can be tightened/untightened by the thumb and forefinger. (they usually have plastic grip caps on the screws)

Coolant paste comes in useful with CPU's as it increases the conductivity of the processor to the heatsink (and in turn fan). If there isn't enough conductivity then the heat will stay with the processor and potentiall increases the risk of damage through temperature.

Make sure that your power supply is large enough to deal with the board, CPU, graphics card and box fans. Sometimes people have placed loads of fans fearing there computer would get too hot without them and then realise there isn't enough power to run everything effectively. (when replacing power supplies make sure they run with the same charge values of the one your replacing for things like the board. you don't want to be pushing 5volts through a board that originally was 3.1volts)