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Solve : My HP a1230n will not boot up?

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Hey peeps I bought a HP a1230n back in Nov. of 2006 and now it doesn't want to boot up

About three weeks ago it started going into like a sleep mode if we left it idle for a couple of hours( but not alays going into the dead mode, was sporadic) and would not come out by moving mouse or pressing keys including 'esc' and the moon icon, I would have to press power button to restart, sometimes having to release button within a 'microsecond' of power down or it would come right back on and do nothing.
A week ago, we ( my adult children and a few of their friends sometimes use it)were watching some of the presidential funny videos on Youtube and then went in the other room for a couple of hours and again it went blank, but will not reboot.

Symptoms: When I press the power button, the processor light stays solid, for hours, and dosen't blink, both the CD and the DVD Drives blink like normal, and both fans inside the tower are running, harddrive seems to be running wide open continuously. No video or sound at all.

My actions:
I have tried connecting only the keyboard, mouse, and monitor and starting it. I've tried starting the tower with only the power plug connected( still solid processor light).I have taken out the heatsink, processor and fan and reinstalled them smoothing the grease for better coverage( there was about a 40 % restriction from dust/lint on the heatsink so it may have gotten hotter that was good for it, I have vacuumed the interior pretty well now). I have ,one at a time, disconnected each of the two RAMs, I have disconnected the CD and the DVD Drive, I have disconnected the Hard Drive, after all of this, there were times I would get a blink but would soon go solid . A friend checked my processor and the testor said it was good, although he said that wasn't definite, and we tried a new Power Source Unit, same results.I have looked for something broke or burnt but haven't seen anyting with my naked eye( I have't removed the mobo to inspect the bottom side). Monitor is a LCD TV and it is good because we have watched TV on it RECENTLY and right now I have it linked to my son's old laptop as his screen seems to be shorted out on his laptop.

Futhermore:
I am suspecting that a new processor and MOTHER board would solve my delima, and would like advice on where and which ones to purchase if that is the concensus for my problem.
I appreciate any ideas from anyone who responds, Thanks



Product Specifications

Product number
EG134AA
Introduction date
14-Aug-2005
Country/region sold in
United States
Canada
Hardware
Base processor
Athlon 64 3700+ 2.2 GHz
2000 MT/s (Mega Transfers/second)
Socket 939
Chipset
ATI Radeon XPress 200
Motherboard
Manufacturer: ASUS
Motherboard Name: A8AE-LE
HP/Compaq motherboard name: AmberineM-GL6E
Memory
Component Attributes
Memory Installed 1 GB (2 x 512)
Maximum allowed 4 GB* (4 x 1 GB) requires the replacement of the installed 512 MB DIMMs

*Actual available memory may be less
Speed supported PC3200 MB/sec
Type 184 pin, DDR SDRAM
DIMM slots Four
Open DIMM slots Two

Hard drive
200 GB SATA
7200 rpm
16x DVD(+/-)R/RW (+/-)R DL LightScribe drive
must use Double-Layer media discs in order to take advantage of the DL technology
must use LightScribe-enabled media discs and supporting software in order to take advantage of the LightScribe technology
type Attributes
DVD-R DL Write Once 4X
DVD+R DL Write Once 2.4X
DVD+R Write Once 16X
DVD+RW Rewritable 4X
DVD-R Write Once 8X
DVD-RW Rewritable 4X
DVD ROM Read 16X
CD-R Write Once 40X
CD-RW Rewritable 24X
CD-ROM Read 40X

CD ROM
Maximum speed 48X
Modem
PCI K56flex data/fax modem
Video graphics
Integrated graphics
Sound/audio
Controller: AC97 audio
Location: Integrated
Network (LAN)
Integrated 10/100 Base-T networking interface
Memory card reader
USB interface
Supports the following cards:
Compact Flash I
Compact Flash II
SmartMedia
Memory Stick
Memory Stick Pro
MultiMediaCard
Secure Digital (SD)
Micro Drive
XD Picture Card (xD = extreme digital)
External I/O ports
I/O ports on the front panel
Port type Quantity
9-in-1 (4 slot) + 1 USB One
IEEE 1394 One
USB (2.0) Two
Headphone One
Line-in One
Microphone One

I/O ports on the back panel
Port type Quantity
PS/2 (keyboard, mouse) Two (one each)
VGA (monitor) One
Parallel One
USB (2.0) Four
IEEE 1394 One
LAN One
Audio One each (line-in, line-out, microphone)

Expansion slots
Slot type Quantity
PCI Three (two available)
PCI Express One (available)
DIMM Four (two available)

Drive bays
Bay type Quantity
5.25-inch, external Two (occupied)
3.5-inch, external Two (one available)
3.5-inch, internal One (occupied)

Keyboard and mouse
HP PS/2 multimedia keyboard
Quebec Keyboard Kit (French Canada only)
*** I installed a Logitech Wireless mouse last year***
Software
NOTE: HP provides basic support for software that comes with the computer. For in-depth feature assistance, refer to the help section in the software or on the software vendor's Web site.

Key to software:
cd/dvd = media included in box
fc = only available in French Canada
nfc = not available in French Canada
Software titles that shipped with PC Software Category Software Title
Operating System Microsoft Windows XP Media Center 2005
Microsoft Service Pack 2

CD/CD-RW/DVD/DVD+RW WinDVD 5 Player Basic (with optional 7.1 upgrade)
Sonic DigitalMedia Plus 7.02
Sonic MyDVD Plus 6.13
Sonic DigitalMedia Archive 1.2

Education and Reference Microsoft Encarta Encyclopedia 2005 Standard (fc)
MSN Encarta Standard (online) (nfc)

Entertainment, Music, and Games iTunes 4.8 (w/Quicktime)
HP Tunes
Microsoft Plus Digital Media EDITION LE (nfc)
Real Player
My HP Games (nfc)

Imaging, Photography, Video, and Film HP Software Update
HP Image Zone 5
HP Image Zone for media center
muvee autoProducer 1.1 for media center
muvee autoProducer 4

Productivity and Finance Adobe Reader
Microsoft Works 8.0
Microsoft Office 2003 Student Teacher Edition Trial
Microsoft Money 2005 (nfc)
Quicken New User Edition 2005 (nfc)

PC Security Norton Internet Security 2005 AntiSpyware Edition (60-day security update subscription)
Norton Security Center

Utility, Maintenance, and Performance PC-Doctor 5 for Windows

HP Recovery Microsoft system RESTORE
HP Recovery Software Suite
Software Repair Wizard
I didn't metion it before, but I could not boot from reinstallation disc, and I also have tried to press 'F1', 'F3', 'F8','F9', 'F12' and the 'cntl' keys on startup.
I've read about 'BADCAPS' and resetting BIOs, but am not familiar with those. I did read about moving the jumper on the motherboard to reset RAM, would it hurt anything( lose settings) if I tried that???Are you hearing any POST beeps when you start it up? If so, try comparing them to the chart in your motherboards manual (or check website), they might give you an idea of what's going on.

Let us know if this helps.No 'Beeps' of any kind, just solid processor light, both fans running and the HDD seems to be running in 'fast' mode, plus the CD and DVD drive lights come on temporarily.You may have a hard drive failing...find out what make it is and DLoad the diagnostics from the manuf. site.
Follow the site instructions on creating a bootable CD.
Boot to the CD and RUN the Long test.
This will tell you if it is the drive going South...


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