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Hello everyone I am new here but so far reading all the topics it seems pretty helpful! Anyway I'm pretty good at repairing puters but I went all new style on my new one and I have nothing to test my equipment with. IM building a higher end gaming system so I went with SLI setup, now EVERYTHING is new and is all made for SLI, yet at boot up all I get is a blank screen and one long beep followed by two short. Easy enough the booklet on the video card says that it means the video card or motherboard is bad, well without the video card in the same beeps happen, also the north bridge cooler gets pretty warm, normal?
Note: At first start-up it RAN fine, installed xp and ran NFS Most Wanted smooth, then started a defrag and bam black screen of death. reseated the card, reset BIOS, and check RAM presto it worked for about 5min then froze.

550w PS w/ SLI
EVGA 6800 PCI-e
Asus A8N-SLI mb w/ AMD3500
512mb pc3200
Coolermaster water cooler

Anybody expericence the same PROBLEM? I cant tell if its a mb, video card or some other problem. I checked the BEEP POST and I know its a video code but is there any way it would be a mb issue?

over the last month or two ive notice that my pc has been getting sort hot and randomly crashes which its never done so i decided to take off the heat sink and clean and re-apply some more thermal grease which has help but STILL runs a tad bit hot so finally today I went out and bought a aftermarket Thermaltake socket 939/754 heatsink..........after installing it twice (once because I think I might have put a little to much grease on so I took it back out and reapplied again) and im still getting higher temps from the cpu than with my stock heat sink...........where is the problem? the heatsink the cpu or the grease? thanks.........the grease I was using came with the heatsink...usually I have artic silver 5 but I cant find it I also have that cheap dynx stuff from best buy but my friends say thats dirt and not worth using............I dont want to fry my pc what should I do?....It was running about 50-52 C during 100%cpu ussage not its almost near 60 C when 100 % ussage...........(PC is find when IDLE or surfing the net or light work but gets hot when cpu is under a big load..........100% etc)


THanks

Brandt CPU is AMD 64 3400 754 and a cheap SiS ecs motherboardWhat about other cooling in the case as well?

A cheap ECS motherboard and that processor? Oh, well.Perhaps you should switch back to your old heat sink and see whether the temps return to the previous levels.

How many case fans do you have installed and where are they located? Maybe need more fans.

Is the PC sitting in an open area, not inside a computer desk compartment with a door HIDING the computer from view? Is anything obstructing air flow through the computer case vents? What's the normal room temperature where the computer sits?I have 4 fans 2 120s one in back one in front and 2 80s one on top and one on side...........I just bought a new cpu and motherboard today (64 4400x2 and a nf4 sli gigabyte board) but I still want to know whats the deal.................Im thinking it might be the ecs board because it sucks ballz but a friend mentioned that maybe with the new heatsink it needed more voltage from the board to operate which had it hotter.........I dont know...........so...........if you have any Idea I dont think its lack of fans or area of case the as is in the open on the carpet (I have a full tower case HUGE case lot of room inside)


let me know
THanksWell, you surely have enough fans. However, do you have them blowing the right direction (outward or inward)? The one on back should be an exhaust fan, blowing air out of the case. Which direction are your other fans pointed, inward or outward? Here's an AMD reference on cooling that may be helpful: AMD Athlon™ System Cooling Guidelines

I have a brand new Dell Dimension E510, and for some reason I'm getting a random beep COMING from the computer tower maybe once or twice a day. Its just one quick beep? Any ideas?Contact Dell support. It may be important and you DO have a warranty. It may be nothing, but they will know what to do.I use to heard a CLICKING noise but every 16 sec but it doesnt HAPPEN no more but instead i get a sound noise or a horn sound every few often what is going on?Are you using a laptop in traffic?You talking to me?
if you was than the answer is noYou reported hearing horns.....Yeah it is really strange
I have done a complete scan every week but nothings seem to be stoping that horns and wierd short music but it only happen every few often.
It might just be a joke virus LOL
What do you think?Is your system clean?This might be common sense, but is it becasue your holding down alot of keys at one time? That happens to me, I hold down alot of keys while playing games and I get a beep....just like now lolI have clean it again and at the moment i having no noise but i think it might COME back and haunt me
Quote

This might be common sense, but is it becasue your holding down alot of keys at one time? That happens to me, I hold down alot of keys while playing games and I get a beep....just like now lol

gigabyte k8triton NSC -939
amd 64 3000+
1g ram (2 512 matching STICKS)
sata2 wd hd
nvdea 5200

Computer was previously working with unstable performance prior to making some changes in bios (boot order)

I am having some trouble with a cmos error....

everytime I try to save defaults or make changes and save in the BIOS it locks up/doesnt reboot. I must then clear the cmos to be able to get the computer to POST. It POSTS very very slow, does not finish posting, often locking up during the post. Sometimes I am able to go into the BIOS during POST, but unable to save changes.

I tried flashing the BIOS with the new version, and when it gets to the part about loading the BIOS file it freezes.

Any ideas? Is the battery bad, a circuit on the board? Is changing the battery a hard process (the re-entering cmos/bios VALUES has me worried).

Thanks!Changing the battery is safe and easy. A poorly done BIOS upgrade can turn your computer into a doorstop.

So try changing the battery and see what HAPPENS. failing to hold setting and not keeping time correctly is a symptom of a bad battery, but it can be caused by other things.

Out of curiosity why did you attempt a BIOS flash? How old is the MACHINE? Did it ever work correctly?

How do you reset the BIOS on a computer?
I read something about a jumper, but I have no idea where that is or even what it is.
Will resetting the BIOS fix a virus in the BIOS? (I would assume so)It's doubtful that you have a virus in the BIOS but there may be a jumper on the motherboard or you can just remove the CMOS battery for 10 minutes. What is the computer or motherboard make/model? Why do you think you have a virus in the BIOS?


These guys want to sell you something.

http://www.fireav.com/virusinfo/library/cih.htm

Symantec will GIVE the tool away for removing CIH (Chernobyl)

http://www.symantec.com/avcenter/venc/data/cih.html

I would feel better with using Spinrite's program:

http://grc.com/cih.htm

CIH..... EEeeeee when ah were a lad....... 3 ways to reset the BIOS to the default settings:

1. Use the BIOS setup. When the computer starts, look for a message something like, "Press F10 to enter setup" and press the key indicated. In the BIOS setup, look for a message that explains what keys to press to reset the BIOS to the default settings, and follow those instructions. Don't forget to press the key to save the changes before exiting.

2. Remove the jumper. Turn off the computer, open the case, remove the small, rectangular, PLASTIC jumper near the BIOS chip on the motherboard (read the motherboard manual for your computer for instructions on where to find this jumper). Turn your computer on, turn it off, then replace the jumper.

3. Remove the battery. Turn off your computer and remove the motherboard battery for a few minutes, then PUT it back in place. The battery is usually flat and small as a COIN (like a watch battery). Some are hardwired to the motherboard, so you may not have this option.

May i ask why you want to change the BIOS settings?

Well, my Uncle says that the computer has been affected with a virus and that the virus got into the BIOS.

Other than that, the rest is a longer story and it would take some time to explain.Will your computer boot into Windows?
If not, what happens when you push the button?Well, to tell you the truth, I do not know.
I was going to see if my Uncle still had the computer. It might not even have a hard drive anymore.
Most of the parts have been salvagedI guess we'll have to wait until you find out a bit more. Quote

Well, to tell you the truth, I do not know.
I was going to see if my Uncle still had the computer. It might not even have a hard drive anymore.
Most of the parts have been salvaged

Well, my Uncle says that the computer has been affected with a virus and that the virus got into the BIOS.

Other than that, the rest is a longer story and it would take some time to explain.

Hello, i just recently opened my computer to take my current HARDDRIVE out and put another 1 for now, When i switched the hard drives back my computer acts funny, like it would take longer than usuall to load windows. so i let this pass for a week it DIDNT really bother me and then my computer sometimes restarts by its self and on the boot up it would say no hard drive is in the computer. and when i restart it it would detect the hard drive again. so i opened my computer again TOOK the JUMPER cables out for 5 minutes and when i put it back in it gets passed the windows splash screen fast like before but it doesnt load the log in part its only a black screen? what should i do im sure my harddrive is jumpered correcty.sam510....

Quote

took the jumper cables out for 5 minutes

What is the make and model of the hard drive? Did you move any of the jumpers on the hard drive when you moved it back and forth? Are any of the pins bent? How old is the drive?

I just got a NEW motherboard and cpu a AMD 64 X2 4400+ and a Gigabyte nForce4 SLI K8Triton Seris BOARD and this is a huge upgrade compared to what im running now (I havent installed yet because I have to go get a PCI-E card before I can) I never ran in to this potential problem but will my PC3200 ram worth with the 400 DDR? im sure it will but is it worth getting different ram its also dual channal and the memory I have now isnt.........Thanks and if so any suggestions for high performance dual channel ram with out BREAKING the bank ILL need at least a gig but id really like dual channel 2 gigs...thanksDoes an AMD use dual channel? I don't think so yet, so I would try it and see. There may be other compatibilities, but you'll KNOW soon enough if there are. (There's more to RAM than the speed alone!)If you have two identical PC3200 memory modules, they could be used as dual-channel memory if the motherboard is designed for dual-channel. The motherboard determines whether dual-channel will work, not the memory modules, as long you have two identical modules and you put them in the right memory slots.

:confused: I really hope I can get this resolved. I'll start with the basics.
my system
AN8-SLI Fatal1ty (bios rlse 20)
AMD 3500+ (Venice core I believe)
1 Gig Corsair TwinX (2 x 512)
1 Evga 7800 GT
1 WD 40 gig hd (C) on controller 0 master I believe
1 Seagate 20 gig (D) on controller 0 slave I believe
1 Memorex CD-RW (E) on Controller 1 master I believe
1 HP Lightscribe DVD-RW (F) on controller 1 slave I believe
all powered by a Skyhawk P/S says max 500 to 540 Watts
Case is a full tower older Antec I think not sure of model its discontinued though.
I think that's all if you NEED any other info just ask

Anyway, I have been having hard lockups during game play, mostly Battlefield 2 and Dungeons and Dragons Online. No other option but to hit the ol reset BUTTON or unplug system. During reboot all goes well until after the Windows loading screen, and before the Windows welcome screen when it plays the Open Windows splash tune, the system reboots. Now this will go on for anywhere for 3 to 8 restarts and finally it will boot correctly. Now I can go into Safe mode every time but even with a proper shutdown its not a guarantee it will boot on the next try. Safe mode has never failed to boot. FRIDAY morning this happen again and after a hour and a half of rebooting still nothing. so I decided it was time for a fresh install (disk already couldn't defrag due to clutter). After a clean install I hadn't even got all the drivers in and it started failing to reboot again. It seems to be more stable using the windows generic video drivers, but it is still flaky.
I have sent one Black Box package to Abit About a month ago with no reply as of yet. There is one known problem with my board and that's the North Bridge fan header is dead, I power the fan from a molex plug. Heat build-up is a concern but I haven't seen any real high temps from the UGuru panel or alarms. I know this can be a rock solid gaming platform and with the exception of the old drives is a fairly cutting edge system. I have been pleased with it since I put it together even with this problem. Please help me PPPLLLLEEEAASSEEE:biggrin: check around on here for similar problem and you'll see one thing thats the same - a8n-sli mobo. the northbridge fan is a joke, and mine did the same as yours when it was overheating.

What makes a Mouse " OPTICAL " ? I want a Wireless Mouse with the "roller ball" on the BOTTOM. Are mice with balls on the bottom passe' ? Optical mice seem to be the standard-seriously. Mice with balls are difficult to find ANYMORE...just think of it as the "FEMINIZATION" of mice. Does OPTICAL mean the balls are on the top ? I HATE THAT !!!!!!! Too much manual dexterity. Will I not find a wireless with balls on the bottom ?No - the things with balls on top are trackballs. By "optical mouse" mouse people are referring to the mice that emit a light from their base. This reflects on a surface; the reflection is then measured, and by this MEANS the mouse detects motion on a surface.

You can STILL buy wireless mice with balls. Try eBay.Ebay it is. Thx.

I was TOLD my mother BOARD was damaged by rough treament during shipping of my old pc.. I would like to add the hard drive from the old computer to the new one, so I can access the files on it. The old computer was a Dell Dimension 4200 with Windows ME. The new computer is Compaq Presario SR1710NX , with Windows xp home edition, 3400+ AMD sempron, 256 MB memory, 100GB hard drive.

First I would like to know if it at all possible to install the old hard drive and access the files on it. If this is possible, is it likely that any viruses on the hard drive cross over to the new system? If not, I will likely go ahead with the install, how is this done?

Also, is there anything else I can take from the old PC to improve the preformance of the new computer?

Thank you in advance It's very difficult to damage a motherboard if it's INSIDE a computer simply by shipping it. You should investigate further.
Simply connect the old hard drive as a slave to the new one.
You absolutely must have full anti viral/anti malware protection in place before doing so.
What security software do you have in place on your new system?I have Norton Personal Firewall, Anti Spam and Anti Virus 2005.
Re: mother board being damaged: the computer worked before shipping and got to the other end with the tower actually damaged, I disconected and reconnected everything and the computer would not power up at all.

Thanks for your help.

bugsrevenge......
Quote

I have Norton Personal Firewall, Anti Spam and Anti Virus 2005.
Re: mother board being damaged: the computer worked before shipping and got to the other end with the tower actually damaged, I disconected and reconnected everything and the computer would not power up at all.

Thanks for your help.

I was told my mother board was damaged by rough treament during shipping of my old pc.

I have new recycle computer, I don't have operation system YET,I press F1 for go to the bios and don't appear the CD-rom and DVD in the bios,I have that two drives and everything is correctly CONNECT, I tray put the new operation system from the cd but the sustem tell me no operation system, someone help me pleaseHave you ever loaded an operating system? Which one are you going to LOAD? I think HP's are F2 to get to BIOS/Setup, but it will say when the machine starts. Here is the manual for that machine, right from the HP site;

http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/manualCategory?lc=en&cc=us&dlc=en&product=58772&lang=en&#

Have a read and answer the above queries.I delete the partition D in bios for mistake, I think is are the cdrow and now I don't no for make that partition again.I want install the windows xp, but the computer say I don't have enough space in the disk ,at i need do for put the windows? ,the hard disk is MAXTOR 92041U4 20GbHave a read here. It explains everything:

http://www.tweakhound.com/xp/installxp/installXP1.htm

Been trying to get my computer detect the digital camera. but it won;t, say it's a PROBLEM with the usb port or something and now it won't do anything at all. When i take the wire in and out of the computer it still dose not detect it but the computer goes off then on again like its faulty. It happens when i put anything else in there like the web cam even that works but the computer just goes off and on if i do this often. It's annoying me now and i can't get the digital camera to work. Would be great if anyone knows what i can do? I got someone to LOOK at it but he said he could find no problem, but he didn't look inside the computer.Dose anyone know why it does this and how can i get the computer to detect the camera?TRY plugging the camera into a different computer, what happens?I had a similar problem w/ my usb printer on a new computer. I had to UPGRADE xp to SP2.hmm i think will try on another computer then. The problmes still occures whilst pluggin my i-pod INTHE computer the computer goes off and on like before. >_< maybe a new computer? I have no idea why it does this. It's been getting problems for the past two years.

I have a desktop, a Dell, which is presenting some confusing errors... I'm not sure which to replace.. the memory or the motherboard.

Symptom 1:

Slot1: Stick1 = No POST just hangs at black screen
Slot2: Stick2

Symptom 2:

Slot1: Stick2 = Video card recognized and hangs
Slot2: Stick1

Symptom 3:

Slot1: Stick1 = Diagnostic Failure (Memory Data Bus Stress Test)
Slot2: Empty

Symptom 4:

Slot1: Stick2 = DIAGNOSTICS Pass and SYSTEM boots
Slot2: Empty

It would seem that Stick 1 is DEFECTIVE.. but isn't the stress test for the data bus on the board?

hi, i have a problem with my computer, when i start my computer, my monitor wont display anything only "no INPUTS signal from input A", the LED is yellow so i guess the monitor's power is okay, so im wondering whats the problem is...Oh, and a day before, when im working with my computer, suddenly the blue screen appeared and said" memory dump.. or something like that.
Please help...! thanks reynold... Is this a laptop or a desktop ?

does it have a onboard vid CARD or a plug in vid card ?

dl65

dl65 Roll Eyes
thanks for replying...
it is a desktop, what is the difference between onboard and plug in video card? im not sure, but mine is geforce2 mx 400, i broke my first geforce4 because if im not wrong, i remembered the fardware store told me that the socket or something was broken so i have to buy the gefroce 2 because its using the other socket ion the mother board, its on the last socket on my motherboard(the BOTTOM), aftermy sound card socket.
thanks :)reynold..... Ok ......by you answer, you have a plug in vid card as opposed to a onboard ...... a onboard card is integrated into the motherboard .
The first thing I would do is open up the case .( with all power turned off) take care to touch your finger or hand to any metal part of the case to drain off any possible static buildup in your body . ( note the power cable from the tower to the wall receptical must be connected to PROVIDE a ground path) You will need a philips screw driver .... remove the screw that holds the vid card into the tower frame . ( make sure to remove the monitor cable from it's plug )....then carefully remove the vid card ...... being careful not to put your fingers on the chips or the contacts . So take it right out , and then replace it ....making sure its firmly in the socket ...replace the screw and your done ........ before closing up the case , check to be sure there isnt a buildup of dust on the interior of the machine and in particular on the fan blades on the CPU heatsink fan....... If theres a lot of dust present , it would be a good idea to go and purchase a can of dust off or some other similar product ....( when blowing dust off the CPU cooling fan , use a chopstick or something similar to prevent the fan from spinning when you are blowing out the dust .) Now before you close up the case , plug the monitor cable back in ......and then start the machine ......check to be sure that the cooling fan on the CPU is spinning , the cooling fan in the power supply is spinning , the cooling fan on the vid card ( if it has one ) is spinning and if there is an fan mounted in the case , that it is working as well ...... If that is all ok put the cover back on and see if the machine will boot up .

dl65 okay, i will try it, thanks a lot and i will give you the result ...thanks! Hi, i have tried many times, vacuumed the pc, fan, graphic card, reconnect the video card and all... it still won't get the monitor to respond.., any suggestion what should i do? thanksDo you have another monitor that you can hook up to test it with. Try that.
Also, the card Ilooked up is a PCI card, this is a PCI Card Right. Try putting it in another PCI slot. I did that once and got and older machine I had to work.

Good LuckHi, i already tried with another monitor and it did not work, im not sure if mine is a PCI card, mine is geforce2 mx 400, is it okay to just try plug to another slot?,ok i will try at home, thank you:)i an now having the same problem, did u END up finding out what was wrong?

I've just reinstalled xp. I reloaded all my programs and half of my backup FILES in one session then SHUT the system down. When I rebooted, my DVD drive, A drive and CD BURNER won't read any discs. If I load the discs and reboot, they come up but as soon as I change the discs, they won't read again. I've gone through the troubleshooting and it says that all drivers and devices are working ok. Obviously there is a simple solution to this but does anyone have an idea?Am I reading this right? You have a DVD player, a Floppy, and a CD Burner... and All 3 don't read?

Have you gone into Disk management to VERIFY there's no issues with the drive letters clashing? (just off the top)

Have you attempted to single out the issue? ie.. Remove all but one and put each one back as it works?

Won't start up. XP, 2.6 Athlon

This morning, my COMPUTER began to load but went to selective start-up screen. I clicked on Normal start-up, but once it reached the Windows screen: blue screen for one second, then TRIED to re-load. This repeated itself, so I then tried Safe MODE, but Safe mode wouldn't load, either.
In short, I can't get as far as Windows.
Any help WOULD of course be greatly appreciated.

ThanksHave you ADDED any hardware or software recently?

If you can't get it to stabalize in safe mode, try booting to the XP CD and run the repair console. From there you can see if there is an offending service at startup. You can also run chkdsk.

Thinking of BUYING one for extra storage. Do files stored on external drive bypass the domputers hard drive or do they first download back onto the computers hard drive before opening? Or to ask it another way, can you open a file directly from the external drive? Any suggestions on where I should look for a primer on portable hard drives? I assume protable and external means the same thing. THANKS from someone who knows just a little bit more than a newbie, but not much.You can access them directly. The internal hard drive just HOLDS Windows and programs.etc. There is no pass through of data from one to the other.

I would NOT recommend running programs from an external, and as a matter of fact I would not recommend an external, but that's another issue. Keep in mind that all hard drives die eventualy, including an external , so backup important files REGULARLY to optical media.

Here is some GENERAL info, and you can Google for a LOT more:

http://www.pcworld.com/howto/article/0,aid,104829,00.aspThanks so much. And for the PCWorld link.

I don't believe that board has PCIe

http://www.zonavirtual.es/asrock-k7vta-socket-p-661.html?codigobarras=1

Taking that processor was my first tip off. It has standard PCI slots.

That's not the standard processor for that board, it's quite slower than the standard, and it does have a PCI Express slotwell, I got a new card in it, installed the drivers for it, and now when I try to do anything graphical, the computer restarts. I have DX 9.0b, but I was wondering if I could go back to dx 8, because I think it is a DX problem. I tried to disable the acceleration for the card, but that didn't FIX it either.


Any help would be wonderful!By the way, I'm a total retard! the board is an ASRock K7vT2, not a z, a 2. LOLI don't believe it is possible to downgrade DIRECT X. I believe you have to do a reinstall. Sorry. NO! NO REINSTALL!!! sinple fix, use d9.0C i use it, works fine
I just found my 9.0c updates, I'm gonna go try that

ThanksViper1991...... Isn't this the same machine that has all the download issues not to mention the activation problems ...... I would be getting a legit copy of XP /SP2 ...... install it ...... do the activation thing ....download the available updates and I'll bet the majority of your issues will disappear.


dl65 I plan on installing XP pro corporate this weekend (legitamitly), and of course, the DX 9.0c didn't do anything. I'll tell you if that works.

ThanksToday was the last day of school here!! w00t!! ok, mrjcwhite and I are installing windows xp corp with SP2 right now, I hope that fixes it, I'll POST the results in a little bit!w00 freaking t !!! it works! VICTORY is mine, so far, I'll post anyother errors that occor, if there are any more anyways.


Thanks,
ViperDon't forget protection, antivirus, antispyware, firewall, IDS and hardening of browser & email options.done, all of that is on there so I should be pretty much good to go!Victory is yours! Amazing what a real copy of windows will do!

when i plug it in, all my KEYBOARD and computer face lights cycle off and on quickly and it sounds like a helicopter. i suspect my power supply got zapped, but any comments would be appreciatedSounds like a helicopter eh? Recommend chucking it out of the window and seeing if it flies...

Seriously though - are any of the fans coming on (including the power supply fan)? What happened before this problem started?if the darn HELI would shut up ...guess i need to open it up and see what i see, i spose i can pull a power supply from an old one and see if it helps. shut it down fine last night and when my GRANDDAUGHTER start up this AM, it just lifted off the desk.Yes you need to look in there and see where the SOUND is coming from before we can proceed. What make and model of computer is it?

Evening,
Hope someone here can help. Is it possible to replace a broken clip on a slot for the ram chip? Or am I up the creek??The clip only is broken or the socket itself? I have seen some computers do fine with only the clip missing, because the other mechanism is INTACT. Does your's FUNCTION correctly? Replacing just the clip would be tedious and I have not seen success with this.It's just the clip itself, but I don't BELIVE the chip will stay tight enough with just one, I will check it & get back!I've had several pass through my hands with broken clips that still hold the RAM snug enough and work just fine. All may not be lost. Sorry I've been so long getting back & thanks for the REPLIES! It seems to be holding good enough with one clip which is great! Thanks Again!I figured it would work just fine. That has certainly been my experience. I had one board with NO clips that performed well., but it was a desktop, so the motherboard layed flat.


Come back if you have other issues or just WANT to help.

Happy Friday...well, mostly. My computer has started rebooting continually when I do a proper shutdown in Windows 2000 Professional. I can hold the power button in for about 5 secinds and get it to finally power off. It's a Compaq Evo D500...when will I learn?

Any ideas? Thank you in advance.

Here's the system:
EVO D500 Tower
Pentium 4 @ 1.8 ghz
256 ram
40 gb HD

Windows 2000 Professional
Windows can either reboot in case of a failure of write an error message which can be helpful.

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;315409&sd=tech

<-------------

What happened prior to this? Any other known problems with the machine, or it has been a workhorse until this?I've just started using it as a stand-alone PC...prior to that it was on a network. No problems loading operating system and software. I did have to enable ports for printing. One thing that was added before this started happening was a ROCKWELL 56k modem just as a BACKUP communication device. Not essential if it MAY cause a problem, although Windows did recognize it and install the correct driver, etc.
Very strange...wondering if there is anything in CMOS I have overlooked or if power options settings might be confusing the shutdown command?

As a working computer, it's great...just this constant rebooting issue that's annoying.
Thank you for the Microsoft link...I'll check the recommendations they have also.Quote

Windows can either reboot in case of a failure of write an error message which can be helpful.

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;315409&sd=tech

<-------------

What happened prior to this? Any other known problems with the machine, or it has been a workhorse until this?

Hi experts,

Current Pc hardware:
Cpu - 2 gb Intel
Ram - approx 700 mb
Os - XP Home
Pc manufacture year - approx 2001 thru 2003
Hard drive - IDE ATA 40 gb

Question 1:
If there is a need to replace the hard drive - what are the other hardwares to verify to determine the maximum NEW hard drive capacity? for example, right now is 40 gb then can the new hard drive be 300 gb ? or 500 gb in the future.

Question 2:
Pc with 1 hard drive - if now is 40 gb and new hard drive is 300 gb - would the pc work smoothly.

Question 3:
If now is 40 gb and a 300 gb is added in the second bay would the pc work smoothly?

Thanks.
Look your MOTHERBOARD manual or searrch on the net for maximum hard drive capacity. There must be SOMEWHERE about. I think your system configuration can pretty support fairly large amount of hard drive eg.300. Using both would do no harm. But you must first CONSIDER allowed size of your disk.

Looking to clone my old HD instead reinstalling everything on the new one. Any good idiot-proof freeware for this TASK? Sorry if this post is cross-topical...couldn't decide between Hardware and Software. Please advise.

PC Pentium 2.0GHz, one large partition
Win XP
80G and 120G HD's......anything I missed?

Thanks,
KLIf you buy a retail drive, the drive maker usually includes such a PROGRAM. If an OEM product (drive only), you usually don't get this. If you already have the drive, check on the manufacturer's site.I've not used any of the FOLLOWING so cannot verify their integrity or usefulness. There are quite a few other free offerings around.

http://www.webattack.com/freeware/system/fwdisktools.html
http://www.rp006b2684.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/disk/DrvClonerXPSetup_2.1.zip
http://www.rp006b2684.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/disk/DrvImagerXPSetup_2.2.zip
http://www.miray.de/products/sat.hdclone.htmlIf it's a Maxtor drive, you'd probably want Maxtor's MaxBlast 4. For Western Digital, you'd probably either need Data Lifeguard Tools 11 for Windows or Data Lifeguard Tools 11 for DOS. I don't know the names of similar tools from Seagate, Samsung, etc, but they surely have such tools.Seagate has a utility with retail purchase. Problem is that it doesn't EXPLICITLY tell you that you can duplicate/clone your old drive. You have to get into the software and see what the next window's options are and then viola!...it happens but still doesn't present it as such. just says "copy files". i wasn't sure that it was truly cloning the drive until i saw it copying my music files. FYI. thanks for the help folks.

kevin

why do my external HARD drive(buffalo) changing the letter everytime when i TAKE the USB off or turn off the hard drive or computer?what letter? LIKE the name it appears as in my computer?do U have any other removeable drives or devices? ur comp may just be assigning the hd the next available letter.Windows assigns drive letters automatically when the machine is started. If you have a removable drive or drives, the letters can vary depending on what is plugged in.

My wife's computer is not working and will be replaced. I want to take her HD and ADD it to her new computer as a slave. It is coming out of a XP system. It is a seagate 80G HD. When I remove the jumper to make it a slave and boot, I went into bios and it was set to AUTO. Seems like its installed. Doesn't show in WINDOWS explorer or my computer. I've done this in the past taking a HD from a HP on win 98 and put it in a PC running win 98 without a problem. What was nice about this, is I was able to retreive her data without a problem. Can this be done in XP. The HD CAME out a EMachines and is going into a Dell pc. I tried it in my win 98 PC and it shows in my computer and windows explorer but when I click on it it say drive not READY???If the hard drive is formatted as NTFS file system it cannot be seen in WIndows 98. It will need to be formatted as FAT32 to be usable in that system. It could be slaved into any 2000 or XP system and the data removed prior to this if important data is involved.

you have done everything correctly. It is just this one small problem.

i have an existing pc (old)
[highlight]Computer 1:[/highlight]
win 98se (custom made)
P2 with dvd rom (cd burner)

and as of now im using:
[highlight]Computer 2:[/highlight]
XP Sp2 (HP desktop)
P4 with cd rom (cd burner)

yesterday i transfer the dvd rom from Computer 1 to Computer 2 and vice versa

Porblem:
now when i restart the COMPUTER2 the light in cd rom is blinking but i noticed that the DVD rom CANT be access and cant be read (when i double click My Computers i see nothing regarding cd rom)

Question:
what i must do to repair this problem?
can somebody expplain me step by step?
is it needs to change something in the Bios? how do i get to Bios?

THANKS in advance-are the jumpers set correctly?
-are the cables secure?
-does the cable that plugs into the mobo support ATAPI devices? (it happened to me once, stupid mistake...)

to enter bios, hit the key ASSIGNED to ur comp while its booting. ur comp should say what key to hit to enter setup. it should say something like "hit __ to enter setup", or "hit __ to enter BIOS CONFIG". mine is DEL, my last comp it was F1. there is a little variety.

P.S. was it working in the old comp? and does it still work if u put it back in the old comp?Quote

-are the jumpers set correctly?

hi i could certainly use a little help.i have this school assignment WHEREBY i have to find out whether the CD drives and ZIP drives are the same in pentium 2 PCs and pentium 4 PCs.And basically i don't know much technical stuffs about computers.

thanks for helping me.most computers dont even come with a zip drive, but, P4's do have WAAAAAAAAAAAAY FASTER drives than P2's. i need to know the number on the zip drive, it says either 100 200 250, or somthin like that, usuuall "zip200" or "zip150" or somthinghmm,i just want to know if the cd and zip drives used in p2 computers are the same as those used in p4's. thanks though =DNope
and obviously p4 is a better so it is not the same but might be the same in some kind of waysahhh i see, thanks so much...just wondering if its possible for you guys to give me examples of those drives that are used in the both p2 and p4. ?
Eek.

I'm not sure where people get the idea that Zip drives and CD drives might need to be different in P2/P4 machines...

In simple terms, Zip drives, CD drives and DVD drives all use the same communication standard that has been in place from 386 days. In other words, the same hardware would (theoretically) work with 386, 486, Pentium, Pentium MMX, Pentium II, Pentium III, Pentium IV, not to mention Celeron, ATHLON, Old UNCLE Tom Cobbly and all processors.

The key factor is the motherboard, not the processor.

To be honest, it's a very silly homework question. That's the only reason I'm willing to help out a bit. Generally I prefer to let people do their own homework/research, grumpy old git that I am. They are the same. Period.

Next homework question?


www.HomeworkHope.com

www.howstuffworks.com
Quote

They are the same. Period.

Hello guys I have a strange problem my computer keeps booting into a blue Screen I can access my BIOS and safe mode, but I don’t know what to change to make it go away I did sum Google searches and all I could find out was that it was called the blue screen of death. ever time it comes up I see it saying something about a page fault in a non page area and I see a singe that says Stop Error with sum wired code that goes like
0X0000000 0X12F4c78 I would greatly appreciate if you guys could give me sum suggestions on how to troubleshoot it, Memory testing and so on.

I’m running windows XP on a Pentium III with 250 MB of ram Pc 100 with a 80 gig WDThe exact error message word for word can be helpful.

www.memtest86.com has free SOFTWARE to test your RAM. Test one stick at a time, then all together. Let it run for an hour or two.Stop 0x00000050 or PAGE_FAULT_IN_NONPAGED_AREA - The Stop 0x50 message indicates that requested data was not in memory. The system generates an exception error when using a reference to an invalid system memory address. Defective memory (including MAIN memory, L2 RAM cache, video RAM) or incompatible software (including remote control and antivirus software) might cause Stop 0x50 messages.


i second the memetest86 it's a good place to start as i have said before, 256 is the lowest windows XP can run on, i really doubt if its going to ever run right on 250, i belive OLD P3's can handle 512, if so, go for it, it will make all the differanceHey Guys i want to Run Prim 95 on the system but im stuck on which mod to run Small FFT or LARGE FFT i want to make shear its not the CPU or Mobo any advice?Quote

as i have said before, 256 is the lowest windows XP can run on, i really doubt if its going to ever run right on 250, i belive old P3's can handle 512, if so, go for it, it will make all the differance

Ok, so a few days ago i bought a new hd. my plan had been to make it my external and make my external a slave..sounds easy. well apperantly its not. when i changed the jumper settings and put it in the computer it started MAKING a weird clicking sound, so like any normal person i called tech support...complete waste of my time. so i went to work myself, i got the cover off, and saldy ruined a warranty on a drive that western DIGITAL put their name on but wont support. when i took off the cover, the screw pattern changed, so i called tech suport again and ASKED simply what tool to use. they just couldnt help me but apperantly the computer maker could. so i call gateway and they tell me that its off its bearings. so i am left looking at it and asking my self what bearings.. so i looked on the internet and all there is is software problems. normally i would let this go, however this drive has 70 gigs of movies i want back. so if anyone has any insite even as little as where i can get a screw driver for the star screws that would be AMAZING. how to fix it even better.
thanks if you can help, or if you want to help.Which screws are we talking about here - are you trying to take apart the hard drive itself? That would be FAIRLY pointless, unless you happen to be a data recovery expert and have a clinical environment in which to remove the platters. Hard drives are hermetically sealed for a good reason. I agree. There are NO user servicable parts, and a dead drive can be replaced, but the data will be gone. All hard drives die eventually and it is not a safe place for the only storage of any important data.

You can google for file recovery but those who do what you need done are VERY expen$ive. It would be cheaper to legally buy the movies than have them retrieved this way.so there really isnt any way for me to get my data back, or make the drive work again regardless of whats on it? and they are start shaped screws, but they are diffrent than what held the cover on the driveNo way for you to fix it, and if it has been opened exposing the platters, probably nothing anyone can do at all.

What is the largest capacity HD that my existing system will recognize and handle?

GATEWAY 700s 256mb RDRAM (shipped May 2002)
Win XP Home
Motherboard: Intel D850MV
AMIBIOS 063200 (Am. Megatrends)
BIOS version: MV85010A.15A.0041.xxxxxxxxx
82801BA ULTRA ATA storage controller

I know some/all of this info is what I need (right??), but I can't put it all together by Googling. Information overload. Any ideas, guys? At least where to look? Thanks a ton! :-?

KevinYou can use any size, but the size of the partition may be limited by the operating system and service pack, which you did not specify.

Are you planning on replacing your main drive or adding another one?1) Ah, that's what I needed...someone to ask the questions for the info I didn't provide. Now you may have to tell me where to look for some of this? SP? You mean Windows XP Home Ed. SP2??? I said XP Home. But, YES, SP2. Moving on...please clarify the 'size of the partition' question. Drive is not partitioned. Where and what am I looking for to answer this question? I do have FreshDiagnose that can help me help you help me :-)

2) I will probably scrap this noisy Maxtor and just replace it.

Thanks! KevinIf you have SP2 on the CD with XP you are good to go for one big partition, if that's what you want.

So you are planning on not using the ORIGINAL drive? Just a replacement? You may want to consider using one partition for XP and another for your data files. It makes reloading an O/S a whole lot easier. You can also make an image of the newly installed XP partition for quick restores if needed.Cool! Good to know. Thanks. So the question remains: How do I find out how large a HD I can upgrade to without partitioning up the HD? Is there a LIMIT based on my M'board/BIOS/IDE or ATA controller or whatever? That's what I want to know and where/how to find it. If I plop a 250 or 300GB in is there a limitation based on the specs provided? Presumably I CAN put a 250/300GB/etc HD in but depending on certian things, it may or may not recognize the entire capacity, right? (Not talking about the standard error of 187GB v. 200GB that is often discussed) And yes assume one large partition as you said (which to me is NO partion...everything in the same place, C drive) Yeah this Maxtor is a whiny little baby...drives me nuts. Not sure it's worthy of being a slave if I have to listen to it as the tower is right near my desk! Thanks some more!

KLWith a BIOS that recent, I don't think you will find a limitation with SP2. That was a problem with older systems having inbuilt BIOS limitations.Sounds good! So i should be able to plop a 160 or 200 GB Seagate or WD in there and have no problem as far as you know? Thanks for the time!!!

KLYes, that is correct. Please post back when you are running smoothly wih that monster. What about the whole "legacy" thing and HD limitations? I guess in part that's what we were talking about before. i read something old and it mentioned ISA SLOTS, ps/2 ports, com ports, etc. just wondering if I...er...we missed anything? I'll go away now. Thank you Thanks for all of the help. Bought a Seagate 120Gb and did it myself. Seagate software copied drive over bit for bit after some confusion with only a System Restore problem that GOOGLE fixed :-) maybe i should have disabled it? Anyway... No problems...well, one problem posted in another forum here. Check it out if you like.

Different question: Is it typical for a 120GB drive to show as 111Gb installed with NTFS?
One more time. Thanks to all!!!

KevinOh, and via the Seagate manual I think most of the answer to my original question regarding "How large a HD can my system support with one partition?" was finally answered thusly:

Support for 48-bit addressing on the part of the OS and the BIOS is required. Chart provided lists specs for XP w/ SP1 or higher. MS 2000 w/ SP3 or higher and other specs for MAC/jaguar and Linux. So that's the quick and dirty version after all of this time :-) in case any one else needed that info. Thx.

KevinQuote

Different question: Is it typical for a 120GB drive to show as 111Gb installed with NTFS?

Hi all great forum
I hope somebody can help me with this cos I'm stuck.
I recently acquired a HP Wide Ultra 36.4Gb @ 15000rpm SCSI HARD DRIVE. My question is this, WOULD it be possible and is it worth putting this as my boot drive. If it is possible, what equipment would i need.
Thanks in advance.





AMD 3800
Asus A8r MVP
C3D 850XT
2Gb Geil Twin
Maxtor Diamond Max 10 250Gb Sata3
TTake SopranoYou would need a SCSI controller card for this MODEL and a drive cable if the MOBO does not have SCSI built into it. Drivers are required for some operating systems as well.

i'm lost - i received an hp pavilion desktop with "issues" - this computer intermittently freezes (usually occurs when i'm "trying to do too many things at once" or have a couple programs OPEN (but not the SAME programs each time) or when i'm trying to open another program or window and haven't waited for the first one to ***completely*** finish loading.

then, when it freezes, i can't turn it off and must unplug it.

then, when i try to turn it back on, sometimes it doesn't respond at all, sometimes i'll get a bunch of long and short beeps, sometimes it turns back on fine. if it doesn't turn back on, i sometimes need to try up to 3 or 4 more times to get it to turn on.

then, when it does turn on, it often gets "stuck" at the "checkdisk" stage while checking c: drive and it won't move beyond about 30% - but it **will** let me hit 'cancel' and skip the rest of the CHECK. when i have to do that, i immediately follow up by doing a proper shutdown/restart, usually with no problem whatsoever. :-/

i'm running windows me and the software that came with the hp pavilion; i also have a few other programs, like aol, AIM, windows media player, mcafee online. i have done all windows updates. there is one 80GB hard drive with two partitions - c: 20 GB andd: 60 GB. i believe there's 512 ram and i think it's a pentium 850 (not positive tho).

my thought is that it might be a PSU issue - any thoughts?? my aunt used this computer for 2 years and said she had a problem for some of that time with not being able to turn it on, but she says she didn't have the issues with freezing (she's a much more basic user that i am, though - i use computers pretty long and hard!)

any other thoughts or suggestions??well as to the freezing... this is usually determined by your hardware capabilities / software you are trying to use. To resolve this, your options are pretty much add more hardware or use less programs. You might want to run Adaware or Spybot to make sure junkware isn't slowing you down. A lot of times antivirus does constant background scanning to that can slow you down. One thing that might help to is just a complete format / reinstall, that might help both problems. Just burn off anything you don't want to lose to CD or whatever and then try formatting and reinstalling Windows. The power supply might be the problem, but it's hard to say for sure w/o testing. They aren't that expensive so just go buy one and try it. If the prob fixes then you're set and if it doesnt, then just keep the psu or return it note: rather than unplugging have you TRIED holding in the power button for 5-10 secs. normally that'll force a power down rather than having to reach around and unplug, just for convienence.Thanks! I actually do run adaware, so that's not it.

The computer was doing this freeze-on-off-on stuff even after I'd reformated and just loaded the original software - in fact, it kept doing it during the process of reloading the software (returning to mfr original config) - my nephew couldn't get past that, so they gave the computer to me; I had the same problems, but I managed to get past it by **manually** partitioning the hard drive into two sections and I made sure that the c: drive partition was big enough to hold the software (I made it 20GB) because during the software installation process, it kept making that partition too small (like 786 kb or something ridiculous). My aunt had the computer and had totally different software on it than I do (except the original OS and resident software) - she had the same problem even with the different software.

I've tried turning off McAfee virus because that does tend to slow the computers down, but that made no difference. I've tried holding the power button in for a looong time, much longer than 5-10 seconds, and that also does not work, I **must** unplug sometimes or it just won't turn off at all. very weird.

I just bought a power supply tester, so I'll try testing that - I hope the tester is reliable!ok, well let me know what this power supply tester thing says... and by pentium 850 do you mean 850MHz or is that just the chipset or both? cause if you only have 850Mhz that COULD be a lot of your speed problem. 850 is not a whole lot to work with and you really can't expect to do much multitasking on it.I disagree. A PIII-800 is more than enough to do most anything except extreme graphics projects and gaming even with 128 RAM if you use Win2000 or earlier. With more RAM, even XP (uggh!) is tolerable.

Word Processing, email, and internet is fine with a PII-350 and better and a high speed connection. You can only type so fast....

I just build a brand new PC, and I can't get it to boot. The monitor receives no signal and there are no beeps when I turn it on. When I press the power button all the fans turn on and I hear everything start running except the CD/DVD drive and floppy. I've double checked all the wires and nothings wrong. Any help would be appreciated.

NZXT LEXA-NP Black/ Silver Computer Case
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16811146018

ASUS A8N-SLI Premium ATX AMD Motherboard
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813131540

Albatron Geforce 7800GTX
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814170095

Xion PowerReal XON-600F14T-201 ATX12V V.2.01 600W Power Supply
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16817190007

Maxtor DiamondMax 11 500GB 3.5" SATA 3.0Gb/s HARD Drive
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16822144005

OCZ Gold GX 2GB (2 x 1GB) 184-Pin DDR SDRAM
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16820227066

AMD Athlon 64 X2 4200+ 1GHz HT Socket 939 Dual Core Processor
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16819103547

Fujiplus FP-988D Silver-Black 19" 12ms LCD Monitor
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16824168005hey whats up, sounds like you wanted to go all out as did I. Like you, I bought the a8n-sli thinking asus is the best.... Check out the reviews on Newegg, or anywhere for that matter, about your mobo, there lies your answer!

do you have all 3 power plugs hooked up? plus the TWO on the 7800? just an idea... mine at least beeps! Ya all the wires are correct, I did some more testing and I think my MB is just DOAJust out of CURIOSITY... what type of testing did you do to confirm it's DOA? Other than the fact that the board has a ton of bad reviews... Sometimes those symptoms are due to a bad memory module. Have you reseated the memory? Tried BOOTING with only one? Let us know what you did.

(was "buying a new computer...")

I'd like to buy a computer capable of a dual monitor setup (specifically two Dell 2001FP's), and this is the part that's REALLY confusing me.

Dell's Dimension B110 model seems to use the "Integrated Intel® Extreme Graphics 2", which I guess is NOT capable of a dual monitor setup. Is this accurate?

Dell's Dimension E310 model seems to use the "Intel® Graphics Media Accelerator 900", which I think IS capable of dual monitor setup. What confuses me though is that the pictured model only seems to have one SLOT in the back (the dark blue one), so I'm not sure how I would actually plug in the second monitor.

thanksI would contact Dell Sales

FlameNeither of those computers are a good choice if you want to use dual monitors. The basic problem with them is that they use intergrated graphics, and neither of them has slots for PCI Express video cards, or even AGP cards. Either computer might support dual monitors if you installed one or two PCI video cards; a single card configuration would require a card designed to support two monitors.

I run dual monitors. I have two video cards installed, one AGP and one PCI.

How do you want to use dual monitors? Do you want to be able to clone the primary monitor on the second monitor? Is you primary interest being able to have different apps on the two monitors? I can not clone; a single card that supports two monitors is required for cloning. That's not an issue for me since I don't care about cloning. My purpose is to run different apps on different monitors; my two card configuration does this well but, as far as I know, single cards that support multiple monitors work equally well for this purpose.




I am not interested in cloning. So to be clear, I CAN use dual monitors with the Dimension B110 as long as I buy two PCI video cards and install them? It seems to me like this is the cheapest option.

thanksThat should work, but I suggest you call Dell's sales folks to confirm that. Of course, I'm sure they'll try to sell you a higher priced computer.

By the WAY, Dell has a user forum. Might be a good idea to register and ask your question there.

I just saw something YOU SHOULD SEE; PNY Geforce FX5500 VCGFX55PPB Video Card - Retail This card supports two monitors.
One thing you overlooked is the fact that if you get a Dell that claims to support dual displays (which most do these DAYS), all you need is the Y connector which comes with the PC.

[SIZE=14]when ever i turn on my pc,my monitor will shut off after of few minutes.i'ved try to changed my monitor and still the problem remain.what should i do? [/size]Right CLICK your desktop and SELECT "Properties" from the context menu. Click on the "SCREENSAVER" tab, then the "Power" button. Set your power saving settings as you WANT them.

Hi everyone,

Can I implement hardware RAID on my system?

Specifically, I'd like to stripe or mirror (either RAID 0 or 1) my OPERATING system and some HEAVY applications (database, application server) across two disks. I don't need fault-tolerance; the reason is purely performance.

My BOARD has 2-IDE controllers that support a total of 4-devices.

I'm running Win2K Server -- is software RAID my best HOPE at this point or is there a hardware RAID solution that I can install?

Thanks for your thoughts,
pgDoes your board support hardware RAID? If so, then hardware is always a better choice. Tell us more... we SEEK more 1's and 0's.RAID controller cards are available from around UK£10.

My computer started going into sleep mode when I either:

1.) Rip from a CD. It doesn't do it after a specific amount of time, sometimes it will rip the entire CD, sometimes it will only rip 1 track.

2.) Burn a CD. Sometimes I can burn an entire CD, sometimes it goes into sleep mode halfway through the process.

This is where I thought it was a problem with the CD ROM. But then, it threw me off because it started:

3.) Going into sleep mode part way through my anti virus software scanning my hard drive.

I've tried formatting, turning off sleep mode altogether. Nothing works. It doesn't completely shut down, because the green power light is still on.

Any help would be greatly appreciated. I love my computer but I don't know how to fix this, I'm thinking about getting a new one.

It's an IBM ThinkCentre with Windows XP.It doesn't sound like sleep mode to me... It SOUNDS like a problem our Dell's had at one time... The computer display just goes blank on it's own and then more frequently. How do you know it's in sleep mode? How do you get it to wake up? Do you have to power it off and back on? Our Dell's had a bad motherboard issue. The box was so confined it was burning them up. Look at your board and check the capacitors for HEAT symptoms.. ie. bubbling over or expanding.I know it's not the monitor cause I turn the monitor off and back on again, and it still doesn't work. I actually hear my tower powering down, but only into sleep mode cause the power light still stays on. I actually have to turn the computer off and on again. I read this and checked inside my tower as well, I'm not sure what the motherboard looks like but nothing looked out of the ordinary...Exactly. The monitor goes blank but has the green light and your pc stays on but nothing works. If you look in the case.. you will see the motherboard has little round CYLINDER SHAPED capacitors with an indented x on top... Look closely at the 'X'. If it is expanding and the 'x' separating or if it's more obvious with what looks like battery acid pouring out the top.. then it's a defective board. Otherwise... swap MEMORY modules and see if that has any effect.

Good luck.Power settings?Nah.. That would be too simple
It's good troubleshooting methodology to start with the simple things.

Hi all,

Came back today to find my PC screen had frozen up, on the screensaver, nothing would shift it which I found very surprising as it has behaved itself up 'til now. So I reset the machine. It had been on for >36 HOURS, has been done before and hasn't been a problem. On the restart all of the fans started up but I got no beeps and nothing on screen.

Some details - I built it myself just over a year ago, am running Gentoo Linux (kernel 2.6.9), quite a few minor/major software problems (which I expect now and again) but this is the first major hardware problem I've had with it. Specification:

Gigabyte K8VT800 Motherboard, BIOS has "Pheonix BIOS, BIOS D686" written on it
AMD64 3000+ CPU
512MB DDR400 RAM, 1 DIMM
XFX GeForce FX5200 128MB Graphics Card
160GB SATA150 HDD
Samsung 73V 17" TFT
and various CDRW, DVDROM, network card and modem.

after reading several posts in this, and other forums, have tried several things but nothing restores it to its former working glory.

- removed/disconnected all components from motherboard bar CPU, RAM and video card
- taken motherboard outside the case onto a cardboard box
- removed battery to clear CMOS, several times
- reseating the video card, several times

The final thing I noticed it doing, with the motherboard out the case, was for everything to power up when the PSU power was switched on, even without contacting the power on/off pins... that seemed really strange.

I've no idea after all this time why it's suddenly gone wrong, and PART of the problem is I don't have another machine here to cross-check things... Has anyone any suggestions of other things I could try? Bar replacing the motherboard (which seems to be the most likely culprit)

Thanks in advance!Just found your topic, so i thought i'd repost my original thread inside yours...

I've had my computer for about 3 years now. Just recently it was sitting idle on the desktop, and it suddenly shut down... as in it completely went black and the power went off. Since then, I have not been able to turn it back on. I've tried a number of things to fix it, and I think I may have narrowed down the problem.

I've unplugged everything from my motherboard that isn't necessary, including the harddrive and videocard. The only things left plugged in were the memory and the connector to the FRONT power switch (and of course, the processor =]). My motherboard has a 20-pin power connector and an additional 4-pin ATX processor power connector on the other side of the board. When just the 20-pin is connected to the power supply, I am actually able to get power to the computer, as in the fans will turn on and various components will as WELL. It just won't start up because the 4-pin connector isn't plugged in so there's no power to the processor. However, when i turn it off, plug in the 4-pin ATX connector, and try to turn it on again, there's no power whatsoever. Nothing comes on, not even the power supply. My computer doesn't even get to POST or start beeping, it simply just sits there as if nothing has happened. I know it isn't a power supply issue because I even went so far as buying a new one, but when everthing was plugged in the same problem arose. It seems to me like it might be an electrical issue, but I'm just not sure.

If anyone is able to help, there are three things I would like to know. One, is this a processor problem, a motherboard problem, or both. Two, can the problem be fixed, or am I better off buying new whichever of those two is causing the problem. And three, if I am completely off in my assessment of what the problem may be, please suggest anything that may assist in my identifying and fixing the problem.

Hardware:
Turbolink 420w power supply
MSI-K8T Neo motherboard
Athlon AMD 64 3000+ processor

Thanks in advance for your help.These are two separate ISSUES and should be kept that way... It's too confusing otherwise. On the original post, if you get a blank screen with no beeps and no post, it's most likely the memory. I'd try replacing that first.To the thread originator:
You must disable all devices by disconnecting both power and data cables.
Use one stick of proven good memory.
Use a known good PCI video card.
Taking the motherboard out of the case can leave the ground potential floating in some areas of some boards - It's not advisable to do this without first ensuring that any grounding points are in fact, grounded.

To the thread hijacker:
Please start a new thread if you haven't already done so.

I've run up an oddball problem that is stretching my sanity awfully thin.

I recently bought a 300gb Seagate HD. I decided to make this into a boot drive. My comp is a Dell Dimension 8200. I'm not sure exactly what sort of MB it's packing, but someone over on the Dell forums said that with the latest bios it shouldn't matter what size the drive is. Sure enough, after installing the drive and going into the bios, it detected a 300gb Hard Drive with no apparent problems.

That said...I booted to my Windows XP Professional SP2 disc, and let it format the disc and install windows. Every time it went to boot to the newly installed Windows XP, it would load the bios and then just stop. (yes, the boot order was Floppy--->Hard Disk--->CD Rom, so that's not the issue). My comp HAD been trying to load the Intel Boot Agent about the time it would stop, so I uninstalled that using the Boot Agent command prompt software that I downloaded from Intel.

After disabling that stupid thing, I rebooted, checked the bios, sure enough, it detected the drive just fine, 300gb, no problems. And this time when it went to boot up it said "DISK READ ERROR, CTRL-ALT-DEL to restart"

That got me thinking about whether the XP Pro SP2 disc was having trouble formatting the drive. So I booted to a Symantec Parition Magic disk instead. When it examined the partition, it found all sorts of errors, which I instructed it to fix by reformatting the drive completely.

I booted to the XP Pro SP2 disc again, and then told it to install windows on the existing partition. It rebooted and Windows loaded fine. I've been using the 300gb disk without problems for a couple weeks. There was one program that I hadn't found the install disks for that I have to use occasionally for work. So I have just been turning the computer off, and swapping the 300gb drive with the 80gb drive with my original OS install on it. (XP Home Edition in this case). This also has been working fine for the last couple weeks.

However...tonight I swapped in the 80gb drive and got some beeps and an "unable to detect hard drive 0" error mesg. I checked the bios...it wasn't there. I checked the cables, the jumpers, nothing seemed to work. Finally I swapped the 300gb back in...went into the bios to make sure everything was okay, and they still detected the 300gb drive. I exited without changing anything, and after the bios loaded, the computer just SAT THERE. In the upper left hand corner there was a blinking cursor (the kind that's usually there for a couple seconds before the Windows screen pops up). It just sits there and sits there, no hard drive activity, nothing. Nothing happens after as long as 20 minutes.

I shut the comp down and threw the 80gb back in. It booted up this time. I put the 300gb into my USB drive enclosure, and it popped up, all the data intact, the windows directory instact. I double checked to make sure the boot.ini was there, and the ntldr and all those fun files...they're all there. I shut down...again, and put the 300gb back in. Same thing. It sits there with the cursor blinking in the top left hand corner.

I booted to some various UTILITIES that I have laying around. One of them is Winternals ERD Commander. It shows the XP install, there are no corrupted system files, no disk errors. I even did a system restore to a couple days ago, but that didn't help either.

So I'm on the 80gb drive at the moment. The 300gb is in the USB enclosure. I ran a disk check and defragged, and that didn't pop up anything odd.

So the long and short is...I've been swapping these back and forth for a couple weeks with no problems. Magically the 300gb has stopped booting up. I should also note, that I tried putting a fresh install of Windows on top of it (which gets installed in windows.0 and the boot.ini identified it as the default OS) but it still wouldn't boot! I would understand if perhaps it had never worked, but the fact I've been using it for a couple weeks (the 300gb drive as my boot drive) and now it magically stopped working is driving me to the brink here.

Other things to note: I have not installed any other hardware, and the restore I did with ERD Commander undid the single software addition I'd made. The 300gb drive is set to Master when it's hooked up, and it's the only drive on the IDE cable. Same with the 80gb drive.

So if anyone out there, more in tune with this sorta stuff that me, can help...it will definitely be greatly appreciated.

CTOK... a couple things I didn't see in your story... But you probably left out because it was obvious, but I thought I'd ask if when you're swapping disks, are you going into the bios and refreshing it with the latest update? Also, I was thinking... when you first installed windows on your 300 Gig, you said you installed it from within windows of the other disk... That could possibly cause a problem there.. depending on whether you had made XP the root drive. Best thing to do is leave both disks attached, refresh and save the bios so it knows which disk is where... then just modify your boot.ini to give you a choice when you boot the system... then you wouldn't have to swap anything. On the other hand, you said you had it in an enclosure... Was this because you wanted to keep it mobile? Enclosures are sooo much slower than IDE, it really isn't worth it.
Yup, let me clear a couple things up. I did a fresh install of XP Pro SP2 on the 300gb disk. It's worked fine for a couple weeks as the boot drive. It was clean install...newly formatted disk...it was only AFTER this latest problem that I tried to reinstall the OS on top of the other windows, just to see whether there was a problem with XP, but that didn't work either. The boot.ini was defaulted to the new install and it still didn't work.

Now...the Drive enclosure is just what I used to check the 300gb disk when I couldn't get it to boot. I normally have ALL DRIVES installed inside the computer. I ONLY used it to make sure the data on the 300gb drive was intact, and it was.

And you misunderstood about installing windows on the 300gb. I installed that after booting to the XP Pro SP2 CD-ROM, and installed it directly onto the freshly formatted disk.

Yes, when I mention going into the bios and checking that it recognized the drive...is that what you mean by refreshing? It detects the drive and I save & exit the bios.

If you partition the drive to say a 10-15Gig boot drive and a few <130Gig slaves, does the problem persist?
The 10-15Gig figure may seem SMALL but there are METHODS of keeping only the OS and programs on your boot drive. In conjunction with a drive/partition imaging program, this is the recommended way to go.Well, it seems to me that if being over the 137 gig size was a problem, I wouldn't have been able to use the 300gb as a boot drive for the last couple weeks with no problems (even with swapping) until the problems now. It should NEVER have worked if that was the issue, right?Right? Not necessarily but I'm not sure. I'm supposing that it would only bork if and when data was written outside of XPs "boundaries" as it were.
Personally, I don't think that current software TECHNOLOGY is ready for such large drives. Drive size seems to be directly related to problems experienced after the 130Gig clip. Of course, it may simply be that tolerances are so much tighter as capacity increases.I'll try to delete some data and get it below 137gb and see if it boots.

Addition: I just noticed when I tried to delete some folders...that it gave me "folder is corrupt" popup. I'm going to dig through my discs and see if I have a decent disk utility. If anyone has any suggestions...the XP chkdsk hasn't noticed anything...


It's exactly this sort of thing that makes me wonder about the softwares ability to handle the hardware correctly.

I'll have a look at what HD tools I may have available but the hard drive vendor should have tools available via their support site.Well...some more strangeness:

I tried AGAIN to use the XP "check disk for errors" thingy. The first time I ran it, it said "Windows cannot check this drive for errors" which I thought was a little strange. Then I tried it again a few minutes later, and it made it through Phase 1, Phase 2, and Phase 3, with no problems. It made it about 60% through Phase 4 and just hung up. Stopped and sat there for almost 2 hours.

Eventually I restarted the comp. I booted to Seatools boot disc that I downloaded off of Seagate's website. It ran its tests, and the one it failed was the file structure test. Here is what it told me:

"One or more file names contained errors"
"One or more errors were found in the index"
"One or more errors were found in metadata file records"
"Other errors were found"

Norton Partition Magic says the following:

"Error 1607 File Record Marked Free, File 20"
"Error 1607 File Record Marked Free, File 21"
"Error 1607 File Record Marked Free, File 22"
"Error 1607 File Record Marked Free, File 23"
"Error 1607 File Record Marked Free, File 3815"
"Error 1607 File Record Marked Free, File 3872"
"Error 1607 File Record Marked Free, File 3877"
"Error 1507 Bad File Record SIGNATURE"
"Error 1507 Bad File Record Signature"
Info Check Complete.

So basically it reports these errors, but can't fix them. Any ideas what fixes these errors? File Structure seems to be the problem here.

Thanks for all the help so far...
Running chkdsk /f should fix these errors (On reboot) but I've seen this mentioned quite a few times now and I'm becoming convinced it's down to disk/partition size. You have to ask why these errors occur in the first place.
The disks themselves seem to be OK so that basically leaves the controllers or the software. Perhaps updated chipset drivers may help in this regard but I'm assured in at least a couple of cases that it makes no difference.Here's the result of that chkdsk:

CHKDSK is verifying files (stage 1 of 3)...
File verification completed.
CHKDSK is verifying indexes (stage 2 of 3)...
Index verification completed.
CHKDSK is verifying security descriptors (stage 3 of 3)...
Security descriptor verification completed.
Windows has checked the file system and found no problems.

293025568 KB total disk space.
127502788 KB in 52397 files.
17752 KB in 5283 indexes.
0 KB in bad sectors.
137140 KB in use by the system.
65536 KB occupied by the log file.
165367888 KB available on disk.

4096 bytes in each allocation unit.
73256392 total allocation units on disk.
41341972 allocation units available on disk.

I also tried a chkdsk /r and it hung up at 53%


EDIT: It wasn't hung up, it was just going really slowly. I let it run for 4 hours, and it went from 53% to 67% Now it's moving a little more frequently.

I think I've pretty much decided to just wipe my 80gb drive and do a clean install on that...don't want this hassle

Hi!. I purchased a Compaq Presario, AMD Sempron 3500+, Model 1720NX. I installed 1 gig ram. I have an ATI Radeon Express 200 graphics card integrated. I bought a 6500 GeForce Nvidia card. The card was defected. (yes i turned off the radeon). My problem is 3 fold. When i run a system scan of my hardrive. It tells me I am only running a 995 ghz, (thru microsoft, pctools and nvidia), It states that I MUST be using a laptop. Are those test reliable? How do I know if my processor can handle the nvidia card? I checked and Have the nvidia slot. I can run an AGP or PCI graphics card on my computer. Is it my Power voltage thing?, Did i buy a bum computer? My voltage output is 250. I really bought the computer to run OBLIVION.
Is there a problem with my processor?, Please help. thanks so much. I will send homebaked chocolate chip cookies.OK.. the most important question you have here is about your power supply... The NVidia card you bought requires a minimum power supply of 300W Max Output (according to NVidia). I would personally go with a 480W. Also, you didn't mention the obvious.. but is your card an AGP card or PCI-E? So in order to run Oblivion (it hasn't been released yet, has it??) Your AMD 3500+, 1 Gig RAM, and GeForce 6500 should be OK. I don't know where you're getting the 995gHz, but if you need system specs, just goto System Tools - System Info under your start menu. One thing you might check, is whether or not you have a utility running like MSI Cool N Quiet... That will run your CPU slower unless more performance is needed... at which point it will max out at 2200.

Good luck in getting your system ready in time..Thank you so much!! I'm going to get a new power supply!! Have a great day!!Details of your computer plus downloads and troubleshooting info etc can be found [highlight]here[/highlight].

Look at your PSU again - If it's outputting 250 volts there would have been a big bang long ago.
If it's outputting 250 watts in total, then it's well under-rated and should not have been fitted in the first place. If it's a new MACHINE, contact the vendor and demand a replacement PSU.Perhaps you missed the part where he replaced the video card. I'm sure the system runs just fine with the standard integrated video it came with.No, I didn't miss it. I'm just attempting to ascertain what the rating of the installed PSU is.Ok. Not that it matters but i'm a girl. LOL I rechecked it.. it's a 250 watt thingie.
It does run fine with the ATI that's installed. Do you really think they will replace my power supply if I demand a new one?They really should as that PSU is seriously underpowered for the machine as it was bought. However, I somehow doubt that they will. Was the PSU rating mentioned n the original spec sheet?
Did your problems occur only after FITTING the new graphics card?yes that's when it all went downhill. I was worried that the ATI wouldn't run oblivion so I thought I would upgrade. I did not know the PSU rating when I purchased the machine, SIGH.Ah well..... A lesson learned. I wonder how many guys would send out homebaked chocolate chip cookies as a reward?

Until you get that PSU, remove the new card and retest.I'm going for those chocolate chip cookies... so let us know when you get that PSU.

P.S - The thought of a girl who can upgrade her own PC... I knew I should have held out... (j/k)
I sincerely thank you guys for your awesome help. LOL @ the Held out comment.
I'm ordering a 400 watt PSU for my athlon and hope that helps me out. All this for a computer game!!! Can't help it love the Elder Scrolls.
Thanks again. Will send cookies, but only the good ones!

I haven't seen this on any other IBM thinkpad, I bought my IBM T40 off of eBay, the whole computer is great, except the lid of it has a dull look to it. It is very flat black and almost looks like it has speckles of glitter deep in it. Has anybody ever heard of somebody needing to restore the finish to the lid of their laptop? Any idea of what I COULD use to try to do it?
Try hanging it from a clothes line and throwing buckets of paint at it till it becomes a personalized, ARTISTIC masterpiece!

[size=24]S P L A T ! [/size]

He he .. it almost looks green in that picture.

Since you're just looking to refinish it rather than find out why it dulled like that... I SUGGEST you just remove the plastics and do like PcDoc said... have FUN with some new colors. You could make it Neon!I have no idea why it did dull, the screen is fine, and the rest of it seems to have it's finish so I am happy... I suppose I will just semi-flat black it... or chrome! I was just wondering if anybody tried restoring the color. Rather than painting over it. Well thanks for the replies, ScottIf it has gone dull then maybe it could just do with some lacquer? A tin of spray-on car lacquer would probably do the job. Make sure you mask delicate parts, holes etc. first!I would leave it alone. I have a T20 which has some strange areas of loss of blackness, but they don't bother me. I work on the inside!
<--- agrees with GX1. Any paint in the wrong place would likely damage the laptop.

My optical mouse tends to get gummy on the four little PADS in the corners...and I don't even eat at my desk or anything! Getting tired of scraping it off...

Weird question, I know!Thats a good idea i dont think they do maby you should PUT it to a company that makes them.

R0SSCan you scratch it off with your nail? Is it like a dried putty kind of material you see? Usually its just BODY oil.

FlameYou may not eat at your desk, but you CERTAINLY shed skin there. Gross, I know. The stuff on the bottom of mice is a mixture of human greas, skin, dust and other crud. Not sure that Teflon would guarantee to repel that kind of gunk.

If it REALLY bothers you, get a graphics tablet instead. In the UK there's a product called "Sticky Stuff REMOVER" for removing gum etc from surfaces. It's excellent for this sort of thing and I've not seen it have any adverse effect on any surface yet.

Hi all,
Can someone PLEASE TELL me which is the better and why,
a external drive (LaCie) with a USB 2 or one with a firewire connection
Thanks
Ned :-?

Sorry it should read USB 2
Firewire is the faster.Quote

Firewire is the faster.

Hey Guys, I REALLY need some help on this one. I was sitting in my chair, after installing some new hardware on my comp, so i had the case open. I ASKED my girlfriend to bring me a can of MOUNTAIN dew and she sets it on my desk. The CLOSED can of mountain dew falls, hits the wall, rips a hole in the side of the can, and rolls into my case, spraying mountain dew all over inside the case.... my first reaction? unplug it. the first couple of days after the incident when i tried to boot it up, nothing. no bios, no case fan, nothing. dead silent. now when i plug it in, it gives the VID card specs and COMES up with the mobo boot picture, thats it. but when i unplug the keyboard, it says under it "To Display System messages, press the key" i have tried and can get no further. Any help is GREATLY appreciated!Wow, I've never heard of that happening. Just wondering, have you unplugged the computer, taken everything out and wiped it down with a damp, not wet, cloth? Don't know if it will work but it's something to try.wait *censored*, i unplugged the cd drive and now its actually booting up... :-? problem solved, due to some experimenting and a damp cloth, Thanks Man!!In case any other newbs read this, for the record, wiping the insides of a computer with a damp cloth is NOT RECOMMENDED!Take out each component and clean CAREFULLY, if you must. Do not take the system in the BACK yard and hose it down.

I keep getting the error message "Can't play copyright protected DVDs with TV out function enabled", but the weird thing is, NONE of my GRAPHICS ADAPTERS have a TV out port. I have a Cirrus Logic 5446 Compatible Graphics Adapter PCI128 and a disabled Cirrus Logic 5465 built-in graphics adapter, none of which has any way of connecting a tv to them, or any recording device, UNLESS my sound card has that capability. Sound card is Creative Labs CT4740 with MIDI/Gameport that has joystick attached. Please HELP me as this is the only way I can watch movies.i had a problem similar to this earlier today...i downloaded a Codec, which is a program that unscrambles the digital data so it can be read, and now it works fine. Download this codec at http://www.freedownloadscenter.com/Multimedia_and_Graphics/Video_and_Animation_Tools/Codec_Pack__Standard__Download.html

and it should work.....its complicated though because it makes you put in your email, then it will send you a confirmation asking if you want to download it, then when you do it will send a thank you, then another email with the mirror to download it. so just keep refreshing your inbox, oh and no worries its free! nvm im an idiot and didnt read, just click "Download Now" at the TOP of the screen.....lol sorry about thatProbably the best codec pack that's freely available and clean is [highlight]The-Codecs[/highlight] from Theorica.

I have a Dell Dimension 4300 Pentium 4 Processor & a Lexmark X83 Printer, Scanner, Copier, all-in-one. I can't get it to Print, Scan or Copy. In the little "window" on the Printer it says "POWER Down Error". Can someone help me, please. Ann123You may need to install chipset drivers but Dell have had PROBLEMS with underpowered USB ports. Disconnect ANYTHING else from USB and TRY different ports.
Probably, the best solution would be an addin USB2 card.From what others have said.. this is RELATED to the Unlock Scanner option. See THIS Link.

my PC is a DELL Dimension 8200. when i press the POWER button it flashes orange, however the PC will not start. Where as you can hear the parts loading up when the PC is normally started ie. the hard drive, the fan whirring up etc. this does not occur, and the computer seems dead except for the power button flashing orange when it should be green when the PC is running normally. The power cable is securly connected and the power is turned on as normal. I am stuck! ps. no i am not in standby mode lol

any help is much appreciated

JamesHave you tried disconnecting the PC from the wall before restarting?

Are you familiar with the insides of PCs?Dell has a built-in safety feature for their pc's... Your pc will go into that mode when there is a power fluctuation or it has a BAD power SUPPLY. To remedy the Orange or amber LIGHT.. either unplug it and then power it up or hold in the power button for 10 seconds until the light goes out.. then power it up. If it happens again and more frequently... it's a bad power supply.

This is very disturbing but I found out whenever I leave my COMPUTER on for maybe 2-3 hours it automatically shuts down instantly! No Blue screen or warning or even a noise it just behaves as if it was overheating before shutting down. And I know its not overheating since the internal temp display reads 83-85 degrees F. And I tried an experiment where I left the computer on for 2-3 hours and did NOT run anything. It was just sitting there going into a screen DARK mode with nothing but the Windows desktop on it and it still shuts down at 85 degrees F! Is my computer dying? Its a new model too only a few years old.

Any theories as to the cause? Why is this happening?

PS. This is a recent problem. Not too long ago my computer could be left on overnight in logout mode and still be on in the morning so I don't know why it has a sudden issue with this now.What's the history and make/model of the power supply? How about listing the components? What happened prior to this starting?I'm not too sure on the details I lost my manual a while ago. I have Windows XP. I left the computer on for a long time before because its a shared one so its never really been TURNED off I only logoff and turn off the monitor but the computer stays on all the time. I don't know where I can find the component details you want sorry.Everest Home is free and will tell you everything except the maker and wattage of the PSU. No manual needed.

http://www.majorgeeks.com/download4181.html
Say can someone tell me what temperature is a computer considered to be overheating at?? Whats the max recommended temp a CPU can be at before autoshutdown takes place? I managed to fix the other problem but the temperature is making me nervous.Depends on the processor and if the settings have been tweaked (overclocked) but 70C WOULD make me nervous. What is yours? And what about all the other details that were asked?Ah thanks. My cpu is now 112 F. The other info is not necessary sine my problem is fixed now. Thanks anywayHow about posting the solution for other interested parties?

Hi,

Could anyone recommend a good vga monitor switch? I want to have my computer and my Xbox 360 share the same monitor. I have a manual vga switch box, but the ghosting is really bad with that. A check inside revealed there's no shielding or anything inside of it. I'm not really knowlegeable about this KIND of thing....

Thanks a lot,can't really recommend a monitor switch, i looked into buying one a while ago, but decided against it... i opted for a tv tuner instead and am very happy with it. i got a leadtek winfast tuner and it just plugs into a pci slot. install DRIVERS and their tv software and your set. the xbox (or in my CASE playstation2) will just plug into the card through RCA's or whatever. i've had no problem with mine plus you get the added bonus of having tv on your comp. ati makes one and i've tried two versions of theirs and wasn't really happy with either. they aren't bad and had some nice features (translucent screen for instance), but overall they weren't real good.