[Tech] Computer help needed

[Wraith]

I seem to have killed my computer so I'm in need of some help to get it sorted. What happened is that my computer was starting to run slow and it had a lot of stuff on that I don't use anymore so I decided to re-install Windows.

I backed up all my important data, put in the windows CD and chose the "repair re-install". After I put in the product key it said it would take about 50 minutes so I went to do other stuff. After about 30 minutes I went to check on it and found that the screen was blank. I'd had to move it around to find the sticker with the product key so I thought that I may have pulled a wire loose or something but they were all in properly.

I left it a while longer as I went to meet some friends, but when I came back about 4 hours later it was still in the same state (blank screen, minimal activity from how it sounded). I decided to turn it off by holding the power button down as that was the only way to get any response from it. When I tried to turn it back on it didn't respond to the power button so I’m worried that it’s either the power supply that’s died or the motherboard that’s not accepting power.

I've had the comp about 1.5 - 2 years (self built) with few problems but have had a couple of random reboots a couple of months ago which I originally put down to overheating but now I’m not sure on that.

The specs of the PC (as far as I can remember off the top of my head) are:
DFI Lanparty motherboard (can’t remember which model)
AMD Athlon X2 2400? dual core processor
GeForce 7950 graphics card
2 x 2GB sticks of DDR2 RAM
520W Hiper modular power supply
250GB Western Digital SATA II HDD 7200 RPM
(Note that any of the above details could be inaccurate as I’m currently at work and don’t have access to the documentation but I think it’s correct)

Bearing in mind that I don’t have another PC to test any components in or any spare parts lying around with which to replace current ones so testing it myself is going to be pretty much impossible, does anyone have any suggestions?

 

[Nanor]

Sounds like a dead motherboard to me though it could be worthwhile trying an old PSU if you have one lying about.

If it's a fried motherboard you'd best hope that's all that's been fried.

 

[waterproofbob]

Is there power going to the mobo. Any power at all will make a little light come on somewhere on the board. Make sure the power button jumper is in as well as I've had a PC not start on me due to that falling out on me.

I must admit I read Hiper 520W PSU and translate as you are doing well to have it still working after 2 years. Most Hiper PSU of that era had a tendancy of dieing quite annoying deaths.

Ensure your ATX power is connected to the board and if you are getting no lights at all chances are it's not getting power and more likely to be the PSU in my experience. However normally when they go you tend to get a melted platic smell as one of the transitors in the PSU melts.

I'm doubting you do but if you do get a multimeter and check the power coming from the psu is there.

Also jumper reset the BIOS as that is always a good thing to have checked off the list.

Other than that check all the cables again and the best of luck with the issue hunting.

 

[VibroAxe]

If none of the above work, then it is possible to test the PSU by jumpering some of the power lines on the 20 Pin PSU ATX connector.

The Green cable is the power supplies "Power On" line, This must be "Tied Low" to initalise a PSU power up. In order to do this, CAREFULLY use a paper clip to short out the green cable and any of the BLACK cables on the connector. Whilst this paper clip is in place the power supply should switch on. If nothing happens then it's dead PSU, if something does, then it might be dead Mobo


Hope this helps


NOTICE: Some of the pins on that power supply connector are MEATY, make sure you only connector the BLACK and GREEN wires and it might be worth wearing some rubber gloves or summat insulating whilst doing this, BE CAREFULL

 

[Iron_fist]

or putting the clip in unplugged and then plugging in the PSU, when power is there the fan should start spinning if it still works

 

[Traxata]

I read that as, the machine is starting, its just sitting blank screened,

Either, Dead motherboard, or dead Graphics Card.

 

[Nanor]

Dead graphics card doesn't account for the PC not turning on.

 

[Traxata]

Ah right i skipped over the part about it not turning back on

 

[Ronin Storm]

You've done the obvious unplug all the power connections, check the pins are straight then plug them back in firmly?

 

[Wraith]

Quick update. My computer is working again (sort of). Without me even touching any of the wires, opening up the case or anything else it just decided to start responding to the power button again. That's the good news.

The semi-bad news is that the Windows installation was corrupted, but as I was trying to do a frsh install anyway that wasn't a big deal - just stuck the CD back in and started from scratch.

The worse news (not particularly bad but nonetheless annoying) is that the full re-install of Windows did get rid of all the drivers etc (which I was expecting) but didn't get rid off all the old game and application folders that were on there. I thought a full re-install was supposed to get rid of everything, not leave on half the crap that was on there. Annoying as getting rid of old, unused files was one of the reasons I decided to do the re-install in the first place. Another reason was that there were a load of processes running in the background on start-up which it also doesn't appear to have got rid of.

Another thing is that the driver CD for my modem has now decided to tell me that it can't detect the wireless router when installing the drivers so refuses to finish the install process. Thing is, the router isn't a wireless one in the first place so it's no surprise that it can't find one, I just wish it would try to detect the wired router instead (and no, I'm not choosing the wrong install - the only option it gives is "install router"). Sigh.

Anyway, I'm about to try getting a set of drivers from the website so wish me luck.

Thanks for all the suggestions.

 

[waterproofbob]

To get a clean install boot from CD on startup delete the old windows partition, re-format the drive. That way you are starting from scratch. Otherwise the install will merely repair the old operating system leaving most of the files intact.

 

[thatbloke]

Er, if that's the case then what you did was probably a repair rather than an install.

You need to re-run that thing and do a FULL (not quick) format of your drive. This will permanantly erase everything on it - To do this, in the windows setup menu you need to delete all existing partitions you have and then make a new one. It will then give you the option to do a full format (which depending on the size of your drive could take a couple of hours!).

Hope that helps...

 

[Wraith]

I thought I'd done that but I must have hit the wrong option