Computer broke...

[wolfseeker2828]

So we recently realized our computer was acting a bit strange...for the longest time it said that the main drive was D:\ even though there was no C: drive. When we did some registry tweaking to fix the drive letter, a lot of programs stopped working. We kept it, for awhile, but I decided to reinstall the computer. I backed up all the documents and photos onto our external hard drive, and went into windows and formatted the computer. As it was formatting, it froze. It literally sat at 4% for 15 minutes. So I turned off the computer and thought, 'no big deal, I'll just format it again.' But that's where things got strange. The CPU fan refused to start at normal speed - it ran so slow that if anything touched it it would stop. After a few seconds it would go to normal speed. Half of the times I started it up, it didn't recognize the hard drive. When it did and I tried to format, it would say there is a missing file in [SourceHardDrive] and wouldn't let me. I finally got one to format, and when Windows restarted the computer, I got a blue screen saying that the hard drive was non-bootable. It's to the point now where half the time the CMOS beeper comes on and it won't start, or it'll start and just show dashes all the way down the computer. It even once said "TRAP" at the top of the screen when I tried to start it. What the heck is going on? I've tried three different hard drives, tried formatting them in different computers and transferring them over, tried reseating the CPU, removing RAM, video card, hard drive, CD Drive, and the BIOS is still ridiculously buggy. What the heck is going on?

Specs:
Intel Celeron D 2.66 GHz
1GB DDR 400 ram
80GB Seagate PATA drive
NVidia Ti 4200 gfx card
SiS 667 mobo

 

[orangejulius]

you should have left it as D...

you change a tonnnnn of stuff when you do something like that. Every program, file, document, registry, script is attached on some file and to some file on the C drive i assume normally
but since you tried to move from D to C it messed everything up

your ONLY option is to clean everything and do a fresh complete new install of windows and have the old one erased completely.

next time leave it how it is

 

[aford10]

Unplug the external drive.
Boot off your OS disc into the repair console. From there you can use the format command to wipe out the main HD. You may have blown up your MBR, so you may need to also use the fixmbr command. Then boot off the OS disc again and try to run the windows install.

 

[vh1atomicpunk]

Sounds like you started out with no issues, and either created or uncovered some. From your description, it sounds as if the machine does not POST (Power On Self Test), which is always a hardware issue. Your CPU fan should be running at a normal speed at almost all times, sometimes at a higher speed to dissipate more heat. Here is what I would do, in this order.

-Unplug all drives. Hard disks, CD/DVD, external, etc. Don't worry about booting into Windows. Just see if the machine will POST (you can access the BIOS and restart w/o issue) reliably at least five times. If it does, the issue is being caused by something you unplugged. Use the process of elimination to find it.

-If the above step does not uncover the problem, try different RAM. Even though it is properly seating, RAM can and does go bad, even after working flawlessly for years. Use RAM that you know is compatible, also preferably something that is already working in another system.

-If it isn't the CPU fan causing overheating, none of the devices you would normally have plugged into the machine, and it's not the RAM, the list is pretty narrow.

It could be your power supply putting out too many or too few volts on the 12V connections, just as likely the Motherboard has experienced a short or somehow become damaged.

CPUs rarely go bad, but that would be your last stop once you tested all else.

Hope this helps!

P.S. - Don't forget to become grounded before you start touching hardware in the machine! Static electricity is not the friend of circuit boards and CPUs. Grounding wrist straps can be had at most computer shops and stores for pretty cheap.