A nightmare

Hi,

First of all, thanks in advance for your help. Last week I removed a defective dvd player from my desktop comp. Replaced it with a new dvd writer (Pioneer). Then the nightmare started. When i tried to boot it would get to the windows logo and then I would only get a blinking white line. I opened the case, found leaking capacitors on the mobo, changed the mobo (it was an Asus P4B533, now it's a Foxconn 661MX). Also changed the RAM for two new Crucial pc-2700 chips. First time I started the comp after installing the new mobo, there was a big bang and the power supply was fried. Brought the mobo (with only cpu and ram on) at a friend's to test it on a no-static carpet. Worked fine, so I bought a new psu. System did boot up, did post, but it got very unstable when windows was booting and kept auto-rebooting. Tried what they call the "fail-safe" specs in the bios (which is pretty much only a much slower cpu speed I think) and managed to get in windows (fail-safe mode). I was looking at different configs in windows and scanning for viruses but after about 30 minutes the system crashed and now won't boot anymore. Any help would be greatly appreciated. The cpu is basically the only thing I didn't replace yet, but I'm starting to wonder if I'm not just wasting money. I also verified that the board doesn't touch the case.

Thanks,
Maxo

"System did boot up, did post, but it got very unstable when windows was booting and kept auto-rebooting. Tried what they call the "fail-safe" specs in the bios (which is pretty much only a much slower cpu speed I think) and managed to get in windows (fail-safe mode). I was looking at different configs in windows and scanning for viruses but after about 30 minutes the system crashed and now won't boot anymore".....
That tells me the PSU, mobo, ram and hardrives are working. I know some people can change hardware without reloading windows but I don't like to do it. Perhaps you should reinsert the windows disk and choose "repair", also check out other crash tools.

Hi,

I did try that, but the system would crash shortly after loading the win XP CD. Now I can't boot anymore, nothing happens when I press power. Is it possible that the processor was damaged (maybe when I installed it on the new mobo?) but only completely died while I was working in windows safe-mode? I don't know if that's typical behaviour when the cpu is dead (not booting anymore) becuz I never had a dead cpu before.

Thanks for your help

Hi,

Thanks for your time,

I managed to get the pc to boot again (no clue how, it wouldn't boot and then all of a sudden this evening I tried it and it boots). It worked fine for about 1 hour-1 and a half hour (even managed to enter windows and backup all those files I don't wanna lose on an external HD) then it "died" again and won't reboot anymore (nothing happens when I press the power switch). Managed to have a look at the cpu temp, which looked fine (45-46 Celsius) (but I guess it could still be damaged and producing errors that end in a crash). Tried a memtest too (no errors). I ordered a new cpu yesterday, the problem might be the mobo like you said but I guess it doesn't hurt to change the only major component that isn't less than a week old in the system (apart from the agp card, but the system crashes when I use onboard video too so I ruled this out). Anyway, I'm getting a better cpu so it's still not a waste of money if that doesn't resolve the issue. Do you think the PSU (brand new) could've something to do with those problems or you would rule this out?

Thanks a lot,
Max

Hi,

Will do as you say if the cpu is not at fault. There is current in the mobo though, and the onboard ethernet is working, so chances are the psu is ok (even if right now I'm getting paranoid and think everything is broken ) I really doubt HD or optical drives are causing this because when I managed to boot the system they worked like a charm, but of course I could be wrong. If I may, I would like to ask a stupid question. Did you ever have any problem with the case itself??? It's an old case and I never had any problem with it, but who knows, I'm only asking to make sure I can rule this out (can some part of the case be broken causing shorts or anything else?). Also, is it necessary to put screws in ALL of the "screw holes" on the board? I never did in the past (usually leave those hard to reach ones without any screw,so usually only use maybe 2/3 of them) and I remove the pins from the case at those locations, but currently I'm beginning to doubt everything I do. The PSU has enough power, add a 300W one before and this one is 500W.

Thanks a lot

Yes. You can have a short where the MOBO is touching the case floor. Or where a loose power wire from a fan or something shorts out.

Did you use the standoffs? Or you can have a faulty on/off or reset switch. This is why you want to test it as I outlined above - that takes all the possible shorting and switch problems out of the equation.

The missing screws shouldn't cause this problem but it's a good policy to use them all. Main thing is the brass standoffs.

You are spending an awful amount of time and money on a rather old system.

I feel like you are wasting money on this, as you posted originally. It's just my reaction, I could be wrong.

Sometimes XP mis-detects the hardware it is installing on, causing it to load the wrong HAL (Hardware Abstraction Layer) and crash. I don't think that is your problem, but if it's an original XP CD without any service packs it can happen.

The BIOS on the new board could need to be flashed.

You said you think the PSU is OK because there is power to the MB. Not true, it can be delivering faulty power which can cause a wide range of odd symptoms. Sadly, the rated wattage of a PSU rarely tells the whole story.

i think i mad him mad? oops it was my first post in while i had to be a smartly - o well

if you come back - nightmare = no back up

your just having a bad day - yes with standoffs you still can have a grounding problem if the case is tweaked

i said asus caps leak too - any cap can leak - its life

static free surface is only keeps from making static it does not stop static - high humidity is the best defence or wired

all i do is systems and take zero static precautions other then to keep the humidity high in the winter - midwest

my house is static free too - if you have static in your house you have to wire yourself