Archived from groups: microsoft.public.windowsxp.general (
More info?)
Tonia wrote:
> thanks Peter, sounds bad as I thought- if need new motherboard will I
> lose all my data.......???
>
> "Peter Foldes" wrote:
>
>> MOBO on the way out
>>
>> --
>> Peter
>>
>> Please Reply to Newsgroup for the benefit of others
>> Requests for assistance by email can not and will not be
>> acknowledged.
>>
>> "Tonia" <Tonia@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
>> news:CF0BEC1A-A398-4C20-AB23-BB7954B96CEE@microsoft.com...
>> > My mouse is frozen at start up. I have changed the mouse and
>> > keyboard and switched from mouse port to usb -does not resolve. I
>> > cannot log on to windows or in safe mode to do a system restore
>> > etc. Help. I am using windows xp home edition.
>> > Currently on laptop...
>>
First of all, we don't know if your motherboard is "on the way out" yet.
It might be, but we don't have enough information to determine that.
Secondly, even if the motherboard has failed your data is on the hard
drive and if the hard drive is still physically viable (and we have no
way of knowing that from your posts) data on it is accessible.
I'll give you some general hardware troubleshooting steps, but from your
posts I think the best thing for you to do will be to take the machine
to a professional computer repair shop (not your local equivalent of
BigStoreUSA). The shop will have the equipment and knowledge to test
your machine, fix it, and get the data from your hard drive. I'm not
saying this to hurt your feelings; I'm just being practical.
General hardware troubleshooting:
1) Open the computer and run it open, cleaning out all dust bunnies and
observing all fans (overheating will cause system freezing). Obviously
you can't do this with a laptop, but you can hear if the fan is running
and feel if the laptop is getting too hot.
2) Test the RAM - I like Memtest86+ from www.memtest.org. Obviously, you
have to get the program from a working machine. You will either
download the precompiled Windows binary to make a bootable floppy or
the .iso to make a bootable cd. If you want to use the latter, you'll
need to have third-party burning software on the machine where you
download the file - XP's built-in burning capability won't do the job.
In either case, boot with the media you made. The test will run
immediately. Let the test run for an extended period of time - unless
errors are seen immediately. If you get any errors, replace the RAM.
3) Test the hard drive with a diagnostic utility from the mftr. Usually
you will download the file and make a bootable floppy with it. Boot
with the media and do a thorough test. If the drive has physical
errors, replace it.
4) The power supply may be going bad or be inadequate for the devices
you have in the system. The adequacy issue doesn't really apply to a
laptop, although of course the power
supply can be faulty.
5) Test the motherboard with something like TuffTest from
www.tufftest.com or a POST card. Sometimes this is useful, and
sometimes it isn't.
Malke
--
Elephant Boy Computers
www.elephantboycomputers.com
"Don't Panic!"
MS-MVP Windows - Shell/User
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