Hello,
Thank you for reading my question. I have been dealing with a system off and on for the past few weeks as time allows.
The system is a no name Mini ITX based PC with an Intel DG41AN Motherboard and Intel E7500 Core Duo CPU. It is currently configured with 4GB of DDR3 Ram running at 1066MHz and a Seagate ST3500418AS 500 GB Hard Drive.
When I purchased this PC, I was told it needed the Operating System reinstalled. When I attempted to get it to boot the existing OS, it would freeze up while loading.
When I attempted to load Windows 7 back onto the computer, it would boot from the CD, the 'Windows is loading Files' white status bar would progress, and after that completed and the Microsoft Corporation logo appeared with the small status bar, the system would freeze. The keyboard became unresponsive, the numlock light turned off, and the system would hang indefinitely.
I have tried to install other Operating Systems including linux to no avail. The only time I was able to get the computer to boot was to run a version of the ultimate boot cd from a usb thumb drive and run a scaled down version of linux. I was able to access the file system, copy some files from it, and I deleted the hard drive's partition information before restarting.
The following is a short list of troubleshooting techniques I have attempted so far:
I have updated the BIOS on the motherboard to the most current version
I have reset the bios to optimal defaults
I have run memtest x86 and have yet to see any errors.
I have run SeaTools for DOS both the long and short tests and the hard drive passes.
I have attempted to install multiple operating systems from both USB thumb drive and CD
I was concerned that the CPU may have been running too hot, so I cleaned the thermal compound and reseated the heatsink with new thermal compound on the cpu
I have performed a visual inspection of the motherboard for signs of faulty capacitors, overheated components. I have not located any visual signs of damage to the motherboard.
I have removed and reseated the ram and have tried both sticks of ram individually in each slot
I temporarily replaced the power supply with a known-good working unit.
At this point, I'm suspecting a faulty motherboard which, if that is the case, would render this system not economical to repair. At that point, I would simply recover the usable components and send the rest to the parts bin.
Any ideas on what I could try? I'm open to any suggestions at this point.
Thank you for reading my question. I have been dealing with a system off and on for the past few weeks as time allows.
The system is a no name Mini ITX based PC with an Intel DG41AN Motherboard and Intel E7500 Core Duo CPU. It is currently configured with 4GB of DDR3 Ram running at 1066MHz and a Seagate ST3500418AS 500 GB Hard Drive.
When I purchased this PC, I was told it needed the Operating System reinstalled. When I attempted to get it to boot the existing OS, it would freeze up while loading.
When I attempted to load Windows 7 back onto the computer, it would boot from the CD, the 'Windows is loading Files' white status bar would progress, and after that completed and the Microsoft Corporation logo appeared with the small status bar, the system would freeze. The keyboard became unresponsive, the numlock light turned off, and the system would hang indefinitely.
I have tried to install other Operating Systems including linux to no avail. The only time I was able to get the computer to boot was to run a version of the ultimate boot cd from a usb thumb drive and run a scaled down version of linux. I was able to access the file system, copy some files from it, and I deleted the hard drive's partition information before restarting.
The following is a short list of troubleshooting techniques I have attempted so far:
I have updated the BIOS on the motherboard to the most current version
I have reset the bios to optimal defaults
I have run memtest x86 and have yet to see any errors.
I have run SeaTools for DOS both the long and short tests and the hard drive passes.
I have attempted to install multiple operating systems from both USB thumb drive and CD
I was concerned that the CPU may have been running too hot, so I cleaned the thermal compound and reseated the heatsink with new thermal compound on the cpu
I have performed a visual inspection of the motherboard for signs of faulty capacitors, overheated components. I have not located any visual signs of damage to the motherboard.
I have removed and reseated the ram and have tried both sticks of ram individually in each slot
I temporarily replaced the power supply with a known-good working unit.
At this point, I'm suspecting a faulty motherboard which, if that is the case, would render this system not economical to repair. At that point, I would simply recover the usable components and send the rest to the parts bin.
Any ideas on what I could try? I'm open to any suggestions at this point.
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