Intermittent Hardware Problem

[Shorkey666]

I ended up buying a total lemon of a desktop computer which has cost me a small fortune in repair charges. The last time I took it in, they replaced the motherboard. The problem I have now is that every so often when I power it up, the HD comes on, the USB LED mouse will not light up and the screen will not come on. I am conviced something is loose inside the PC but I have no idea where to start poking around. It eventually works after a lot of truning it off and on. SOOOOO Frustrating. Any ideas?

Shork

 

[EntityAnomly]

Some things to try first would be to reseat some of the easier to remove components. Try removing the RAM and Video card first reinsert them and try again.

Do you get a POST beep? Do you hear any audible error codes(more than one beep), Does your motherboard have any error code led lights on the back or somewhere on the board? Better yet can you list your system configuration(motherboard, processor, etc models)?

 

[slvr_phoenix]

Any ideas?

Give up on the lemon and buy a better PC? :roll:

 

[Shorkey666]

Thanks

I will try your suggestions and be in touch but not for a few days. I appreciate the feedback. And yes, I should turn it into a boat anchor but I want to give it to my daughter so she can become one of us.

Shork

 

[EntityAnomly]

Resistance is Futile

 

[xxsk8er101xx]

I'm gonna bet with the constant moving the pc around that the CPU got knocked loose and barely makes a connection. Get someone to reseat the processor as i bet thats the case. I know the Socket 7/A (Pentium III & Athlon) series of cpu's are notarious for such issues. I have heard of similar problems with the pentium 4 socket.

The immediate assumption is that the chip and board is bad. However bad hardware still turns on with intermitten crashes or burns up and you see smoke.

When something doesn't turn on or boot that is a clear indication that something is not connecting properly. Computers don't turn on if it detects hardware half in/half out to prevent your pc from melting.

Get someone that is computer savy to take out all your hardware and place them back in one at a time.

Start off with nothing plugged into the motherboard besides the PSU pluggs needed. You should get some fans turning on and some lights. Pop in the cpu see if it turns on and pop in the RAM turn it on see if it boots. Pop in the video card next see if it boots. Keep plugging in hardware one at a time.

If you pop in some peice of hardware and it doesn't turn on than that peice that you put in is either not in all the way or is infact a dead piece of hardware and needs to be replaced.

Remember ONE thing at a time. One stick of RAM at a time. One cable at a time.

ok?

good luck!

I ended up buying a total lemon of a desktop computer which has cost me a small fortune in repair charges. The last time I took it in, they replaced the motherboard. The problem I have now is that every so often when I power it up, the HD comes on, the USB LED mouse will not light up and the screen will not come on. I am conviced something is loose inside the PC but I have no idea where to start poking around. It eventually works after a lot of truning it off and on. SOOOOO Frustrating. Any ideas?

Shork

 

[Ranger]

If you're not even getting the POST screen then start off with the video card first.

 

[Shorkey666]

Hey everybody,

Thanks for all your suggestions. That was my sense too, that something is loose and a methodical trial and error of reseating each component is what I should be doing. I will give all those suggestions a try and now that somebody has told me abaout the POST Beep, I have one more tool in my kit.

I really appreciate your ideas about this most frustrating POS.

Shork

 

[slvr_phoenix]

You know, I once had a PC with a slightly bent case that prevented the AGP card from seating properly. I could push that card in to what seemed all the way, but only after finally figuring it out and bending the case to allow the card to go just a little bit further was the problem actually resolved. So when you redo all of the card and cable connections, look to make sure that the case isn't preventing any cards from sitting right, especially the video card.