Vista will not boot and/or stay on

[jbmwsu]

Hello, I've tried everything I can think of to fix this problem. Vista begins to load and then shuts down the computer. I can stay in BIOS forever, but once it tries to boot Vista it crashes. I have put the recovery disk in and when it begin to start Vista it crashes. I take the disk out and start windows normally, it will start up and then crash after about 5-20 minutes. I have been looking for days on the internet and have tried everything. I've even replaced the power supply, re-applied the heat sink on the processor, and reseated everything. Is there something I'm missing? Is there a diagnostic test I can run? I'd hate to take it to a place if it is something minor that I can fix.

Thank you

 

[jbmwsu]

nope. it's dead. won't even boot into BIOS, it literally stays on for 1 second and shuts off.

 

[aford10]

Unplug the hard drive. Same result?

 

[jbmwsu]

unplugged it and no blue light, just a fast spinning fan. I plugged the HD back in and it continues to spin with no blue light.

 

[aford10]

Pull the CMOS battery for ~5 minutes, then try again.

If you get the same result, you've got some hardware failure. Do you have a motherboard speaker? Do you hear any beeps?

 

[jbmwsu]

I'm pretty sure I've heard beeps before, but I can't remember when. I do not hear any now and I pulled the battery and put it back in, now still the same blue power light, fast fan, and no BIOS.

 

[jbmwsu]

I don't know if this helps, but the I can feel that the HD is on when it's plugged in.

 

[aford10]

I think it's time to start testing with new hardware. Try a different PSU first.

 

[jbmwsu]

That was the first thing I tried. That didn't help the situation any.

 

[aford10]

Unplug everything except for the PSU, CPU/HSF, power switch, and 1 RAM chip. Try booting with just that hardware.

^ Did you ever try this?

Do you have a video card, onboard graphics, or both?

A very useful tool, is the ultimate boot CD. You can customize a boot disc that has all kinds of diagnostic tools. It sounds like it's restarting right away, as in it's not POSTing, so this may not help. But if you are POSTing, and can boot off the disc, it could be a big help. Memtest would be a good tool to try.
http://www.ultimatebootcd.com/

 

[dhay13]

well i think i narrowed it down to either the CPU or the motherboard. i changed out the PSU (tried 3 different ones, hard drive (3 different ones, memory, removed the cheap thermal compound and applied arctic silver, and ruled out the CD/DVD drive. in all conditions as soon as the BIOS releases to the hard drive (even a blank one with no data) it shuts down. i have got to the desktop once but only for a few seconds. it will run all day if you disconnect the hard drive.
i don't think the problem is in the BIOS because it makes it through POST every time. safe mode doesn't work either.
i don't have another MB or CPU compatible to change it out and i doubt the customer wants to spend that much on it.

keep me posted if you find anything else.

 

[nevergetany]

I had the same problem. I took it in. Cost me $69 to be told it was the motherboard. About 7 transistors were buldging. I wound up getting a new computer with windows 7 64 bit. Of course since it would not run my other programs I had on my vista hard drive, I had to upgrade to windows 7 business 64 bit. I am still struggling making programs work, but I am gaining on it. When windows comes out with a new version it should be mandatory that it be backwards compatible. Anyway, I am toying with the idea of getting an inexpensive mother board for the eMachine, so I can send it to my step-kids in the Philippines. The problem is I am not sure which mother boards would be compatible, or how to set the motherboard up (it it should need it). I don't know if they come complete, or if you have to piece meal it together. I will not start the project blind, I need to know how to get the complete package ready to screw in and ready to go. So, maybe, it would be best to just get them another used system that is ready to go out of the box.

 

[aford10]

This topic has been closed by Aford10