The official Short Media Emergency Help check here first - Suggestions Thread

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Necropolis

Back from the wilderness

1,762 Posts

6 Jul 2003, 12:26am

The official Short Media Emergency Help check here first - Suggestions Thread

Hi guys,

As you know I am one of the mods in the Emergency Help section and have come up with an idea.

In the Emergency help section we are going to have a sticky thread devoted to the things you should check first if something isn�t working.

Quick example is
1. My computer won't start.

1) Check the power cable
2) Unplug all your devices so you just have your video card, CPU and memory in.

2. My video card is black.

1) Check monitor is connected to video card
2) Remove and re-seat video card

You get the idea.

The good thing about this thread is - The ideas are going to be coming from you guys

. That�s right, it�s going to be you guys who come up with the solutions for this thread.

What I need from you is, please place all suggestions for the sticky thread in a reply to this post and once we have a few the thread will appear in the Emergency help section. If you submit an idea that ends up in there, then credit where credit is due, I will acknowledge who came up with it.

So come on guys, let's show the entire world how helpful you are

. Post your suggestion now

__________________ Im one of the new breed of geek. The beer swilling, guinness drinking, women oggling, tech loving, football watching, tattoo'd Uber Geek.

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Spinner

Getting it done!

5,003 Posts

6 Jul 2003, 8:21am

CMOS RESET

Never underestimate the power of reseting your BIOS. Numerous things can cause your computer not to start, dodgy IDE cables, malfunctioning hardware... in a lot of cases the only damage is a slightly confused BIOS, so to remedy the situation and get your PC back on it's feet just :

1) Reset the BIOS, which is usually done by moving a jumper on the motherboard.

2) Remove the CMOS battery and power chord for a few minutes, so any voltage loops and CMOS mismatches can be disapated.

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Spinner

Getting it done!

5,003 Posts

6 Jul 2003, 10:14am

MORE IMPORTANT THAN YOU WOULD THINK

One thing which I find is always a great thing to have on your side when trying to fix a PC, is patience and a cool head.

The most notable difference between a novice and a pro PC guru, is not the difference in knowledge and understanding, but the guru's ability to keep an objectively cool head.

Keeping calm when your computer goes pear shaped will help you gain the perspective you need to work the problem efficiently.

So. In an ermengency what's the first thing you should do:

1) Relax, stay calm and don't panic.

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Spinner

Getting it done!

5,003 Posts

6 Jul 2003, 10:29am

BSOD's

The dreaded blue screen of death in retrospect doesn't make as many appearances as it used to. Why is this you ask? Well, more and more people have upgraded to Windows XP, and less and less people are using Windows 98 aswell as the BSOD king of OS's, Windows ME. Why is that relevant you ask? Well...

Windows XP is by a long shot the best mainstream OS Microsoft has made to date and it's architecture is inherantly more stable than anything which came before it. This though doesn't mean it's ammune to BSOD's it just means that when they do happen they are more than likely to be a result of a hardware flaw or failure, rather than a software one.

So... if you suddenly start suffering from BSOD's in Windows XP, then do the following before anything else:

1) Run a memory testing program like DOCMEMORY or MEMTEST+ to check to see if your memory is not damaged. BSOD's as a result of problems with memory modules, are one of the most common reasons for XP to resort to flashing you a bit of blue.

2) Boot up in safe mode if you can. If the BSOD's stop occuring when your in this mode, then it's a good sign that the cause of your problems are actually software related after all.

3) If you're overclocking, down clock to your systems default speed, and also it's always good practice to set your memory and bus timings to their least agressive state, when working problems.

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AuthorityAction

481 Posts

13 Aug 2003, 5:05am

Computer doesn't post.

1) Reseat everthing, try to start it up.

2) Try resetting the BIOS (as Spinner said)

3) Find spare parts and try to isolate (sp?) the problem. i.e. try 1 stick of memory if you have 2 or try another stick from a working system. Try anther PSU. Try another CPU and so on. Only change one part at a time, so you know which one is bad.

4) If all else false kick the ****ing thing and see if it works.

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Necropolis

Back from the wilderness

1,762 Posts

22 Aug 2003, 9:07am

Right,

This has been on the back burner for long enough. Time to try and drum up some more suggestions.

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Spinner

Getting it done!

5,003 Posts

26 Sep 2003, 7:25pm

CPU MUST BE SETUP CORRECTLY

CPU's, especially in this day and age, can cause you no end of hassle when you're trying get a new system up and running. The most common problems when first setting up a new PC are that of the CPU not being configured properly, or rather the motherboards bios hasn't got, or hasn't been given the correct information on how to run the CPU e.g its FSB and multiplier settings.

Some motherboards will be able to more easily detect what CPU your are using, some will have great difficulty without the user giving the computer some information about it. Every motherboard will have a default clock speed setting for CPU's, 1.2GHz is the most common these days, so if a CPU (that has different clock settings to the motherboard defaults) is put in a system and isn't automatically detected, it can react badly and cause problems when posting, accessing the BIOS setup, or just in running stable.

So to make sure you minimize CPU related setup and config problems you should always do the following when first setting up your system.

1) Once a CPU has been installed onto the motherboard, and you are ready to start your computer up properly for the first time, you should always remember to reset the CMOS. This is important because sometimes the motherboard may actually have been used prior to you (even if it's new) and its CMOS memory may contain CPU configuration data that does not match the CPU you have just installed. Reseting the CMOS will assure your CPU gets the most warm of a welcome by the motherboard, the first time you power up.

2) Once you've powered up for the first time, you should immediatly try and enter the BIOS setup so you can make sure your CPU has been properly identified and if it hasn't, so you can enter the necessary information so it will be upon a restart.

If however you do have trouble entering the BIOS setup, it may still be a result of the CPU being detected incorrectly, try reseting the CMOS and removing the CMOS battery (for a few minutes), then try again.

3) Some motherboards may not be up to speed with all the latest CPU's, and more often than not it really helps a motherboard run a CPU if it has pre-programmed settings for the type of CPU you plan to use on it. So you should always make sure your motherboards BIOS is the most up to date revision.

Keep the above information in mind next time you're having trouble getting your newly built rig up and running. You'll be suprised how much trouble the CPU can cause, when it's not setup correctly.

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Spinner edited : 26 Sep 2003 at 7:31pm .

EyesOnly

S_M convict...err convert

1,479 Posts

22 Nov 2003, 9:33am

Always use an antistatic wristwrap when you're working inside a computer case. Static damage will not alway show itself at the time you're finished working but can happen much later. When it does your computer might simply die and you'll have no idea what caused it. It is possible to work alot and never damage the computer but why take the chance. Wristwraps aren't cheap but well worth the price.

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muddocktor

Wandering about

6,260 Posts

22 Nov 2003, 2:00pm

If it's an older mobo (1 1/2 to 3 years) that has started giving random problems like random restarts and temp alarms when everything is fine and BSOD's, check all the big capacitors on the mobo for signs of swelling or leaking, indicating bad caps. Many vendors turned out mobos from that era with caps built with defective electrolyte in them and it is just a matter of time before the caps go out.

__________________ I have some computers running Seti@Home.

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bothered

pondering and wandering along

4,548 Posts

10 Jan 2004, 6:42am

No boot,
One thing I was told and has worked for me is to go into the bios and reset every page to fail safe defaults.

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Necropolis

Back from the wilderness

1,762 Posts

8 Aug 2004, 12:27pm

Time to unsticky this now I think. Just give it one last bump before it goes

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robmooz

New to the neighborhood

1 Posts

15 Aug 2004, 8:09am

I just wanted to thank you for saving my computer! I was doing some overclocking stuff when i messed up the bios and you said to reset it so i did and after a few little tweeks everything was back to normal!

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The official Short Media Emergency Help check here first - Suggestions Thread

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