The official Short Media Emergency Help check here first - Suggestions Thread
Necropolis
Hawarden, Wales Icrontian
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 
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 0
Comments
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.
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.
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.
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.
This has been on the back burner for long enough. Time to try and drum up some more suggestions.
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.
One thing I was told and has worked for me is to go into the bios and reset every page to fail safe defaults.