Comp Problems

DisvengeanceDisvengeance
edited September 2003 in Hardware
when i turn on my computer, nothing happens. it either doesnt get anywhere or it freezes up at various stages on bootup. i dont know what the problem is and was wondering if anyone would know what it might be, im considereing it to be either a cpu or motherboard problem, but not sure. It also takes minutes(which seems like forever to me) to load windows xp. thanks for the help

Comments

  • GHoosdumGHoosdum Icrontian
    edited September 2003
    I would say, reset CMOS and then try booting again. Does it give beeping error codes? Make sure the internal speaker is hooked up for that...
  • SpinnerSpinner Birmingham, UK
    edited September 2003
    Unplug all un-essential components, e.g cd-drive, extra hd, etc etc and see if it improves. If it does, then it is more than likely your PSU.
  • ThraxThrax 🐌 Austin, TX Icrontian
    edited September 2003
    Sounds like a RAM problem to me. Swap it out with some other sticks (Borrow if you have to).
  • Geeky1Geeky1 University of the Pacific (Stockton, CA, USA)
    edited September 2003
    could be ram, power, motherboard, a drive, hell... it could even be a bad cable. It's time to start swapping stuff (one component at a time!) and seeing if anything fixes it.
  • GHoosdumGHoosdum Icrontian
    edited September 2003
    :woowoo:

    The shotgun repair method... gotta love it!
  • ThraxThrax 🐌 Austin, TX Icrontian
    edited September 2003
    Bad memory blocks can significantly impact a windows load times, and its also one of the relatively few things that can make a boot freeze. Additionally, it mirrors symptoms that I've seen in my six sticks of dead crucial in the past.
  • RiddickRiddick Malaysia Icrontian
    edited September 2003
    I thought that dead/defective/bad/no memory sticks would just make the system bootup with a black screen, and not progress after that ... hmm
  • ThraxThrax 🐌 Austin, TX Icrontian
    edited September 2003
    Nope.

    Memory is fully capable of being somewhat bad, half bad, and completely unworkable.

    Somewhat bad will give you memory read errors in windows. Half bad will give you blue screens, slow boots, and memory capacity detection errors. Completely unworkable is self-explanatory.
  • Geeky1Geeky1 University of the Pacific (Stockton, CA, USA)
    edited September 2003
    Riddick, it depends on how it fails. I have a stick of RAM in front of me that I suspect is bad. With it installed in the system it was in, the computer would not complete a windows install. I take out the ram, and it runs just fine (I'm typing on the system in question right now, in fact). It just depends on how it fails.
  • RiddickRiddick Malaysia Icrontian
    edited September 2003
    ahh ! okay :x
  • DisvengeanceDisvengeance
    edited September 2003
    i benchmarked my ram, and i used to get like 5000 something mb/s bandwidth, and i just did it and got like 2000, could that be an issue?
  • SpinnerSpinner Birmingham, UK
    edited September 2003
    I agree with Thrax, the RAM is a distinct possibilty, you should test it ASAP. "Docmemory"
  • csimoncsimon Acadiana Icrontian
    edited September 2003
    try memtest86
  • DisvengeanceDisvengeance
    edited September 2003
    ive pretty much come to the conclusion that its my ram, because i benchmarked everything else, and they seem to be working perfectly, but my ram is like 3/5 slower than usual
  • Geeky1Geeky1 University of the Pacific (Stockton, CA, USA)
    edited September 2003
    RAM speed isn't necessarily an indicator, but it's a good place to start. Take a look at this utility:

    http://www.t4k.org/~ebcd/

    Which CaffieneMe pointed me to. Download that and it will create a bootable cd. Boot off the CD, and you can run a number of programs, including IBM's Drive Fitness Test (works for all HDs) and Memtest86. Run Memtest and see if it passes or not. If it passes, it's not the RAM. If it doesn't, it is. Make sure you tell it to do a complete test, and be prepared for it to take a long, LONG time. I suggest running it overnight.

    Oh, and spinner, I think there is something very, very, VERY wrong with your sig... it seems like whenever I'm on a page w/your sig, my computers fall flat on their faces. It's done this to me on both of my Intel machines (1.3 Celeron, 2.4 P4). I haven't used the AMDs lately, but I doubt they'd be any different... lemme check the task manager, but I think the sig is the problem... :sad2:
  • TheLostSwedeTheLostSwede Trondheim, Norway Icrontian
    edited September 2003
    Thrax said
    Nope.

    Memory is fully capable of being somewhat bad, half bad, and completely unworkable.


    Believe me, i know :/

    I got a pair of Level 2 Mushkin, but one stick is bad. Works, but gives errors.
  • DisvengeanceDisvengeance
    edited September 2003
    could it also be a possibility that the ram slots on my mobo are bad? or maybe just one is?

    im gonna try running memtest tonight
  • Geeky1Geeky1 University of the Pacific (Stockton, CA, USA)
    edited September 2003
    It's not likely that the ram slots are bad, no. It's possible, but it's more likely to be the board, ram or cpu or something.
  • DisvengeanceDisvengeance
    edited September 2003
    k, by tomorrow hopefully i know, thanks for the help
  • SpinnerSpinner Birmingham, UK
    edited September 2003
    Geeky1 said
    Oh, and spinner, I think there is something very, very, VERY wrong with your sig... it seems like whenever I'm on a page w/your sig, my computers fall flat on their faces. It's done this to me on both of my Intel machines (1.3 Celeron, 2.4 P4). I haven't used the AMDs lately, but I doubt they'd be any different... lemme check the task manager, but I think the sig is the problem... :sad2:

    It's just a .GIF file, nothing much can go wrong with that. Seems to work fine on all my systems, local and not, Pentium and whatever. When I get back to Manchester in a few days I'll have a look at it, but like I said it seems fine to me. Let me know though if you're still having trouble with it, maybe some third party application is interfering with it? just a thought. Sorry if it's giving you grief mate.
    Disvengeance said
    could it also be a possibility that the ram slots on my mobo are bad? or maybe just one is?

    im gonna try running memtest tonight

    Like folk have said, I can't imagine an actual physical slot would be the cause of the problem, though I have known memory problems to disapear when modules have been moved into a different slot, or put into a different slot configuration.
  • Geeky1Geeky1 University of the Pacific (Stockton, CA, USA)
    edited September 2003
    No problem... I'll let you know... I dunno for sure that it is, but I think it is... maybe it's just an intel thing ;D
  • csimoncsimon Acadiana Icrontian
    edited September 2003
    Disvengeance, you may be able to make bios adjustments that will solve to ram problems before buying new ram ...just a hint in case you haven't already tried this. :fold:
  • DisvengeanceDisvengeance
    edited September 2003
    thanks for all the help guys
  • Geeky1Geeky1 University of the Pacific (Stockton, CA, USA)
    edited September 2003
    you get it solved?
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