Problem computer

• if you can get into the BIOS, you could try relaxing the memory timings - if it works for a while when you replace the memory then that could help. I had a very intermittent memory problem that was solved by downclocking my memory from 333MHz to 266MHz.

• try reseating everything on the motherboard in case it's a connection issue. Unplug and replug all of the cables, expansion cards and anything that's in a socket (including the CPU). After you plug the CPU back in be careful to make sure the heatsink is firmly mounted - the CPU will shut down almost immediately if it's not able to dissipate heat. There's usually thermal paste between the CPU and heatsink to give better heat conduction - if you disturb the heatsink then it would probably be a good idea to get a new tube of the stuff and apply it when reassembling.

Y0GI said:

I'm having problems with my wife's business computer. It is hanging during the boot process. Sometimes the computer starts but the screen is blank and the light on the monitor stays amber, like the computer is off. We don't have a hard drive activity light but it does not sound like there is any HDD activity. No beeps either.

Sometimes the monitor comes on and it will hang during POST. It will freeze with a number in the memory count and just stay there. If you leave it, it will eventually POST and boot but this might take 45 min. I ran Memtest 86 and found a ton of errors. Because of this and the hang during POST mem. test, I bought some new Patriot memory (1 GB). Put it in and it ran fine for about 4 weeks. Now it's doing the same stuff again. Apparently it wasn't the memory. Yesterday I switched the 1 GB memory stick to another channel and it booted fine. The wife had to reboot later in the afternoon and it hung up again.

My son is a computer tech and he says it's a bad MB. Anybody know where to find a MB for a socket 478 Intel CPU?
--
Yogi

See my 'Profile' for my current equipment.

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• Heat - it's summer and your computer may be too warm. Make sure it is well ventalated.

• Dust - Dust causes heat and heat makes the system fail. Unseat any cards and memory in the mother board and blow it out with compressed air. Don't forget the various fans and especially the power supply.

• Power supply - They do die and then start making the system act flaky or die. You can buy a replacement pretty cheaply.

VenDexter said:

One other thing to double check:

Go into the BIOS and verify that the timings and voltages are correct for the new memory. While it's rare, sometimes mobo's don't set these correctly from the SPD on the memory sticks.

This was actually the situation a couple of days ago with a new gaming PC my brother and I built for him. Once we adjusted the timings and voltages to match the memory, it worked perfectly.

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AVADirect_Joe said:

Best of luck to you, Yogi!

If you do decide to buy another power supply, makes sure it is a good one with decent ratings. The power supply is the heart beat of any computer, so if it's good quality and you count on it. If it's low quality, chances are it will last you for a while until it's too stressed and decides to "buy the farm".

I would suggest something like this, inexpensive and very reliable:

Antec Basiq BP500U 500W Continuous Power ATX12V Version 2.01 Active PFC Power Supply - Retail
Model BP500
Series Basiq

It's hard to trouble shoot ram issue, physically, when you only have one RAM stick all together. Usually, in situations like this, you can remove one stick at a time (whether its kits of two, or four sticks), and once you remove a faulty stick and boot up the machine everything will run fine. Replacing the motherboard was a very wise decision, but if it continues to happen the RAM may have been friend from over-volting

--
Joseph Mundy

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