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My brother-in-law's computer is giving me fits. Anyone wanna take a guess at what's wrong?
Here are the specs/history:
-custom built (by me) computer, 3 years old
- ABIT KT7A-RAID mobo
- Athlon 1ghz
- 400W PS (generic, I think).
Now...the trouble began....
How it Began:
The original cd-burner we had installed wouldn't work al lthe time, very sporadic. We blamed the drive. Replaced.....similar issues. Sometimes, it wouldn't even recognize the drive in BIOS....My thoughts? suspect IDE ribbon....
What's Plugged in:
Currently plugged in: Hard drive, dvd rom, floppy network card (ISA), 2 additional usb ports, GeForce3 vid card, SoundBlaster Live! sound card, keyboard, mouse
What's happening:
Firstly, the northbridge? fan wasn't spinning at all, and the cpu fan began making a horrendous racket. Opening "My Computer" (xp pro), would sit....and sit...and eventually show the drives about 7 minutes later. (this has gone away, ftm, since fix #1 below). Machine would also randomly reboot itself, and sometimes would not boot at all.
What I've done to remedy:
1: Oiled the nb fan - works like a charm now!
2. Oiled cpu fan (no good, it spins, but only at about 1/2 speed...it also gets really stinkin hot....will replace)
3. Reseated cpu/heatsink/fan.
4. Reseated all cards and RAM
5. Checked/adjusted all IDE connections
6. Ran a basic burn-in test, checking stability and system temp...all seems a bit high, but nothing to be of concern
Current status:
I can boot the thing to windows, and it seems mostly happy. Whenever I go into the BIOS and adjust something, hitting F10 to Save changes and exit, it just shuts down. Sometimes when attempting to power on machine, the fans spin up, the hard drive STARTS to spin, and then it shuts off.
I'm planning on formatting the hard drive anyway, but the rebooting/locking up nonsense is getting on my nerves. I don't think its a heat issue. Power Supply, perhaps?
Anyway guys, thanks in advance for your help!
-Celt
Here are the specs/history:
-custom built (by me) computer, 3 years old
- ABIT KT7A-RAID mobo
- Athlon 1ghz
- 400W PS (generic, I think).
Now...the trouble began....
How it Began:
The original cd-burner we had installed wouldn't work al lthe time, very sporadic. We blamed the drive. Replaced.....similar issues. Sometimes, it wouldn't even recognize the drive in BIOS....My thoughts? suspect IDE ribbon....
What's Plugged in:
Currently plugged in: Hard drive, dvd rom, floppy network card (ISA), 2 additional usb ports, GeForce3 vid card, SoundBlaster Live! sound card, keyboard, mouse
What's happening:
Firstly, the northbridge? fan wasn't spinning at all, and the cpu fan began making a horrendous racket. Opening "My Computer" (xp pro), would sit....and sit...and eventually show the drives about 7 minutes later. (this has gone away, ftm, since fix #1 below). Machine would also randomly reboot itself, and sometimes would not boot at all.
What I've done to remedy:
1: Oiled the nb fan - works like a charm now!
2. Oiled cpu fan (no good, it spins, but only at about 1/2 speed...it also gets really stinkin hot....will replace)
3. Reseated cpu/heatsink/fan.
4. Reseated all cards and RAM
5. Checked/adjusted all IDE connections
6. Ran a basic burn-in test, checking stability and system temp...all seems a bit high, but nothing to be of concern
Current status:
I can boot the thing to windows, and it seems mostly happy. Whenever I go into the BIOS and adjust something, hitting F10 to Save changes and exit, it just shuts down. Sometimes when attempting to power on machine, the fans spin up, the hard drive STARTS to spin, and then it shuts off.
I'm planning on formatting the hard drive anyway, but the rebooting/locking up nonsense is getting on my nerves. I don't think its a heat issue. Power Supply, perhaps?
Anyway guys, thanks in advance for your help!
-Celt
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