It all started with blackouts. No, it wasn't the power company. The PC would 
spontaneously reset itself. It became more and more frequent. then it 
wouldn't start up again unless I unplugged the power cable. Soon the PC 
started crashing while Windows was loading.. . and after that all I could 
get was CMOS. and then I couldn't even get the PC switched on.... After 
removing the CMOS battery for a couple of minutes I could switch on the PC 
again. With Windows badly damaged I had to reformat the HDD and reinstall 
Windows a couple of times. Every time I install Windows it works fine for a 
while and then starts crashing untill I can't start the PC up anymore. Last 
night I tried installing Linux and it crashed with 20minutes of install 
remaining.

I can't afford a new PC at the moment at all, so is there anything I can do?

I have a Athlon XP 2400 Socket A using the onboard 128Mb SiS graphics card 
and a 250W power supply.


-- 
-Nekar Xenos-

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On Sat, 9 Feb 2008 09:52:50 +0200, "Nekar Xenos" <nek### [at] gmailcom> wrote:

>I can't afford a new PC at the moment at all, so is there anything I can do?

That does not sound good.
You could take it to a pc repair shop or start replacing components yourself.
But you could end up rebuilding it completely if you do that. For a start I
would reseat everything, look at the PCBs for dry joints and overheating. If
you're not technical the first option is safer. If you do it yourself be
prepared for a lot of pain :)

Regards
	Stephen

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"Stephen" <mcavoysATaolDOTcom@> wrote in message 
news:gpuqq3hpkvuekv5nv0mogagda0i5rsvdaf@4ax.com...
> On Sat, 9 Feb 2008 09:52:50 +0200, "Nekar Xenos" <nek### [at] gmailcom> 
> wrote:
>
>>I can't afford a new PC at the moment at all, so is there anything I can 
>>do?
>
> That does not sound good.
> You could take it to a pc repair shop or start replacing components 
> yourself.

I was hoping maybe some-one had had the same symptoms might be able to 
diagnose the problem more quickly. :)


> But you could end up rebuilding it completely if you do that. For a start 
> I
> would reseat everything, look at the PCBs for
>dry joints

:(

>and overheating. If
> you're not technical the first option is safer. If you do it yourself be
> prepared for a lot of pain :)
>
:S


-- 
-Nekar Xenos-

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Nekar Xenos wrote:
> 
> I can't afford a new PC at the moment at all, so is there anything I can do?

Check the capacitors at the motherboard and replace the faulty ones.

This one's OK:
http://www.edu.helsinki.fi/malu/kirjasto/mbl/sahko/elektrolyyttikonnsaattorin_purku.gif

and this one is not:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v711/whurd/Bad.jpg

See the top - at the last picture it's "growing". They also can even leak:
http://www.asti-usa.com/support/appnotes/65.html (pictures at the end of
the document)

> I have a Athlon XP 2400 Socket A using the onboard 128Mb SiS graphics card 
> and a 250W power supply.

Sounds like the timing (motherboard's age) could hit the end of the
latest worst season of capacitors.

-- 
Eero "Aero" Ahonen
   http://www.zbxt.net
      aer### [at] removethiszbxtnetinvalid

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Nekar Xenos wrote:
> It all started with blackouts. No, it wasn't the power company. The PC would 
> spontaneously reset itself.

Which OS?

By default, Windows XP doesn't display the Blue Screen of Death, it just 
instantly reboots.

> It became more and more frequent. then it 
> wouldn't start up again unless I unplugged the power cable.

I've seen that a few times. It's *usually* a motherboard fault. (Not 
always.)

> Soon the PC 
> started crashing while Windows was loading.. . and after that all I could 
> get was CMOS. and then I couldn't even get the PC switched on.... After 
> removing the CMOS battery for a couple of minutes I could switch on the PC 
> again.

Yeah, sounds like a motherboard fault of some kind. Diagnosing exactly 
what is going to be lots of fun...

> With Windows badly damaged I had to reformat the HDD and reinstall 
> Windows a couple of times. Every time I install Windows it works fine for a 
> while and then starts crashing untill I can't start the PC up anymore. Last 
> night I tried installing Linux and it crashed with 20minutes of install 
> remaining.

Have you tried running a memory test? There's a small possibility that 
might be the cause - although I doubt it - but if it is, that's easier 
to fix than replacing the whole motherboard.

> I can't afford a new PC at the moment at all, so is there anything I can do?

Replace the motherboard with something that's compatible with your 
existing stuff - if you can find such a board...

-- 
http://blog.orphi.me.uk/
http://www.zazzle.com/MathematicalOrchid*

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Orchid XP v7 wrote:
> 
> Have you tried running a memory test? There's a small possibility that
> might be the cause - although I doubt it - but if it is, that's easier
> to fix than replacing the whole motherboard.

In case of memory fault it is needed to also remember the possibility of
malfunctioning memory controller. So if Nekar will get new memory
modules, my advice would be to make sure they can be returned, if the
fault won't go away.

-- 
Eero "Aero" Ahonen
   http://www.zbxt.net
      aer### [at] removethiszbxtnetinvalid

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Nekar Xenos wrote:
> It all started with blackouts. No, it wasn't the power company. The PC would 
> spontaneously reset itself. It became more and more frequent. then it 
> wouldn't start up again unless I unplugged the power cable. Soon the PC 
> started crashing while Windows was loading.. . and after that all I could 
> get was CMOS. and then I couldn't even get the PC switched on.... After 
> removing the CMOS battery for a couple of minutes I could switch on the PC 
> again. With Windows badly damaged I had to reformat the HDD and reinstall 
> Windows a couple of times. Every time I install Windows it works fine for a 
> while and then starts crashing untill I can't start the PC up anymore. Last 
> night I tried installing Linux and it crashed with 20minutes of install 
> remaining.
> 
> I can't afford a new PC at the moment at all, so is there anything I can do?
> 
> I have a Athlon XP 2400 Socket A using the onboard 128Mb SiS graphics card 
> and a 250W power supply.

If an OS install crashes where before it did not, you have a hardware 
problem.  Since the symptoms are relived by a successful OS install, the 
problem involves a gradual corruption of the hard drive's contents, 
which could be caused by bad memory, bad CPU, or a bad MB.

We can't really troubleshoot your problem through newsgroup messages, so 
you'll have to take it to a technician.

Regards,
John

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"Nekar Xenos" <nek### [at] gmailcom> wrote in message
news:47ad7d96@news.povray.org...
>
> I was hoping maybe some-one had had the same symptoms might be able to
> diagnose the problem more quickly. :)

If you live anywhere near Randburg, take it to Zaps at Brightwater. They're
pretty good.

It could be the power supply's fried. I had similar symptons with a work
PC - random reboots. Could also be something gone toast on the motherboard.

Have you been having a lot of power cuts? They're hell on computers,
especially if mains surges as it comes back (not unusual)
If you don't have a UPS, even a small 5 minute one, get one. It will
probably save you a lot of money over the next few years.

Post a reply to this message

On Sat, 09 Feb 2008 09:52:50 +0200, Nekar Xenos wrote:

> It all started with blackouts. No, it wasn't the power company. The PC
> would spontaneously reset itself. It became more and more frequent. then
> it wouldn't start up again unless I unplugged the power cable. Soon the
> PC started crashing while Windows was loading.. . and after that all I
> could get was CMOS. and then I couldn't even get the PC switched on....
> After removing the CMOS battery for a couple of minutes I could switch
> on the PC again. With Windows badly damaged I had to reformat the HDD
> and reinstall Windows a couple of times. Every time I install Windows it
> works fine for a while and then starts crashing untill I can't start the
> PC up anymore. Last night I tried installing Linux and it crashed with
> 20minutes of install remaining.
> 
> I can't afford a new PC at the moment at all, so is there anything I can
> do?
> 
> I have a Athlon XP 2400 Socket A using the onboard 128Mb SiS graphics
> card and a 250W power supply.

Disassemble the machine, clean it very thoroughly, and put it back 
together.

I had a machine that was behaving similarly and it turned out that there 
was something shorting something out on the system board (best guess); 
giving it a good vacuum fixed it - haven't had a problem since.

Jim

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Nekar Xenos wrote:
> I can't afford a new PC at the moment at all, so is there anything I can do?

I had the same sort of problems with my HP machine. Then, after a while 
of increasingly frustrating crashes and inability to see the keyboard 
after booting and such, it made a little squeak and a puff of smoke, and 
the power supply needed to be replaced.

-- 
   Darren New / San Diego, CA, USA (PST)
     On what day did God create the body thetans?

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