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PC Halp Please.

Home ▸ Archive ▸ Serious Business ▸ PC Halp Please.
I

I Wear Pants

Senior Member

16,223 posts
Mar 23, 2011 10:18 PM
I normally tend to be one helping people but I'm in a bit of a pickle and I figure one of the folks here may be able to help me out.

My desktop has been unable to boot for a few weeks. It gets to the Windows 7 logo (one where the colors all come together) and then it turns off completely as if I yanked the power cord. This also happens at the same spot if I try to boot into a Ubuntu USB or CD.

I've checked all the RAM sticks individually and they're in working order and seated correctly in the slots. The BIOS posts fine. I cannot boot into save mode or the recovery mode either.

I can do a Memtest (these take forever) and the pc will not shut down during it.

I thought it was a power supply issue so I bought a new one and the same thing is still happening. I'm a bit stumped.

All I can think to do is maybe reseat the cpu with some new thermal compound and see if that's the problem. Otherwise I fear it's the motherboard which I would hate for it to be since that's time consuming and a bit more expensive to swap out. Plus then if it's not that I'm pretty much f'd in the a.

*sigh*
Mar 23, 2011 10:18pm
N

Nate

Formerly Known As Keebler

3,949 posts
Mar 23, 2011 10:24 PM
Hmm... I would say MB or HD but I'd lean more MB.
Mar 23, 2011 10:24pm
wes_mantooth's avatar

wes_mantooth

Tomfoolery & shenanigans

17,977 posts
Mar 23, 2011 10:25 PM
Sounds like mobo
Mar 23, 2011 10:25pm
W

WebFire

Go Bucks!

14,779 posts
Mar 23, 2011 10:30 PM
Good chance it's MOBO. Does it finish POST? I assume since it gets to the logo.
Mar 23, 2011 10:30pm
I

I Wear Pants

Senior Member

16,223 posts
Mar 23, 2011 10:30 PM
Not HD because it still does it when booting from a different HD, CD, and USB stick.

Now to find a cheap as shit AM2 (think it could be AM2+ as well) mobo so I don't have to buy new parts. Any help there would be appreciated as well. I'm checking on Newegg and shit but I miss things sometimes.
Mar 23, 2011 10:30pm
I

I Wear Pants

Senior Member

16,223 posts
Mar 23, 2011 10:33 PM
WebFire;722383 wrote:Good chance it's MOBO. Does it finish POST? I assume since it gets to the logo.

Yeah, it finishes POST fine. I can go in and mess with BIOS settings and everything and it won't shut off even if I'm in there for quite a while. Second I try to boot into any OS though it shows a bit of progress (Windows 7 logo animation thing or Ubuntu scrolling all the text it does) and then shuts the hell off.
Mar 23, 2011 10:33pm
W

WebFire

Go Bucks!

14,779 posts
Mar 23, 2011 11:07 PM
I Wear Pants;722385 wrote:Yeah, it finishes POST fine. I can go in and mess with BIOS settings and everything and it won't shut off even if I'm in there for quite a while. Second I try to boot into any OS though it shows a bit of progress (Windows 7 logo animation thing or Ubuntu scrolling all the text it does) and then shuts the hell off.

That would tell me it's not the chip. MOBO time!

What happens when you pop in the Windows DVD and try to do a repair?
Mar 23, 2011 11:07pm
TedSheckler's avatar

TedSheckler

Emporium Entrepreneur

3,974 posts
Mar 23, 2011 11:12 PM
How many HDD do you have? My guess is one may have gone bad. Disconnect all but the one with the OS and see if it boots. Also, have you tried booting from the W7 disk and running a repair?

Other culprits...bad RAM stick or overheating issue.
Mar 23, 2011 11:12pm
Speedofsand's avatar

Speedofsand

Troublemaker

5,529 posts
Mar 23, 2011 11:23 PM
http://www.sevenforums.com/

I don't know, but you might find the answer in that site.
Mar 23, 2011 11:23pm
I

I Wear Pants

Senior Member

16,223 posts
Mar 23, 2011 11:38 PM
WebFire;722420 wrote:That would tell me it's not the chip. MOBO time!

What happens when you pop in the Windows DVD and try to do a repair?
Same thing. It got like 1-2 seconds further in the animation but then shut off like any other way.

I'm really beginning to think it's the mobo unless when I reseat the processor tomorrow and put new thermal paste on it starts working. Either way I probably needed to do that.
Mar 23, 2011 11:38pm
M

MontyBrunswick

Mar 24, 2011 2:07 AM
You try clearing the CMOS? If it's not that, I'll be a day late and a dollar short and also say that it's probably a dead mobo.

Another thing that might be worth inspecting is USB devices. They all get initialized during boot, a flaky interface device or external hard drive could be acting up.

Your best place to find a AM2 or AM2+ mobo would be private forums or Craigslist.

I've bought stuff from here before. You have to have a handful of posts first before you can post.
Mar 24, 2011 2:07am
W

WebFire

Go Bucks!

14,779 posts
Mar 24, 2011 7:05 AM
If he can get in an see the BIOS, CMOS should be ok.
Mar 24, 2011 7:05am
I

I Wear Pants

Senior Member

16,223 posts
Mar 24, 2011 10:09 AM
WebFire;722489 wrote:If he can get in an see the BIOS, CMOS should be ok.
Yeah, plus I reset it to no avail.
Mar 24, 2011 10:09am
M

MontyBrunswick

Mar 24, 2011 3:30 PM
WebFire;722489 wrote:If he can get in an see the BIOS, CMOS should be ok.

Not always. Sometimes the CMOS information gets corrupted but it still lets you into the BIOS.
Mar 24, 2011 3:30pm
I

I Wear Pants

Senior Member

16,223 posts
Mar 24, 2011 8:00 PM
There's a couple AM2 (I'm counting AM2+ mobos too since they're compatible with AM2 chips) on Newegg. Probably just end up buying one of them.
Mar 24, 2011 8:00pm
DualCore's avatar

DualCore

Member

34 posts
Mar 24, 2011 8:27 PM
Is this a Dell or HP PC that you can download a full diagnostic program to run or is it a PC you built? I would re-seat the CPU and pull out anything not needed to boot. ie. pci cards, anything connected to USB, any external drives, leave in one mem dimm in first slot. Also leave case off in case it is overheating although i doubt that's the case since it seems to die at the exact same spot during boot. It's likely a bad mobo, at least you have a backup.
Mar 24, 2011 8:27pm
I

I Wear Pants

Senior Member

16,223 posts
Mar 25, 2011 1:35 AM
It's one that I built. And I did reseat the CPU and put new thermal compound on it as well as removed and re-connected all cards and such.

If it's overheating it certainly isn't because of the case. The airflow in there is ridiculous (Top fan, two fans on the front bottom, side fan, rear 140mm fan). Plus none of the components are ones that traditionally run hot. I figured maybe after 5-6 years the thermal compound finally stopped working as effectively or something (did have stock thermal compound, replaced with Artic Silver 5).

When this doesn't work and I'm assuming it won't though I won't try it tonight I'll know for certain that it's the mobo.
Mar 25, 2011 1:35am
I

I Wear Pants

Senior Member

16,223 posts
Mar 26, 2011 2:20 AM
Ok, so that didn't work. It made it a little bit further in the Windows logo animation but still shut off just the same. So I guess it's the mobo then. I'll do some stress tests tomorrow just to make sure it isn't the processor.

Hate this shit.
Mar 26, 2011 2:20am