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PC Dead?!?

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RandomThug
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PC Dead?!?

Post by RandomThug »

Alright here is the deal my roomate was screwin around one day just opening programs andsuch (adobe etc) and his pc froze, so he does what anyone else would and reboots the machine.

It never booted up again. I have tried alternative hard drives, I have tried another power source.. taken out video cards, added them in. It begins to power up for instance, there is a light. There is a sound, thefan on the proccesor spins.... NEVER does it go to the boot up screen. Never does it even appear to make contact with the monitor. Its the wierdest thing, I think the motherboards toast. I mean everything ha spower (cd trays open etc) but no connectivity. the Hard drive isnt hosed because another working one didnt do crap either.


HELP HELP HELP HELP HELP HELP!

Please.... Im looking to you ned and friends...
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Tamerlane
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Post by Tamerlane »

Try connecting the hard drive with another monitor or using different power cables. I'd go for the obvious and say that the monitor itself has died but I suspect someone else will bring in a better alternative ;)
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Mr Flibble
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Post by Mr Flibble »

It could be the BIOS. Did the PC have any antivirus software installed, or has it been through a BIOS upgrade lately? When the system powers on, can you hear any drive accesses or any noises from the system speaker?
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Post by smass »

@ Flibble - I have a mbd that will not post also - I have tried everything including clearing the nvram - I had left if for dead.

Can you load a new bios on a mbd that will not boot? If you can -how do you go about such a thing?
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RandomThug
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Post by RandomThug »

The monitor is fine. You can hear the drives spinning and starting up yes, but almost like its half ass doing it only.

I considered its the BIOS but dont know how to mess with that without getting at least to some prompt. It had antivirus running and most likely (now that I think about it) was screwing around with Kazaa and he might have gotten something (A virus that messed up the bios?)

I am not sure but theres more info...
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Yshania
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Post by Yshania »

Have you tried using a different graphics card?
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Mr Flibble
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Post by Mr Flibble »

I agree with Ysh, try a different video card next.

As for reflashing the BIOS, it's a bit of a nasty job. You need an identical motherboard with a working BIOS and change the chip while it's running, reflash it and put the chip back on the dead board. Of course it only works if the BIOS chip is socketed.
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Post by Moleman »

There's usually(/sometimes?) a jumper in the motherboard that you can reset the bios with. Consult motherboard manual for the location (and existence) of such jumper. BTW it only switches all the bios setup values to their defaults. I would do that before trying anything as risky as flashing bios.

But, actually I'm also with Ysh in this one - try different video card. Then try different memory modules. And make sure every plug and card is fastened tight to their sockets/plugs.
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