Go Back   Cyber Tech Help Support Forums > Hardware > Hardware

Notices

Hardware Use this board for problem solving and the discussion of Computer Hardware issues

Reply
 
Topic Tools
  #1  
Old June 27th, 2011, 02:08 PM
chg chg is offline
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Jan 2006
O/S: Windows XP Pro
Posts: 353
old pc wont boot?

can't seem to find the answer in the archives I need,it's probably there I just cant find it anyhow my pc sat for a couple years and when I fired it back up it worked.I set a tune to play and made a coffee,when I came back it was froze/locked up and I had to do a hard kill.Now it won't boot at all and it doesn't find the HDD or DVD.It does find the floppy but I have no floppies to make it find the rest of the hardware.any advise appreciated/thanks It is a custom built P4 3Ghz on a via MoBo.1Gb Ram.Had 2 400Gb S.A.T.A. seagate HDD's but I removed those thinking it just might be the problem and hooked up the original 120Gb I.D.E.western digital. Still no boot.Thanks for any suggestions in advance
Reply With Quote
  #2  
Old June 27th, 2011, 07:40 PM
Murf's Avatar
Murf Murf is offline
Moderator
 
Join Date: Oct 2001
O/S: Windows XP Pro
Posts: 17,424
If it sat for a couple of years, then the CMOS battery made be dead. $3 worth replacing to at least rule it out.

You get power right? Doesn't get past the 1st screen (post)? Hangs there?
Reply With Quote
  #3  
Old June 28th, 2011, 06:50 PM
chg chg is offline
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Jan 2006
O/S: Windows XP Pro
Posts: 353
that's the first thing I intend to check when I get back to it.thanks!I've been away from all the pc's for awhile and most all of them around here have quit for one reason or another.had to buy this one after lightning got one.thanks again,I'll let you know if that does the trick.
Reply With Quote
  #4  
Old June 30th, 2011, 03:26 PM
Appzalien Appzalien is offline
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Sep 2010
Posts: 514
I would have gone with the cmos battery too, but typically when the battery goes you end up at a screen that says stuff like the clock is off or press F1 to enter setup, like that. A complete failure to boot can be a little more complicated to find. Having a spare battery is a nice thing and they are not too expensive, but since your a builder I would go in and start re-seating stuff if that doesn't do it for you. And check your fans, especially the CPU fan. Even if it spins, if it doesn't spin fast enough or the heat sink got clogged, you could be suffering from a CPU safety shut down with heat issues.
Reply With Quote
  #5  
Old July 5th, 2011, 04:26 PM
chg chg is offline
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Jan 2006
O/S: Windows XP Pro
Posts: 353
sorry dual post

Last edited by chg; July 5th, 2011 at 04:44 PM. Reason: dual post
Reply With Quote
  #6  
Old July 5th, 2011, 04:40 PM
chg chg is offline
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Jan 2006
O/S: Windows XP Pro
Posts: 353
Thanks for that insight Appzalien!The battery was very low but a new one didn't solve my problem.Looks like I get to dig in and track it down through the process of elimination!I'll try reseating everything and get back to you.I get power to the lights and fans and floppy. I get to a screen that says [bad bios checksum] insert system disk.Sorry to say I didn't make a floppy.I do have backup disks but either they are corrupted or not made right,it tells me they are not system disks remove and insert a system disk.
Reply With Quote
  #7  
Old July 5th, 2011, 06:31 PM
Murf's Avatar
Murf Murf is offline
Moderator
 
Join Date: Oct 2001
O/S: Windows XP Pro
Posts: 17,424
Take the CMOS battery out and leave out for 5 minutes. This will reset to defaults. Now see if it boots.
Reply With Quote
  #8  
Old November 27th, 2011, 06:06 PM
chg chg is offline
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Jan 2006
O/S: Windows XP Pro
Posts: 353
Well I finally got around to it.taking the battery out for 15 minutes didn't work,I've changed everything out except checking every socket on the PSU plugs for voltage.I don't have the meter or know how to use it so all I can think of is reinstalling BIOS,since that could be done with the floppy drive.If that doesnt work I'm out of options.
Reply With Quote
  #9  
Old November 27th, 2011, 08:07 PM
MaDef's Avatar
MaDef MaDef is offline
CTH Subscriber
 
Join Date: Dec 2000
Location: So. Cal
Posts: 3,838
Quote:
I've changed everything out except checking every socket on the PSU plugs for voltage.
If you have another PSU (that you know is good), swap it out.

Have you tried doing a min hardware boot? I.E; single drive, keyboard 1 stick of ram, and video?
Reply With Quote
  #10  
Old November 28th, 2011, 08:31 PM
chg chg is offline
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Jan 2006
O/S: Windows XP Pro
Posts: 353
Fixed

Alrighty then!Yep I tried all that and no good,soo while brooding about it and fumbling aroud the net for a week I decided to try a drastic move.I managed to look at old posts here and found who made my MB.Went to their site and got new BIOS and a flashing tool.Mucked around for a day trying to get all the pieces just right and finaly got those in and booted just fine.Now if I can just figure out how to get internet into this backwoods neighborhood I can update a few things.
Reply With Quote
Reply

Bookmarks

Topic Tools

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off

Forum Jump

Similar Topics
Topic Topic Starter Forum Replies Last Post
pc wont boot stejoh Hardware 3 November 10th, 2008 08:26 PM
pc wont boot up pandasox Windows XP 8 August 19th, 2008 06:20 PM
My pc I have at work wont boot, turns on but wont boot, help me please lilstilo Hardware 7 December 8th, 2006 11:10 PM
xp wont boot cjc012 Windows XP 1 June 4th, 2004 05:58 PM
Win 2k dual boot wont boot to win2k sanman202 Windows NT, 2000, 2003, 2008, 2012 2 September 23rd, 2003 05:13 PM


All times are GMT +1. The time now is 02:33 AM.