Seems like your CPU is dead.

Only thing you could do is disconnect all the drives, all but one stick of RAM and clear CMOS, then try to turn it on (while everything is D/C-ed) to see if it would...

It is possible by BIOS settings.
I could render any PC unbootable within a minute just by making BIOS manually look for some bogus HD.

What your roommate should do is access BIOS and revert all...

I'll assume you're talking about XP.

What you need to do is this:

- disconnect the drive
- disable IDE controller in device management (usually, you can disable one IDE channel, while second...

If not, there is NTFS4DOS (http://www.freewarefiles.com/NTFSDOS-readwrite-NTFS-From-DOS_program_11100.html) that can be added to that win98 CD.

I made one such CD myself :)
Ironically, one has to...

Check event viewer logs (administrative tools) for possible causes and post if you find any.

Take it out, but not for 24 hours, which is ridiculous. 5 minutes will suffice, and it might help the situation.

What error message?

A new thread maybe?

There is no new one yet, and when it comes it should be same model.

Nevertheless, that is a wise thing to do.. remove the video drivers (add-remove programs) before you shut it down one last time...

Yes.

I suggest that you use that money to get more ram and new CPU, although, you'll probably need to chip in more than 200€.

Hopefully, you'll be able to sell that existing CPU to cover the expenses...

Well, your graphic card certanly needs replacing. If you bought the whole machine as one package, then you'll need to RMA it in order to replace the broken graphic card. Usually, when you buy whole...

If the warrany isn't void, use it.

That only prooves that the problem originates within VGA.

I was suspecting GPU core to go over 80, which would explain the artifacts appearing on the screen. Apparently, that is not the case.

Colors changing, artifacts and erratic lines appearing with...

.. which doesn't guarantee that one of them wouldn't launch sky-high when you put it to the real test.

Strange noise?
could you be more specific?

You can only hear fans, HDs and DVD drives from the case, so which was it?

You shoud stress the machine and then post the temperatures. The idea is...

Try running HWMonitor (http://www.cpuid.com/hwmonitor.php). Unlike ASUS Probe 2 (I also have ASUS mobo) it will monitor VGA temp too.

While it is running, start WoW and play for a 10 minutes....

Setting PSU in 230V mode is VERY no-no on 110V grid. (Truth be told, switching to 110V mode on 220V grid is much bigger no-no)

Obviously, your PSU got damaged during that storm. Power surges tend...

You don't really expect some help with this much input?

Seems like you're having hardware problem there. Nothing to do with C++. My suspect is bad RAM. Second in line is CPU.

I couldn't have been overheated if it wasn't running... (this goes for scorpio's and mine case)


For his case, there is one thing that's called (roughly translated to English) "cold soldering":...

I'm thinking that this is PSU issue.

I had case or two like that..

Turned out to be bad contacts between VGA and motherboard.

Off course, I didn't leave it for couple of days like you did, but poked around, twisted and reseated...

No way you'll get a blueprints for contemporary mobo.. especially not from Sony. At least not with their consent.


.. but they'll be happy to sell you another mobo.

.. and they charge for replacement recovery disks.

"Customer supprot" means "supported by customers" there.

Nevertheless, it could help.

Is HD being detected in BIOS?
If not, that would most likely be dead hard drive.

If you see it in BIOS, then it could be that the MBR or boot sector got corrupt. You should try to using XP Setup...

Your VGA is fried. You need to replace the motherboard.

I say 99% it's mobo.

Try this trick. It worked for me once when my OS got corrupt registry:

Disable HD in BIOS and boot from CD.

Otherwise, it would freeze when the setup program would check for installed...

Is your warranty valid?

There should be "Quick POST" setting in your BIOS.

You should disable it to see if any POST error messages will shed some light on your case.

Also, if possible, look into event logs (part of...

I wasn't paying attention.... sorry.

That will only worsen the problem... FIXBOOT from Windows XP Setup CD + Vista installed = corrupt disk (well, in this case corrupt x2)

Some old BIOSes have disk recognition utility which needs to be run before HD can be set or used in boot sequence.

You should post your motherboard model.

Try hitting Esc button when mobo logo comes. It will show you text-mode screen that goes on "behind the scene". You might have some error messages there that you're not aware of.

Seems to me like the VGA chip isn't working well. (Read: motherboard).

That is most likely the very source of heat you felt... and first to go from overheating.

Here (http://www.datacent.com/hard_drive_sounds.php) you can hear some of the failing drive sounds.

I have no idea if it was "normal"..

If you have another machine handy, then you can use it to test the RAM from your machine. That way you'll know if the RAM got fried as well as mobo (yup, it's...