Posts by Catweazle

Only way of distinguishing if it's a stuffed processor or a stufed motherboard, that I know of, is to try the processor in a working motherboard, and/or to try the motherboard with a working processor.

Oh, then OUR problem was a lack of full information, and a lack of lateral thought :D

Then either that board is stuffed or else you've still not actually got the connectors correctly hooked up. Seems unusual though to have the procesor fan spinning if the motherboard isn't working. Only system I've seen which displayed the symptoms you describe had a stuffed motherboard.

Oh.

Warning: Missing /sarcasm tags!

Are you sure the fan on that original heatsink is working OK? Getting full speed from it?

I'd be tempted to rip it off and replace it with a decent one, ensuring that the old thermal paste is thoroughly cleaned from the processor (I use methylated spirits for the job) before installing the new heatsink. If it's that hot, and physically detectable as so, it needs attention.

heh heh.....

Good to see you're crediting your sources now, Blacktop. Unfortunately heading back to the manufacturer isn't really going to help with the Warranty run out. If there's an extended warranty been taken out on the PC the Vendor would be a good alternative however. And I'n sure no virus has caused that overheating :D

You've mentioned that the heatsink and paste is fine. How do you know? Has the heatsink been removed at some stage?

If so, it should be removed again, the surfaces of the processor and the heatsink thoroughly cleaned, and new thermal compound applied. For preference use a good quality compound such as Arctic Silver to get better results.

Removing and replacing a heatsink without cleaning it correctly and applying new compound can cause serious problems.

http://www.extremetech.com/article2/0,1558,10350,00.asp

Oh dear!

Please don't be untruthful. Here's the article it's been taken from.

http://a1-electronics.net/Heatsinks/2004/Thermtake_AquIII_Mod5.shtml

Copy/pasting extracts for others to see is fine, but you MUST credit the source from which it came, or else it is an infringement of copyright!

No, I don't mean that at all. In fact if you uninstall the program, then reinstall it using a borrowed CD, then you'll run into problems with Product Activation.

But if you use Control Panel > Add/Remove programs and select the entry for Office, you should get an option to 'Repair'. Using a borrowed CD should work for that, I believe.

helloimtim, that's just plain wrong!

Hi all,

It may seem like a strange thing to have in a section dedicated to sorting out problems with Internet Explorer, but I have to ask. Why bother?

Internet Explorer, which is actually deeply embedded into Windows itself rather than being a 'stand-alone' program, is deeply flawed and cannot really be 'fixed'. The way it operates makes it susceptible to all sorts of internet-borne 'nasties', and your system suffers from its use.

Although it won't handle every single website you could find, Firefox will more than adequately handle just about anything you wish to do. Dowmload it, install it, and set it as your default browser. You'll not regret the change, I'm sure.

Here's a step by step guide to installing Firefox on a Windows XP system. The procedure varies only a little for other Windows versions, and the procedures for installing Mozilla or Opera are also very, very similar.

If you are continually having problems as a result of using Internet Explorer, it's really time you made the change. You won't regret doing so, I'm sure!

Also see this topic.

Check the viruses, spyware and nasties section of this forum. there are numerous topics related to about:blank hijacks.

A better alternative, perhaps, is to download and install Mozilla or Firefox, install it and set it as your default web browser, and use that instead of Internet Explorer. No. Not perhaps. That's DEFINITELY the best alternative!

In that circumstance, perhaps you should try to locate a friend who has a coipy, borrow it, and use it together with the 'repair' optoin when you choose Office's entry in Add/Remove programs. Hopefully, that will resolve the problem.

Perhaps you can find a helpful hand in the IT section of the educational institution where you're studying, who will run the repair on your PC for you with a copy from there?

I've seen plenty of systems which needed formatting to successfully resolve the mess ;)

The setup utility is BIOS setup. I suspected you might find the IDE channel already enabled. What paticular Compaq PC do you have? Have you used the Maxtor drive installation software? If so exactly what software title (and version number) have you used please?

Also which cable and connector is the drive attached to inside the PC? What other drives are installed, and where?

You should have two data cables, each with a middle and an end connector for attaching drives to.

Please provide as much of this info as you are able to, in order that a solution to the problem can be worked out.

Pop your Windows CD in the drive and run 'Setup' to install it again over the top of the current installation. A 'Refresh install' should correct the problems for you if the program are, in fact, still on the system.

The answer to your problem is obvious. You've said you do not have an Office XP CD. Why not? If you've lost it, or if you are using an illicit installation of Office, then you'll need to get another one, I'm afraid!

At power up, go stright into BIOS setup on your PC. See this article for help.

Once you're in there, navigate the menus to find the entry for 'IDE 1' or 'Secondary IDE' and ensure that the value of the entry is set to 'Enabled'. Save and Exit.

Given all that you've described, it HAS to be a bad RAM module or a RAM mis-match.

Either that or the motherboard itself is cactus!

Everybody's dog house is small and not square.

(For goodness sake! Think of something funny to turn that into! You lot are driving me bonkers changing stuff and going bloody nowhere with it! :cry:

Please refrain from simply copy/pasting articles or parts of articles from elsewhere into here unless you also post the link to the original article. Otherwise Daniweb might end up in trouble over copyright issues!

If you are comparing it with a PC which has no such programs installed, then yes it will. If you are comparing it to a PC with Norton installed, then no, it will actually speed it up, possibly quite a bit!

Okeys.....

Whih Windows version do you have? If it's Windows XP, does Control Panel display a Classic View (like Windows 98) or in Category View?

Your miniature house is small and not adequate.

hahahaaa!!!

Topic closed!

Got one in that tower you mentioned? The motherboard you're trying to get working has AGP 3.0, so you won't do any damage to even the most recent of display cards by popping it in to test the thing out ;)

Got a friend who'll let you borrow a card for a quick check?

There should be nothing in the BIOS settings or motherboard jumpers which would completely disable the onboard video, (I've checked) so you can rule that out I reckon.

Sorta leaves only stuffed onboard video, stuffed BIOS or stuffed motherboard, doesn't it? If the thing runs fine with an AGP card fitted, then good and well.

Bung an AGP card in it (temporarily if need be) and see if you get a display with that.

You still using the onboard video? Check that the monitor cable is firmly attached. It could be loose. Checkl that the monitor cable is in good order. It could be broken.

Using an add-in card now? Check that it's firmly inserted in its slot.

No.

This sentence is waffle used to fill up space, included purely becuase there is a 10 character minimum limit set for posts on DaniWeb!

Incorrectly fitted video card, RAM or front panel connectors is the most likely source of the problem

I sincerely hope you are disconnecting the power from that motherboard before making any changes whatsoever.

Switch off, disconnect the power lead or turn off the mains switch, make changes, turn it back on.

Even with the system shut doewn, there is still power in the motherboard, and changing things can blow the thing up!

Yes, that helps. On the back of that connector plug you should see the metal clips where the wires are clipped in to the plug. Get a pin, depress the clip and pull the wire out of one side of the plug. Push it back in to the middle hole. Your motherboard requires the two wires to be on adjacent pins. You can work out for yourself which way round it needs to go (obviously if it doesn't work try the wires the other way round.) That bit about the connectors needing to face the same way should be a useful starting point for determining which wire to move.

Edit: You've obviously got the connectors reversed :D

Please do not post HijackThis logs anywhere except in the 'Viruses and nasties' forum section. They will NOT be looked at elsewhere.

Also, see if any of the suggestions in this article about Windows Update problems proves useful.

Floppy drive cable connector is upside down for starters - reverse it.

Try reversing the power led connector and see what happens .

The front panel connector pins are probably the biggest source of headaches for home-builders :D

I DID just say that standards don't seem to be adhered to by case manufacturers ;)

Colour schemes vary from case to case. I don't believe there are any set standards, and if so they are not adhered to. But nevertheless, white wires are usually power, not ground.

Try having the connectors in one direction, and if it doesn't boot them reverse them all ;)

Front panel connectors (the ones coming from the case) generally have a flat face, and a face where you can see the clips where the pins on the ends of the wires have been pushed into the plug. All of the connectors should face the same way if the leads are correctly attached, on any motherboard I've ever seen ;)

If the board you refer to is this one, then the connectors I refer to are the ones for Power button, Power LED, Reset, HDD LED, and speaker, which are mentioned on page 16 of the manual. The plugs for all of those should face the same direction.

You need the CPU fan attached, of course, but I'd not bother with headers for USB, Wake on LAN, Infrared, or whatever else you may have until after you actually get the board to POST.

My strong suspicion is that you have the front panel connectors incorrectly attached.

Your motherboard manual should have diagrams.

draging and dropping files to a burner in windows explorer is only for formatted CD-RWs', with Neros INCD or that program from Roxi,whats it name ?? installed on the computer

Wrong! With Windows XP, you need only pop in a blank CD and the OS handles the job. A 'Writable CD folder' opens, and files can be dragg/dopped or copy/pasted to it. A Wizard handles all burning tasks when the user is happy with the folder contents.

acuariano, that is almost certainly a sopftware problem, rather than a hardware problem. Try a refresh install of Windows to see if it is corrected:

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;315341&Product=winxp

By the way, the problem most often occurs after Easy CD creator has been installed.

You'll find that the most common source of the problem when a system inexplicably fails to power up id the Power LED connector being reversed. In fact, it's quite crucial to have the front panel connectors correctly attached, as the various wires on the connectors have specific purposes. All connectors should be facing the same direction.

Actually, a habit of reaching for the 'Off' switch is the CAUSE of a lot of problems.
There are other, far better ways to recover from most situations :D

Then please be careful with your wording when mentioning the situation on public message boards, because other, less experienced people may be reading and get the wrong impression.

One way or another, just about any PC game, ever, has needed patches or updates to correct 'bugs' or hardware compatibility issues. Windows XP compatibility for older games should really be looked at no differently, but if it's your choice not to do so then that's fine for you.

Fact is, just about any game can be run under Windows XP.

Your miniature poodle is small and angry.

Reset CMOS.

Have CPU with Heatsink/fan, One RAM module, and the vid card fitted. Check, recheck and double check the front panel connectors. Nothing else fitted or connected to the motherboard at all. That's a 'bare-bones' configuration. (If the motherboard has onboard video, use that rather than an add-in card.

Hook up the keyboard and monitor, power up, see if it POSTs. If not, check the front panel connectors again. You might even have a connector (such as Power LED) reversed on the board, stopping it from POSTing.

I must admit that I worry a little about how 'nested' the various sections of the forum are, but considering the site covers such a wide range of activities, it's difficult to see how it could be organised otherwise.

That lead and connector is coming from the power supply unit, not from a fan, isn't it? Tuck the thing away somewhere out of the way and forget about it, unless there is a relevent socket on your motherboard for it. (What make/model motherboard do you have, by the way).

Some motherboards make use of the connector to supply extra power for fans, etc. Some don't. If you don't need it then don't use it :)

My mental capacity is odd and high.

Sooner the better. It's 1.30 am here and I'm hanging to get to bed :D