Ahhhhh [PC Problem]

dong20

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They are both the same - 512MB Crucial RAM. I bought them recently - used. The person I bought them off said he tested them and they were 100% working. He also had 100% feedback.

RAM fails, though Crucial RAM - seldom!

I've tried taking one stick out but it won't boot. Also, the monitor won't switch on at all now :mad:

Try the other one! Did you find another monitor...you may have two problems!

I took both RAM sticks out and booted and got a POST error just to see if it was working :rolleyes:

Beep code? three sets of three usually or three long beeps...doesn't really matter.

I'm seriously annoyed now :(

I can tell....seriously I would reboot from the CD, format the drive (not quick format) and re-install. Is this a legit XP cd or... something else. You could have a boot sector virus which has corrupted the MBR. If so you will need to create a clean boot disk to format the disk.

PS... what PC are you posting this from? Can you try that monitor?
 

HazelGod

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They are both the same - 512MB Crucial RAM. I bought them recently - used. The person I bought them off said he tested them and they were 100% working. He also had 100% feedback.

I've tried taking one stick out but it won't boot. Also, the monitor won't switch on at all now :mad:

I took both RAM sticks out and booted and got a POST error just to see if it was working :rolleyes:

I'm seriously annoyed now :(

SLB, go into the chatroom...I'll walk you through this.
 

B_ScaredLittleBoy

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I'm on a PC in the office. Could be a boot sector virus...I'll give chat a try :(

I'm on a PC in the office (home office), I tried this monitor last night but I'll try it again. I've also unplugged all my PCI cards and tried onboard GFX and sound and still no luck!
 

dong20

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I'm on a PC in the office. Could be a boot sector virus...I'll give chat a try :(

I'm on a PC in the office (home office), I tried this monitor last night but I'll try it again. I've also unplugged all my PCI cards and tried onboard GFX and sound and still no luck!

Best of luck. I've had a boot sector virus before and they can cause odd symptoms, usually the OS install will crash out or stall as the disk is checked or shortly thereafter.

The CPU utilisation does suggest that there is a driver or OS subsystem issue. Does the same thing happen in safe mode but not in safe mode without networking for example? Booting in logging mode may reveal something but...so many options and It's often hard to really diagnose such things at a distance. I hope it's something simple that a recovery attempt will fix. Real time chat would be much better but I'm afraid I'm going to bed, hopefully HG can help you out.
 

B_ScaredLittleBoy

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Okay last night on the advice of HG I removed the RAM. I left one stick in, and it seems okay. It restarts and turns on straight away (no monitor trouble) and CPU usage is between 2-5%. Could it all have been caused by the RAM though?

I'll try with both sticks in when I get in. The other stick seems to put CPU usage at 100% when I put it in :confused: but that could just be chance; ie something else decided to choke the CPU while that RAM was in.

Anyway hopefully its fixed now but I would like to have 1GB of RAM again instead of 512MB
 

dong20

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Okay last night on the advice of HG I removed the RAM. I left one stick in, and it seems okay. It restarts and turns on straight away (no monitor trouble) and CPU usage is between 2-5%. Could it all have been caused by the RAM though?

I though you did that when I suggested it with each stick? I guess you put the bad one back in and didn't try the other?

I'll try with both sticks in when I get in. The other stick seems to put CPU usage at 100% when I put it in :confused: but that could just be chance; ie something else decided to choke the CPU while that RAM was in.

RAM can produce some weird effects. Usually it will cause the machine to be unstable, lock up or blue screen. If taking that stick out causes it to run normally try it with stat stick alone. If it chokes you have your culprit, if it runs OK then it suggests a chipset issue on the mainboard.

Anyway hopefully its fixed now but I would like to have 1GB of RAM again instead of 512MB

Buy another stick, try to get crucial again or better buy a 1gb stick. It's ridiculously cheap these days!
 

B_ScaredLittleBoy

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DDR is not so cheap as I would like. I'll do more tests tonight just to make sure it is the RAM. You wouldn't believe how many sticks of RAM I got in the quest for the 1GB :redface:

And now one of those doesn't work :mad:
 

dong20

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DDR is not so cheap...but maybe. I'll do more tests tonight just to make sure it is the RAM. You wouldn't believe how many sticks of RAM I got in the quest for the 1GB :redface:

And now one of those doesn't work :mad:

Cheap is relative, I suppose. The first RAM I bought was £25 per Megabyte so around £30-£35 for 1 a Gigabyte of DDR seems cheap to me.

Moral is don't by cheap, generic RAM. It may work for a while but it tends to bite you in the end. :smile:
 

B_ScaredLittleBoy

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It cost me £40 for a gig which some guys on another website said was a rip off and that DDR2 is cheaper or something.

Anyway its working now! :biggrin1: on a gig. Came on straight away. The only problem is when it started up there were FOUR network icons in the right hand corner for some reason. I only have two network devices installed; Ethernet and wireless PCI cards. So that was weird...

But it seems okay now. Maybe the BIOS had a blip or something or the RAM got a bit upset when I had to manually shut the PC down.

I even ordered some CMOS batteries too :redface:
 

B_ScaredLittleBoy

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Okay now its not working again :mad::mad:

Switching RAM didn't help. So I guess its not the RAM. Could it be a (over)heat issue? It seems to get hot in there and there's only one fan with a broken plastic heatsink (think thats what it is) and the RAM was hot too.

:mad:
 

dong20

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I think you've reached the end of the line! You could try a new CPU cooler but...

I suspected a mainboard problem but it could be also have been or could be a simple case of overheating, especially as you say the cooler fan is broken. The heatsink is usually aluminium, the plastic bit holds the fan in place - I assume it's running??

It may be easier to buy a new mainboard and CPU. Try to find on that will run DDR so you can re-use the one you bought though that will be tricky. I was surprised if it had been RAM but as I said, from a distance these things are hard to diagnose.
 

HazelGod

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I suspect you have two separate issues...one is a hardware problem, more likely power-related than heat-related. The other is a software problem, and I don't just mean that you're using MS Windows (hah!).

Before you think of buying anything else, go download the Ubuntu linux LiveCD

It'll pull down an ISO image file...burn that to a CD and use it to boot up the machine you're having issues with. When the boot menu screen appears, choose the Memtest86+ option and let it run for a while. This will stress-test your RAM and let you know for sure if that's where the problems are.
image. Hit the link, choose Desktop Edition v7.10, choose Standard PC, and pick a download server closest to you.
 

dong20

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I suspect you have two separate issues...one is a hardware problem, more likely power-related than heat-related. The other is a software problem, and I don't just mean that you're using MS Windows (hah!).

Before you think of buying anything else, go download the Ubuntu linux LiveCD

It'll pull down an ISO image file...burn that to a CD and use it to boot up the machine you're having issues with. When the boot menu screen appears, choose the Memtest86+ option and let it run for a while. This will stress-test your RAM and let you know for sure if that's where the problems are. image. Hit the link, choose Desktop Edition v7.10, choose Standard PC, and pick a download server closest to you.

Commendable advice. You have more patience than I do.

With hardware at practically give away prices I'd have consigned it to the bin long ago...diminishing returns etc. I hope SLB can get the thing running long enough to boot the kernel and complete the tests.

I'm off to bed.:smile:
 

B_ScaredLittleBoy

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I'll run memtest tomorrow...

I think I will end up just buying a new bastard PC though :mad::mad::mad::mad:

Not had this PC long though. Spose its not too bad if I just buy a tower maybe without RAM etc. Are there any sites that custom build PC's for you or should I just mek my own?
 

sjprep06

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Not had this PC long though. Spose its not too bad if I just buy a tower maybe without RAM etc. Are there any sites that custom build PC's for you or should I just mek my own?

No offense, but considering your incompatibilty with technology, I think you would be better off buying a pre-made computer. Building your own means two things: a)no customer support for your configuration and b)being even more hands on with your computer...
 

HazelGod

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I'll run memtest tomorrow...

I think I will end up just buying a new bastard PC though :mad::mad::mad::mad:

Not had this PC long though. Spose its not too bad if I just buy a tower maybe without RAM etc. Are there any sites that custom build PC's for you or should I just mek my own?

I say build your own. I got the impression from chatting with you that you're pretty familiar with PC hardware, and you're probably aware of just what kind of "quality" support you can expect from an OEM like Dell or HP...so build your own. Besides, computers are commodity items, not rocket science.

You already have a case, a floppy, an optical drive, a hard drive, and a video card...you'll only need a new motherboard, RAM (maybe), and CPU.

I say a new motherboard, because the SiS chipset on your HP's board sucks. If you choose an AMD processor, go with an AMD or nVidia chipset...and if you choose an Intel processor, use an Intel chipset.

New RAM is a maybe depending on your choice of motherboard. If it doesn't support the type you already have, you'll need new stuff. Memory is the one place you don't cheap out...go with the name brand stuff from Crucial or Corsair.

The CPU is your choice...but the Celeron in your machine now is complete crap. AMD and Intel are in another price war, so take your pick. They both have good lineups...you just have to decide what matters to you: high end performance or power efficiency?

One bit of advice, though...before you install any operating system, boot up Linux from a LiveCD and use this simple command to wipe that hard drive clean:

dd bs=4M if=/dev/zero of=/dev/hda

It might take a few minutes...this will write zeros to the entire device, including the boot sector and partition table areas. Everything on it will be destroyed. If there's a virus of any kind on it anywhere, this will get rid of it. The drive will be a clean slate where you can install whatever operating system you like. (Word of caution.../dev/hda references the first IDE drive in a machine, so only run this command with the drive you intend to wipe out attached to the system.)

Personally, I have both Ubuntu Linux and Windows XP on my machine. I use Linux most of the time, but I play games, too, so Windows is a necessary evil. :biggrin1: Seriously, though...don't install Vista.

EDIT:
One more thing...get a new power supply, and get a name brand like Antec or CoolerMaster. Bad PSU's are a nightmare to diagnose, so save yourself the headache up front.
 

dong20

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Not had this PC long though. Spose its not too bad if I just buy a tower maybe without RAM etc. Are there any sites that custom build PC's for you or should I just mek my own?

You could consider a barebones system from someone like Ebuyer or Aria - essentially an assembled case (mainboard/CPU) to which you add RAM/Drives etc. It saves time and often money, especially as you already have most of these. Chances are they will be DDR2 boards though you may get lucky.

Try to avoid low end CPUs as it's a false economy, also these days I'd go Intel. I always used AMD but lately they don't see so good. It would interesting to see how good their quad core chips are though.
 

B_ScaredLittleBoy

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Thanks guys. And despite the impression this thread may give I'm not bad with technology, technology is bad with me!

I have I think exhausted every possibility. I unplugged my Wireless card just to see if it was that, it came on. But it came on when the card was put back in too...

I think I'll get a 'shell' PC or maybe wait til next month and build my own...

Thanks anyway :smile: