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#1
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Win Xp Pro BIOS on AMD
Have an AMD machine that is running Windows XP Pro. Anyhow, after a couple
of months where the thing would reboot out of the blue on it's own and/or lock up frequently, the thing now has stopped and went for the worst. Now, when it starts, it doesn't get that far into posting before it just stops. It because just listing the BIOS brand and version and then another line and then nothing. It doesn't even get as far as to the point where it goes through all of the controllers. You know, where it shows the HDD's, CD-ROM, etc... I have checked the RAM to see if any is bad, but it seems good. There are no beeps whatsoever from the machine when this occurs. This is an Asus A7N8X-E Deluxe mobo with Award brand BIOS. I have not tried flashing the BIOS yet. I wanted to check for some suggestions from here. I wouldn't think it is the mobo going out. Don't think it is a HDD either because of where it stops, but could be wrong. Thoughts on this please? Is much appreciated! |
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#2
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Win Xp Pro BIOS on AMD
"Mark G." wrote in message ... Have an AMD machine that is running Windows XP Pro. Anyhow, after a couple of months where the thing would reboot out of the blue on it's own and/or lock up frequently, the thing now has stopped and went for the worst. Now, when it starts, it doesn't get that far into posting before it just stops. It because just listing the BIOS brand and version and then another line and then nothing. It doesn't even get as far as to the point where it goes through all of the controllers. You know, where it shows the HDD's, CD-ROM, etc... I have checked the RAM to see if any is bad, but it seems good. There are no beeps whatsoever from the machine when this occurs. This is an Asus A7N8X-E Deluxe mobo with Award brand BIOS. I have not tried flashing the BIOS yet. I wanted to check for some suggestions from here. I wouldn't think it is the mobo going out. Don't think it is a HDD either because of where it stops, but could be wrong. Thoughts on this please? Is much appreciated! Crosspost, do not multipost http://www.blakjak.demon.co.uk/mul_crss.htm SC Tom |
#3
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Win Xp Pro BIOS on AMD
"Mark G." wrote in message ... Have an AMD machine that is running Windows XP Pro. Anyhow, after a couple of months where the thing would reboot out of the blue on it's own and/or lock up frequently, the thing now has stopped and went for the worst. Now, when it starts, it doesn't get that far into posting before it just stops. It because just listing the BIOS brand and version and then another line and then nothing. It doesn't even get as far as to the point where it goes through all of the controllers. You know, where it shows the HDD's, CD-ROM, etc... I have checked the RAM to see if any is bad, but it seems good. There are no beeps whatsoever from the machine when this occurs. This is an Asus A7N8X-E Deluxe mobo with Award brand BIOS. I have not tried flashing the BIOS yet. I wanted to check for some suggestions from here. I wouldn't think it is the mobo going out. Don't think it is a HDD either because of where it stops, but could be wrong. Thoughts on this please? Is much appreciated! Crosspost, do not multipost http://www.blakjak.demon.co.uk/mul_crss.htm SC Tom |
#4
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Win Xp Pro BIOS on AMD
Mark G. wrote:
Have an AMD machine that is running Windows XP Pro. Anyhow, after a couple of months where the thing would reboot out of the blue on it's own and/or lock up frequently, the thing now has stopped and went for the worst. Now, when it starts, it doesn't get that far into posting before it just stops. It because just listing the BIOS brand and version and then another line and then nothing. It doesn't even get as far as to the point where it goes through all of the controllers. You know, where it shows the HDD's, CD-ROM, etc... I have checked the RAM to see if any is bad, but it seems good. There are no beeps whatsoever from the machine when this occurs. This is an Asus A7N8X-E Deluxe mobo with Award brand BIOS. I have not tried flashing the BIOS yet. I wanted to check for some suggestions from here. I wouldn't think it is the mobo going out. Don't think it is a HDD either because of where it stops, but could be wrong. Thoughts on this please? Is much appreciated! Simplify the hardware setup. Disconnect all storage devices. See if you can get to a BIOS screen or not that way. Disconnect the power plugs to the storage devices, in an effort to reduce the loading on the PSU (in case it is weak). Check the video card, and see if the fan is still spinning. If the video is heating up, it could be freezing at startup or malfunctioning. If you have a spare video card, give that a try. I keep a PCI video card around, for special occasions like this. Sometimes, a heatsink will lose contact with the surface it is cooling. Check the chipset heatsink(s), the video card heatsink, for signs they are loose. If a heatsink isn't making contact with the chip underneath, the chip gets very hot, the heatsink stays cold. And it is difficult to tell if a chip is naturally cool, or contact with it has been lost. Sometimes, a plastic pushpin works loose. If you have more than one stick of RAM, try each stick one at a time. In case something is wrong with it, which the built-in RAM test is not catching. For example, my A7N8X-E Deluxe had a bad stick of RAM one day, and the RAM test didn't seem to care. One entire chip on the module was dead, and it didn't detect that. On the other hand, memtest86+ went nuts. If the bad stick was present to cover the low memory requirements (where some BIOS functions live), then the motherboard could not start or even beep (it should have beeped a RAM error). If the stick was in the higher parts of the memory space, then the RAM test didn't catch it. It almost suggests all the chips are not tested equally bu the BIOS. In other words, don't assume anything works, and try a bunch of test cases, in the hope you'll get a symptom which narrows down the trouble source. Since you cannot get into the BIOS at the moment, changing the Vcore setting is not going to be possible. My 3200+ didn't like too much voltage. It uses 1.65V normally, but I couldn't really boost it too much without getting a black screen for my trouble. If you can get in there, change the setting from 1.65V to 1.70V and try again. But you have to get into the BIOS to try that. Paul |
#5
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Win Xp Pro BIOS on AMD
Mark G. wrote:
Have an AMD machine that is running Windows XP Pro. Anyhow, after a couple of months where the thing would reboot out of the blue on it's own and/or lock up frequently, the thing now has stopped and went for the worst. Now, when it starts, it doesn't get that far into posting before it just stops. It because just listing the BIOS brand and version and then another line and then nothing. It doesn't even get as far as to the point where it goes through all of the controllers. You know, where it shows the HDD's, CD-ROM, etc... I have checked the RAM to see if any is bad, but it seems good. There are no beeps whatsoever from the machine when this occurs. This is an Asus A7N8X-E Deluxe mobo with Award brand BIOS. I have not tried flashing the BIOS yet. I wanted to check for some suggestions from here. I wouldn't think it is the mobo going out. Don't think it is a HDD either because of where it stops, but could be wrong. Thoughts on this please? Is much appreciated! Simplify the hardware setup. Disconnect all storage devices. See if you can get to a BIOS screen or not that way. Disconnect the power plugs to the storage devices, in an effort to reduce the loading on the PSU (in case it is weak). Check the video card, and see if the fan is still spinning. If the video is heating up, it could be freezing at startup or malfunctioning. If you have a spare video card, give that a try. I keep a PCI video card around, for special occasions like this. Sometimes, a heatsink will lose contact with the surface it is cooling. Check the chipset heatsink(s), the video card heatsink, for signs they are loose. If a heatsink isn't making contact with the chip underneath, the chip gets very hot, the heatsink stays cold. And it is difficult to tell if a chip is naturally cool, or contact with it has been lost. Sometimes, a plastic pushpin works loose. If you have more than one stick of RAM, try each stick one at a time. In case something is wrong with it, which the built-in RAM test is not catching. For example, my A7N8X-E Deluxe had a bad stick of RAM one day, and the RAM test didn't seem to care. One entire chip on the module was dead, and it didn't detect that. On the other hand, memtest86+ went nuts. If the bad stick was present to cover the low memory requirements (where some BIOS functions live), then the motherboard could not start or even beep (it should have beeped a RAM error). If the stick was in the higher parts of the memory space, then the RAM test didn't catch it. It almost suggests all the chips are not tested equally bu the BIOS. In other words, don't assume anything works, and try a bunch of test cases, in the hope you'll get a symptom which narrows down the trouble source. Since you cannot get into the BIOS at the moment, changing the Vcore setting is not going to be possible. My 3200+ didn't like too much voltage. It uses 1.65V normally, but I couldn't really boost it too much without getting a black screen for my trouble. If you can get in there, change the setting from 1.65V to 1.70V and try again. But you have to get into the BIOS to try that. Paul |
#6
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Win Xp Pro BIOS on AMD
"Mark G." wrote in message ... Have an AMD machine that is running Windows XP Pro. Anyhow, after a couple of months where the thing would reboot out of the blue on it's own and/or lock up frequently, the thing now has stopped and went for the worst. Now, when it starts, it doesn't get that far into posting before it just stops. It because just listing the BIOS brand and version and then another line and then nothing. It doesn't even get as far as to the point where it goes through all of the controllers. You know, where it shows the HDD's, CD-ROM, etc... I have checked the RAM to see if any is bad, but it seems good. There are no beeps whatsoever from the machine when this occurs. This is an Asus A7N8X-E Deluxe mobo with Award brand BIOS. I have not tried flashing the BIOS yet. I wanted to check for some suggestions from here. I wouldn't think it is the mobo going out. Don't think it is a HDD either because of where it stops, but could be wrong. Thoughts on this please? Is much appreciated! Mark G. Needless to say there are a variety of reasons why you're experiencing the problems you describe - both hardware or software, although it does sound like hardware-related. The very first thing I would do is check out the HDD with the diagnostic utility that should be available from the disk's manufacturer. Have you done this? (The fact that the boot process aborts during the beginning of the process is *not* an indication that that absolves the HDD from causing this problem). You should check out the HDD. Assuming it checks out OK, another possibility is a defective PSU. Have you a power supply tester or do you have another PSU that you can install? Assuming no problem re the preceding, just on the off-chance the problem may be due to a corrupted OS, have you considered a Repair install of the OS? If that's no go, you can consider Paul's initial suggestion as to powering-up the machine with *only* the basic components needed, i.e., power supply, processor & heatsink, RAM, graphics card, monitor, mouse & keyboard connections. Work *only* with those foregoing components connected - no HDD(s), no optical drive, no floppy drive, no sound card - no other peripheral/external devices connected. Power on the machine and let it run for at least 1/2 - 1 hour during which time you can access the BIOS settings and go from one screen to another and in the process determine that all BIOS settings are appropriate to your system. Check the temps with the BIOS hardware monitor settings to see all is normal. If no untoward events during this period it should give you some assurance there's no hardware issue involved here affecting the machine's basic components (although this process is not completely definitive). Obviously you'll check whether the CPU fan is spinning. I really don't think you need to remove the heatsink and/or reseat the processor unless you have some specific reason to believe one or the other is defective or needs reseating. I doubt updating the BIOS will resolve your problem. I'm assuming you do not have another HDD at your disposal, right? Anna |
#7
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Win Xp Pro BIOS on AMD
"Mark G." wrote in message ... Have an AMD machine that is running Windows XP Pro. Anyhow, after a couple of months where the thing would reboot out of the blue on it's own and/or lock up frequently, the thing now has stopped and went for the worst. Now, when it starts, it doesn't get that far into posting before it just stops. It because just listing the BIOS brand and version and then another line and then nothing. It doesn't even get as far as to the point where it goes through all of the controllers. You know, where it shows the HDD's, CD-ROM, etc... I have checked the RAM to see if any is bad, but it seems good. There are no beeps whatsoever from the machine when this occurs. This is an Asus A7N8X-E Deluxe mobo with Award brand BIOS. I have not tried flashing the BIOS yet. I wanted to check for some suggestions from here. I wouldn't think it is the mobo going out. Don't think it is a HDD either because of where it stops, but could be wrong. Thoughts on this please? Is much appreciated! Mark G. Needless to say there are a variety of reasons why you're experiencing the problems you describe - both hardware or software, although it does sound like hardware-related. The very first thing I would do is check out the HDD with the diagnostic utility that should be available from the disk's manufacturer. Have you done this? (The fact that the boot process aborts during the beginning of the process is *not* an indication that that absolves the HDD from causing this problem). You should check out the HDD. Assuming it checks out OK, another possibility is a defective PSU. Have you a power supply tester or do you have another PSU that you can install? Assuming no problem re the preceding, just on the off-chance the problem may be due to a corrupted OS, have you considered a Repair install of the OS? If that's no go, you can consider Paul's initial suggestion as to powering-up the machine with *only* the basic components needed, i.e., power supply, processor & heatsink, RAM, graphics card, monitor, mouse & keyboard connections. Work *only* with those foregoing components connected - no HDD(s), no optical drive, no floppy drive, no sound card - no other peripheral/external devices connected. Power on the machine and let it run for at least 1/2 - 1 hour during which time you can access the BIOS settings and go from one screen to another and in the process determine that all BIOS settings are appropriate to your system. Check the temps with the BIOS hardware monitor settings to see all is normal. If no untoward events during this period it should give you some assurance there's no hardware issue involved here affecting the machine's basic components (although this process is not completely definitive). Obviously you'll check whether the CPU fan is spinning. I really don't think you need to remove the heatsink and/or reseat the processor unless you have some specific reason to believe one or the other is defective or needs reseating. I doubt updating the BIOS will resolve your problem. I'm assuming you do not have another HDD at your disposal, right? Anna |
#8
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Win Xp Pro BIOS on AMD
"Mark G." wrote in message
... Have an AMD machine that is running Windows XP Pro. Anyhow, after a couple of months where the thing would reboot out of the blue on it's own and/or lock up frequently, the thing now has stopped and went for the worst. Now, when it starts, it doesn't get that far into posting before it just stops. It because just listing the BIOS brand and version and then another line and then nothing. It doesn't even get as far as to the point where it goes through all of the controllers. You know, where it shows the HDD's, CD-ROM, etc... I have checked the RAM to see if any is bad, but it seems good. There are no beeps whatsoever from the machine when this occurs. This is an Asus A7N8X-E Deluxe mobo with Award brand BIOS. I have not tried flashing the BIOS yet. I wanted to check for some suggestions from here. I wouldn't think it is the mobo going out. Don't think it is a HDD either because of where it stops, but could be wrong. Thoughts on this please? Is much appreciated! If BIOS is corrupted, you would get no output to the screen. So BIOS is working. Video must also be working otherwise you would see nothing. If memory wasn't working, you would see nothing. Go into BIOS setup and check for the presence of hard drives and CD/DVD drives. Does everything show up as it should? If your hard drive and CD/DVD drive are connected to the primary IDE cable, and the hard drive is not showing, but the CD/DVD drive is, your hard drive has terminated which would explain the recent crashes. If the hard drive and CD/DVD drive are connected to primary and secondary IDE respectively, and the hard drive is not showing, your hard drive has terminated which would explain the recent crashes. If nothing shows up in the IDE configuration, primary or secondary, suspect IDE controller failure which is terminal. A new motherboard will be required. Assuming that the CD/DVD drive shows up, connect a hard drive which is known to be functioning, and then check BIOS again for its presence. If it shows up, this will confirm that your own hard drive is done. -- Mike Hall - MVP Windows Experience http://msmvps.com/blogs/mikehall/ |
#9
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Win Xp Pro BIOS on AMD
"Mark G." wrote in message
... Have an AMD machine that is running Windows XP Pro. Anyhow, after a couple of months where the thing would reboot out of the blue on it's own and/or lock up frequently, the thing now has stopped and went for the worst. Now, when it starts, it doesn't get that far into posting before it just stops. It because just listing the BIOS brand and version and then another line and then nothing. It doesn't even get as far as to the point where it goes through all of the controllers. You know, where it shows the HDD's, CD-ROM, etc... I have checked the RAM to see if any is bad, but it seems good. There are no beeps whatsoever from the machine when this occurs. This is an Asus A7N8X-E Deluxe mobo with Award brand BIOS. I have not tried flashing the BIOS yet. I wanted to check for some suggestions from here. I wouldn't think it is the mobo going out. Don't think it is a HDD either because of where it stops, but could be wrong. Thoughts on this please? Is much appreciated! If BIOS is corrupted, you would get no output to the screen. So BIOS is working. Video must also be working otherwise you would see nothing. If memory wasn't working, you would see nothing. Go into BIOS setup and check for the presence of hard drives and CD/DVD drives. Does everything show up as it should? If your hard drive and CD/DVD drive are connected to the primary IDE cable, and the hard drive is not showing, but the CD/DVD drive is, your hard drive has terminated which would explain the recent crashes. If the hard drive and CD/DVD drive are connected to primary and secondary IDE respectively, and the hard drive is not showing, your hard drive has terminated which would explain the recent crashes. If nothing shows up in the IDE configuration, primary or secondary, suspect IDE controller failure which is terminal. A new motherboard will be required. Assuming that the CD/DVD drive shows up, connect a hard drive which is known to be functioning, and then check BIOS again for its presence. If it shows up, this will confirm that your own hard drive is done. -- Mike Hall - MVP Windows Experience http://msmvps.com/blogs/mikehall/ |
#10
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Win Xp Pro BIOS on AMD
While as far as the boot screen gets, it does say press "DEL" to enter BIOS
options, but when I do so, nothing happens at all. "Mike Hall - MVP" wrote in message ... "Mark G." wrote in message ... Have an AMD machine that is running Windows XP Pro. Anyhow, after a couple of months where the thing would reboot out of the blue on it's own and/or lock up frequently, the thing now has stopped and went for the worst. Now, when it starts, it doesn't get that far into posting before it just stops. It because just listing the BIOS brand and version and then another line and then nothing. It doesn't even get as far as to the point where it goes through all of the controllers. You know, where it shows the HDD's, CD-ROM, etc... I have checked the RAM to see if any is bad, but it seems good. There are no beeps whatsoever from the machine when this occurs. This is an Asus A7N8X-E Deluxe mobo with Award brand BIOS. I have not tried flashing the BIOS yet. I wanted to check for some suggestions from here. I wouldn't think it is the mobo going out. Don't think it is a HDD either because of where it stops, but could be wrong. Thoughts on this please? Is much appreciated! If BIOS is corrupted, you would get no output to the screen. So BIOS is working. Video must also be working otherwise you would see nothing. If memory wasn't working, you would see nothing. Go into BIOS setup and check for the presence of hard drives and CD/DVD drives. Does everything show up as it should? If your hard drive and CD/DVD drive are connected to the primary IDE cable, and the hard drive is not showing, but the CD/DVD drive is, your hard drive has terminated which would explain the recent crashes. If the hard drive and CD/DVD drive are connected to primary and secondary IDE respectively, and the hard drive is not showing, your hard drive has terminated which would explain the recent crashes. If nothing shows up in the IDE configuration, primary or secondary, suspect IDE controller failure which is terminal. A new motherboard will be required. Assuming that the CD/DVD drive shows up, connect a hard drive which is known to be functioning, and then check BIOS again for its presence. If it shows up, this will confirm that your own hard drive is done. -- Mike Hall - MVP Windows Experience http://msmvps.com/blogs/mikehall/ |
#11
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Win Xp Pro BIOS on AMD
While as far as the boot screen gets, it does say press "DEL" to enter BIOS
options, but when I do so, nothing happens at all. "Mike Hall - MVP" wrote in message ... "Mark G." wrote in message ... Have an AMD machine that is running Windows XP Pro. Anyhow, after a couple of months where the thing would reboot out of the blue on it's own and/or lock up frequently, the thing now has stopped and went for the worst. Now, when it starts, it doesn't get that far into posting before it just stops. It because just listing the BIOS brand and version and then another line and then nothing. It doesn't even get as far as to the point where it goes through all of the controllers. You know, where it shows the HDD's, CD-ROM, etc... I have checked the RAM to see if any is bad, but it seems good. There are no beeps whatsoever from the machine when this occurs. This is an Asus A7N8X-E Deluxe mobo with Award brand BIOS. I have not tried flashing the BIOS yet. I wanted to check for some suggestions from here. I wouldn't think it is the mobo going out. Don't think it is a HDD either because of where it stops, but could be wrong. Thoughts on this please? Is much appreciated! If BIOS is corrupted, you would get no output to the screen. So BIOS is working. Video must also be working otherwise you would see nothing. If memory wasn't working, you would see nothing. Go into BIOS setup and check for the presence of hard drives and CD/DVD drives. Does everything show up as it should? If your hard drive and CD/DVD drive are connected to the primary IDE cable, and the hard drive is not showing, but the CD/DVD drive is, your hard drive has terminated which would explain the recent crashes. If the hard drive and CD/DVD drive are connected to primary and secondary IDE respectively, and the hard drive is not showing, your hard drive has terminated which would explain the recent crashes. If nothing shows up in the IDE configuration, primary or secondary, suspect IDE controller failure which is terminal. A new motherboard will be required. Assuming that the CD/DVD drive shows up, connect a hard drive which is known to be functioning, and then check BIOS again for its presence. If it shows up, this will confirm that your own hard drive is done. -- Mike Hall - MVP Windows Experience http://msmvps.com/blogs/mikehall/ |
#12
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Win Xp Pro BIOS on AMD
"Mark G." wrote in message
... While as far as the boot screen gets, it does say press "DEL" to enter BIOS options, but when I do so, nothing happens at all. Try a different keyboard, preferably a PS/2 type.. -- Mike Hall - MVP Windows Experience http://msmvps.com/blogs/mikehall/ |
#13
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Win Xp Pro BIOS on AMD
"Mark G." wrote in message
... While as far as the boot screen gets, it does say press "DEL" to enter BIOS options, but when I do so, nothing happens at all. Try a different keyboard, preferably a PS/2 type.. -- Mike Hall - MVP Windows Experience http://msmvps.com/blogs/mikehall/ |
#14
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Win Xp Pro BIOS on AMD
"Mark G." wrote in message ... Have an AMD machine that is running Windows XP Pro. Anyhow, after a couple of months where the thing would reboot out of the blue on it's own and/or lock up frequently, the thing now has stopped and went for the worst. Now, when it starts, it doesn't get that far into posting before it just stops. It because just listing the BIOS brand and version and then another line and then nothing. It doesn't even get as far as to the point where it goes through all of the controllers. You know, where it shows the HDD's, CD-ROM, etc... I have checked the RAM to see if any is bad, but it seems good. There are no beeps whatsoever from the machine when this occurs. This is an Asus A7N8X-E Deluxe mobo with Award brand BIOS. I have not tried flashing the BIOS yet. I wanted to check for some suggestions from here. I wouldn't think it is the mobo going out. Don't think it is a HDD either because of where it stops, but could be wrong. Thoughts on this please? Is much appreciated! It might be the CPU overheating or it might have been damaged from overheating. You should check to see if the fan on the CPU heatsink is spinning. See if the fan or the heatsink is clogged with dust. I took a look at one person's computer and there was literally a carpet of dust on the heatsink to the point where air could not blow through the fins. Which was why they brought it to me to fix. It kept crashing and locking up. Take the memory out and reseat them. Disconnect all other unnecessary devices to narrow down the source of the problem. |
#15
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Win Xp Pro BIOS on AMD
"Mark G." wrote in message ... Have an AMD machine that is running Windows XP Pro. Anyhow, after a couple of months where the thing would reboot out of the blue on it's own and/or lock up frequently, the thing now has stopped and went for the worst. Now, when it starts, it doesn't get that far into posting before it just stops. It because just listing the BIOS brand and version and then another line and then nothing. It doesn't even get as far as to the point where it goes through all of the controllers. You know, where it shows the HDD's, CD-ROM, etc... I have checked the RAM to see if any is bad, but it seems good. There are no beeps whatsoever from the machine when this occurs. This is an Asus A7N8X-E Deluxe mobo with Award brand BIOS. I have not tried flashing the BIOS yet. I wanted to check for some suggestions from here. I wouldn't think it is the mobo going out. Don't think it is a HDD either because of where it stops, but could be wrong. Thoughts on this please? Is much appreciated! It might be the CPU overheating or it might have been damaged from overheating. You should check to see if the fan on the CPU heatsink is spinning. See if the fan or the heatsink is clogged with dust. I took a look at one person's computer and there was literally a carpet of dust on the heatsink to the point where air could not blow through the fins. Which was why they brought it to me to fix. It kept crashing and locking up. Take the memory out and reseat them. Disconnect all other unnecessary devices to narrow down the source of the problem. |
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