Help, desktop troubleshooting

[RJM]

I built this computer about 5.5 years ago (specs in sig. except video card is now ATI5670HD) Windows home 32 2Gb.

Last night while browsing the web the computer just froze and I hit the reset button, It booted and right after the desktop was displayed I got a blue screen with stop 0x0000008e, the next time I booted i got the same results except the stop code was 0x000008c. It then would not boot at all (display said no signal). I turned it off and waited 5 minutes, cleaned it's filter and removed the side panel. I then rebooted and it started, but before the blue screen I hit "start, logoff" and did not get the blue screen but an error message briefly flashed on the screen that some avast file was corrupt.

Now I thought I new what had happened, I had gotten a corrupt anti virus update, simple enough, restart in safe mode and uninstall avast.

I now restart in safe mode, safe mode is taking a long time to start. After 20 minutes the computer puts out one long beep that does not stop, after about 30 second I hit reset, the hard drive flashes once, no beeps, no video, dead, repeated tries it does not get better.

I disconnected the floppy and DVD, removed the modem, tried one memory stick at a time, and had the same problem. With the two memory sticks removed the computer beeps on start-up, but with the video card removed it would not beep.

I had a spare brand new motherboard and I installed it, and every thing is the same except I get no beeps when there is no memory installed.

I have a spare power supply that I was going to try tonight.

I measured The PS voltages at 12.09 and 4.96V. Disconnected the SATA cables from the drives with both motherboards

and still no video or beeps.

Thanks for reading my long post, and for any suggestions for getting my system back working as replacement at this time is not an option, I was layed off 3yrs ago.

Edited April 19, 2012 by RJM

[puntoMX]

System specs: E6600 3.4 GHZ, ASUS P5W DH Deluxe, 2GB Gskill F2-6400-CL4D, HD5670, 2X 250GB Seagate Barracuda 7200.10, WD 6400AAKS, Xclio Greatpower 550wATX, Sycthe Infinity, Samsung 18X DVD R/W, Lian Li PC-61 USB

If you did all like you said you did, than there is only the CPU left. Did you clean the CPU on both sides and applied new paste in between CPU and cooler? You did test the motherboard, CPU, RAM and video card out of the case (only those components), if not, try that, easier to test as well.

[RJM]

Thanks for the reply. Yes, cleaned CPU and cooler and added new AS5. Did not test outside of case I will try that later tonight with the original motherboard and other power supply.

Also CD ejects when the eject button is pushed, no lights on keyboard, light under mouse is on.

I'm still wondering why I did not get any beep codes with the first motherboard with the video card removed but I did with the RAM removed, And no beeps at all with the new motherboard?

Edited April 20, 2012 by RJM

[RJM]

Now i am confused, I put the original motherboard back in (the one that beeped when I removed the memory), no post. I removed one memory stick and it booted! I went in and reset all the BIOS values, rebooted and it still worked. Rebooted and let it go through disk check ( still have some FAT32), no problem.

I then foolishly tried to recreate the problem, I put the memory stick back in and of course no boot, no beeps. I then took the memory stick back out and rebooted,

no boot, no beeps, back to square one.

I guess the next thing to do is swap the power supply.

Swapped power supply, no change.

Well CPU's don't get better, RAM doesn't get better so I think that I have a good CPU and at least 1 good stick of RAM. My brand new motherboard that I bought 5 years ago but never tested I think is bad because it will not give beep codes with the RAM removed. And I believe that the original motherboard is dying, dead, or just intermittent.

Off to look for socket 775 motherboards DDR2-800 with a IDE cd drive that can be overclocked well.

Any other suggestions?

Edited April 20, 2012 by RJM

[RJM]

Would be worth while to swap the BIOS chips between the two motherboards?

[puntoMX]

Thanks for the reply. Yes, cleaned CPU and cooler and added new AS5.

Make sure you cleaned the contact side as well, i would check the pins in the socket as well.

Would be worth while to swap the BIOS chips between the two motherboards?

I don't think you will gain much from it.

---

Other motherboard; why not sell the CPU and RAM and get a new motherboard, RAM (DDR3) and CPU? Most motherboards you´ll find in stores have ICH7 southbridges, yours had a ICH7R (not much better) but it doesn't support ACHI nor does it well with SSDs. You can get a nice set for about 150USD, CPU, RAM and mobo, will run twice as fast than what you have now so you won't need to OC.

You are still on XP (Windows home?) and want to go later on for windows 7 or 8? Or is that Windows 7 home (can't be when you are on FAT32?)?

[RJM]

Yes it's XP home. I was over at Tom's Hardware and they have a troubleshooting guide, and part of it states

"If it looks like the PSU is good, install a memory stick. Boot. Beep pattern should change to one long and several short beeps indicating a missing graphics card. If you get this with motherboard graphics, your motherboard is bad.

Silence, long single beeps, or series of short beeps indicate a problem with the memory. If you get short beeps verify that the memory is in the appropriate motherboard slots. "

I get no beeps with the memory installed. Maybe 2 bad memory sticks?

I might order a new stick from Newegg ( same rating as what I currently have).

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231088

Not much available for motherboards that would work, this is all I could find with an ATX form factor, all the others are mini or micro ATX or open box.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813138157

I could upgrade to an i5- 2500k for about $330.00 but it's really more then I want to spend.

CPU

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115072

Motherboard

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813130616

RAM

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231394

Yes, I know with a 32 bit OS I wont see all 4GB.

I'm on my backup PC a P-III 600Mhz with 256M of rdram (2 128M sticks) which I could double to 512M for $91.0----No.

It's killing me. XP-home 32

Edited April 21, 2012 by RJM

[puntoMX]

I could upgrade to an i5- 2500k for about $330.00 but it's really more then I want to spend.

CPU

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115072

Motherboard

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813130616

RAM

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231394

Yes, I know with a 32 bit OS I wont see all 4GB.

If you are happy with tour E6600 than would a G530, at the same clock speed, do for your tasks, you can upgrade later on to a 22nm CPU (still to be released). You might think that a Celeron would not have enough processing power but I can tell you that customers who bought it are not complaining at all, they are actually pretty surprised of the smoothness of their systems. The CPU can be as low as 46USD shipped, the cooler is small but more than enough as these CPUs use almost no energy. By the way, you might guess what CPU I have in my system at the moment .

I would pair it with a motherboard that can overclock the K series from Intel, and can use the video card with the integrated Intel graphics together. Boards that have the Z77 with Lucid Universal MVP. Lucid Universal MVP features Hyperformance, which eliminates redundant rendering tasks and predicts potential synchronization issues in the graphics delivery pipeline, producing faster frame rates, sharper visuals and reduced tearing. Lucid had Virtu before on the Z68 chipset but it was not working as it should be, thus they did it better on the Z77 and gave it the "Hyperformance" etiquette. A board will set you back 145USD but it's worth it (Gigabyte GA-Z77X-D3H for example).

Any DDR3 RAM will do indeed, you can upgrade later, 23USD for 4GB .

So, total of 220USD on newegg, and seaching the net even under 200USD, you will have an upgrade that will give your PC life for years to come. The E6600 can be sold for 30USD on eBay, and even the non-working, as-is, boards are going for 20USD each there, even with bad luck you can still recover 50USD to 70USD there.

If you want just a cheap solution, I would get a Gigabyte GA-G41MT-S2PT with 4GB DDR3, total of 77USD.

* Note, all prices are plus shipping and tax.

* Open box Z68 motherboards can be gotten dirt cheap at ebay, for 75USD you have a motherboard that would go for 150USD normal price.

By the way, what is wrong with micro ATX? Has the same features just less PCI slots.

[RJM]

Would a mini or micro ATX fit in my Lian Li PC-61 USB case?

Never mind, i looked it up -yes.

That ups my options

Now the question LGA775 or LGA1155 mother board.

I ordered a 1GB stick of DDR2 because I don't get any beeps with the memory in and the video card out,

but do get beeps without memory.

Edited April 22, 2012 by RJM

[puntoMX]

I ordered a 1GB stick of DDR2 because I don't get any beeps with the memory in and the video card out,

but do get beeps without memory.

What are the odds that both sticks are bad... but then, also both motherboards are doing different things. I understand if you like to save the most hardware testing it with some new hardware.

[RJM]

Never mind, my 1 GB memory stick came today and I’m back up. Ordered another 1 GB stick, and with my 1Gb video card and 2 Gb memory I’m about full up on a 32 bit OS. I will RMA the original 2 sticks of Gskill memory as they have a lifetime warrantee. Then I’ll have 4 GB but I won’t be able to see all of it

.

Thanks for the suggestions.

How about that, my front USB ports started working again!

Edited April 27, 2012 by RJM

[RJM]

I'm more confused now then ever. I just received my second stick of RAM, same as last week, installed it, no boot, no post. I removed the RAM stick that I received last week and installed the new stick in the first orange socket where the stick that I received last week was, and it booted! Both sticks good.

I then put the first stick in the second orange slot and rebooted, no boot, no post. I then reset my bios to manually set my SPD. No difference.

I then Reset my overclocking to zero, stock specs. with both memory sticks installed, To my surprise, the system booted.

I then walked the bios upping my FSB from 280Mhz to 380Mhz, and it still boots and is stable ( Prime 95 1 hour ),

I am now running at 3423Mhz vs 3411mHZ before with no problems.

Not bad for a 6 year old 2400Mhz processor.

Edited May 2, 2012 by RJM

[puntoMX]

I am now running at 3423Mhz vs 3411mHZ before with no problems.

Not bad for a 6 year old 2400Mhz processor.

I have a Celeron D 3.2GHz running at 4.7GHz+. B)

But yes, there is no life without overclocking and tweaking (and not only computers)! To bad my Celeron G530 (Win7 WEI 6.3/6.4) can't be OCed but will get a 22nm LGA1155 "K" series one of these days to hit 4.5 to 5GHz.

[RJM]

Now 6 months later, it ate another memory stick. I took out the bad stick of ram. ran it for 2 days, had a GPU blue screen, rebooted and checked my core temperatures ! 79C.I Immediately shut it down. One of my heatsink push pins broke. I repaired that problem, but now no post. Set motherboard out of case with just CPU - no post.

I thought that I fried my CPU. I then tried the other motherboard that never worked and had the same result, no beeps. I then made a paperclip tool to remove the BIOS chip and swapped them between boards.I booted up with just the CPU and RAM installed. One long and three short beeps (no video card installed and there was no video card), I guess I fixed the brand new motherboard that had a bad BIOS chip.

I'm only posting this puntoMX because you said "I don't think you would gain much by that" when I asked you about changing Bios chips. I broke another heatsink push-pin reinstalling and am currently waiting for the replacements, but it looks like I'm back up and running again with a never used motherboard.

Edited October 1, 2012 by RJM