Computer Hope
Microsoft => Microsoft Windows => Windows Vista and 7 => Topic started by: nate22 on December 11, 2009, 08:43:20 PM
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My self built computer has not been in working condition for just about a month now. It was been collecting dust in the basement because i got frustrated and decided i needed to just chill for awhile. I ready to get down to the bottom of this computers extensive issues now. I have no idea What is wrong with it, and the computers stats are in my profile. I need help.
OK i have installed Windows Vista more than double digit times. It works for awhile then the files seem to just become corrupt and slowly the fancy bars and clocks start to fail. After the failure of those the entire OS fails. I then start the reinstall. I know that it may be vista, yet its most likely my hardwares fault. I have the Windows 7 upgrade disc. I upgrade to Windows 7 and it fails in the same manor as vista. They are both 64-bit Os's. As of now the computer has vista installed but wont boot.
Any ideas? Any things i may need to do to troubleshoot?
If no one can help i am going to take it to a local PC repair shop that i get some of my computer parts from.
Thank you everyone for your efforts and time
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Have you cleaned out the insides of the computer? You can find more information on that here. (http://www.computerhope.com/cleaning.htm)
Do you remember installing any software or hardware before this happened?
Do you use a virus scanner and scan regularly? And if so, what is the name of the software?
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I installed GTA IV and use AVG but i format the disk every time i reinstall.
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Memory issues:
MemTest.
HDD issues:
DLoad and run the FREE diagnostics from the drive manuf. site.
Power issues:
Borrow a known good PSU and swap it in there.
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You know the PSU fan has been rotating slowly. So slow i can about watch the blade spin around. Luckily it has a 5 year warrenty. I have no power supply that i can barrow thats powerfull enough to power my machine. I will mem and HDD test. Thanks i will reply with results when i get them.
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My hard drive passed all the tests that i put it through using the seatools from seagate. I'm having trouble find a memory tester. I found memtest86 but i don't have any cd-roms to make the bootable CD. Any recommendations?
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Yes.
Get a CDRom disk...they're about 30 cents apiece...
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All i have around is CD-R. Ill go to the store tommarow and pick up a case of CD Roms. Is that what will be on the case? CD-ROM?
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No. CD-Rs are fine.
Basically, you need a blank CD.
CD-ROMs are NOT blanks CDs. CD-ROMs are CDs that already have stuff written on them and sold on shelves. Examples of this are PlayStation games, early PlayStation 2 games, and music CDs bought from your local Best Buy or wherever.
The two types of blanks CDs are CD-R and CD-RW.
CD-R: You can write data to them one time (except with multisession, but I'm not going to get into that). You screw up, you wasted a CD. It's now known as a "coaster."
CD-RW: You can write data to them multiple times (1000 is usually the advertised number, but crapper CD-RWs crap out after far fewer re-writes).
So, all in all, you have CD-Rs. Use it to burn your Memtest86 .iso to. If you need a program, ImgBurn is free.
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Alright i got a CD made and booted it up on my machine and ended up with a 42% pass. I have no idea what that means. I used memtest86 and all i did was boot it and didnt choose any options i just let it run its course. Im running it agian. After the second run is done i will run the windows RAM test.
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When you ran Memtest 86, did you see any red on the screen? If so, you have bad RAM.
When it got to 42%, did you start seeing red on the screen? If so, you have bad RAM.
Did Memtest go through multiple passes without any red on the screen? If so, then RAM is most likely not the problem.
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I left Memtest run for 1 hour and 44 min. and no red on the screen. I know for sure it made it through one entire cycle. Does that mean my PSU is bad? If so i have a 5 yr warrenty from corsair.
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There's no way to tell which is why i suggested borrowing one to see...
It should be of the same or greater wattage.
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I don't have access to larger power supply.
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Well, if the fan is spinning slow enough for you to actually watch the spin, there's probably something wrong with it. It should be spinning anywhere between 15-30 times a second. There might be dust jamming the fan, a power issue, a motor issue, or something deeper. There's nothing user serviceable inside the power supply and in no case should you try to open and clean it, as it retains a charge strong enough to cause severe injury or even kill. Considering the PSU is under warranty, the best thing to do would have it replaced under that warranty, citing the fan as a sign that things are going south with the PSU. At least after getting it replace, you can determine if it's the PSU that was causing the issues.
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My self built computer has not been in working condition for just about a month now. It was been collecting dust in the basement because i got frustrated and decided i needed to just chill for awhile. I ready to get down to the bottom of this computers extensive issues now. I have no idea What is wrong with it, and the computers stats are in my profile. I need help.
OK i have installed Windows Vista more than double digit times. It works for awhile then the files seem to just become corrupt and slowly the fancy bars and clocks start to fail. After the failure of those the entire OS fails. I then start the reinstall. I know that it may be vista, yet its most likely my hardwares fault. I have the Windows 7 upgrade disc. I upgrade to Windows 7 and it fails in the same manor as vista. They are both 64-bit Os's. As of now the computer has vista installed but wont boot.
Any ideas? Any things i may need to do to troubleshoot?
If no one can help i am going to take it to a local PC repair shop that i get some of my computer parts from.
Thank you everyone for your efforts and time
Sorry for the quote, just needed to see the entire problem.
1st when you say fancy bars and clock start to fail, are you talking about digital readers that show the temp/status of your motherboard?
if yes, then I would first unplug any un necessary hardware from the motherboard first and leave it bare, Hard drive + video card power and see if the computer runs any better. If it does run better, then the PSU is bad or not adequate because its not supplying enough power throughout the computer.
if not digital readers, try changing the CMOS battery. I actually had a deskpro that gave me a headache because the battery was bad and it wasn't retaining its settings. It still had some juice in it, but it was 50/50. The computer would turn on and work or not and beep at me.
I seen a quad core computer at BestBuy yesterday and that tower was huge! It was bigger then a HP deskpro and my old 1999 Desktops... I guess it must really generate a lot of heat or the motherboard must be big
Also remove any extra Peripherals PCI devices off the board. You want to test it with as little power drain as possible to see if it is a power issue. You can open a side of your case to test heating issue.
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No the sidebar thing on the right side of Vista. Im going to send my Corsiar PSU back to Corsair while im gone on vaykay for awhile (Florida). It does seem to get kinda hot, and i bought an inside/outside thermometer for my grandparents (The weather channel took to long). They weren't using it anyways so i put the thermometer probe into my computer on top of my CPU and it averaged around 103-108 Degrees Farenhight. Im looking into a CPU cooler once i get theses problems solved.
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I sent my PSU off to corsair which was amazingly simple and very smooth process. I figured id take out the motherboard and check the jumper pin settings on the motherboard. With it out and everything i decided why not take off the heat sink. As i took off the heat sink i noticed i applied to much heat paste and it oozed over the edge of my CPU. I removed the CPU and noticed that some thermal paste has gotten onto about 6 pins of the CPU. Could this cause any of the problems iv had occur to me lately. If so is there any way to SAFELY clean the pins?
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Good question. I've never managed to get paste on the pins before, but it's entirely possible. However, it shouldn't have affected the power supply fan.
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When i sent in my RMA to corsair they sent me an email kind of thing stating that the fan was built to spin slowly until it reached 40 to 50% stress. Although when i was playing games it was spinning any faster and wasn't pumping any air out the back of the PSU which was a large concern to me.
Anyone have any ideas on what to do about the thermal paste mess i made?
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Anyone have any ideas on what to do about the thermal paste mess i made?
Isopropyl alcohol (toxic - do NOT ingest it!!!) and some cotton buds and lint free cloth and a great deal of care
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What percent of rubbing alcohol? would 97% suffice?
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That'll work fine...
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Im sorry. I made a mistake. I have 70% Isopropyl Rubbing Alcohol. That'l work right?
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Im sorry. I made a mistake. I have 70% Isopropyl Rubbing Alcohol. That'l work right?
hmm... do you know what the other 30% is?
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Im sorry. I made a mistake. I have 70% Isopropyl Rubbing Alcohol. That'l work right?
90% or higher in generally recommended.
hmm... do you know what the other 30% is?
I believe it's usually just water.
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I believe it's usually just water.
That's what I was thinking, too.
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I'm taking the 70% as a big negative?
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No...
It should also work fine.....
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Oh okay! :D
Thanks for the help. I cleaned off the CPU prongs and sent off my PSU to Corsair. Now its simply a waiting game as to when i will get it back. Geuss ill just have to kick back and enjoy the Floridan/Mexican weather here in 5 days. Haha.
I appreciate your input everyone.
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I got my PSU yesterday. I hooked everything up and booted. Vista went about good the first boot but i booted again it had some drivers failing. I beleive it was a network driver. I used my upgrade disc and upgraded to Windows 7 and have only restarted the machine twice and that was to install the updates. So far everything has worked fine. Anything i should do?
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I turned my computer off last night before heading to bed. I went to school and came back after a basket ball game. I came up to my room pressed the power button went through the normal for me. The a black screen pops up saying no operating system found.... I took a video of everything around it and the messege i receive. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1SOSALU6M30
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FALSE ALARM
For some reason my boot priority was set differently and when i tried to set the boot priority my hard drive wasn't showing up.
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I found the solution and my pc is now in proper working condition. I thank all who have helped me with my issues. My problem was a bad stick of ram. I used the tools in the boot menu of Kubuntu to test my hard drive and memory. I let the memory test run over night i woke up to 173,489 errors. I went threw the proccess of elimination and found the bad stick of memory. Thanks very much guys.
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Get your money back for that memory...and glad to hear you are sorted ! !
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Can i get my money back even if i bought it about 6 months ago?
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Probably can't get your money back but it most likely has a lifetime warranty. You will probably have to go through the manufacture for a replacement and not where you bought it.