Motherboard gone bad?

mlum · 12-28-2007, 11:41 AM

How do I check if my motherboard is bad? I had problems with winxp, it would keep rebooting every time it comes to the winxp logo screen. It wouldn't go to the safe mode when I tried, going back to the last time it started didn't work, trying the recovery console didn't work, it just keeps rebooting. I had a friend look at it and he checked the memory, power supply, hard drive and he thinks it's the motherboard but he's not 100% sure. How do I know for sure?

anthanog · 12-28-2007, 06:23 PM

his happened soe time ago to me. I replaced the bios battery which solved the problem

**Doby** · 12-28-2007, 06:32 PM

Can you enter bios and post your temps and voltages?

Post your full system specs including the psu

mlum · 12-28-2007, 08:24 PM

The bios does not have any temps or voltages to display.

HP Pavilion a305w desktop
Intel Celeron 2.7 Ghz
400Mhz front side bus
845GL chipset
1 GB memory
40GB HD
Integrated Intel extreme graphics

mlum · 12-30-2007, 01:16 PM

When I start my computer, it has 1 short beep which I think is normal, it goes to the post screen then the windows xp screen. Here it either freezes or just reboots or sometimes it goes to the blue screen and says that the computer has shut down because of hardware problems or something to that fact.

**Doby** · 12-30-2007, 01:34 PM

Quote:

The bios does not have any temps or voltages to display.

Yep some HP models don't.

Sorry I did not get back to you somehow I missed your post #4

I assume you cleaned the dust from the computer if present.

Lets do some testing to see when the computer freezes.

does it freeze at all when in bios?

If the answer is no then, on another computer go to the hardrive manufactuers website and download there diagnostic tools. With these tools you create a bootable floppy or cd. Boot your computer from this media and run the long test.

Report back if the computer was able to complete the test without freezing and what the test report was

mlum · 12-30-2007, 05:21 PM

I already had cleaned out the inside of the computer and it does not freeze when it's in the bios.

I ran the HD diagnostic tool like you ask me to do and it didn't freeze and it didn't have any errors.

**Doby** · 12-30-2007, 05:46 PM

I would try a reinstall of windows, is this possible? do you have everthing backed up?

mlum · 12-30-2007, 06:25 PM

A friend of mine tried to reinstall windows already. I seems that it would freeze or reboot as windows is trying to load.

cybrspeedjunkie · 12-31-2007, 07:35 AM

Did your friend test the PSU voltages with a multimeter and reference them with the correct voltages?

mlum · 12-31-2007, 10:32 AM

He told me that the power supply is fine.

mlum · 12-31-2007, 10:37 AM

Should I try to install windows again? I don't have the disc and my friend will be out of town for awhile. I don't know how he did it. I only have the recovery disc that I made from the OS when it was running. I tried to run it but it it would either freeze trying to start or just restart.

**speedster123** · 12-31-2007, 10:40 AM

use 1 ram stick only
make sure the ribbon cable is 80 wire and relatively new.
check the capacitors on the mainboard for any bulged or leaking units.
is the supply a 250 watt bestec? if so, try and borrow a better unit.

**Doby** · 12-31-2007, 04:52 PM

You have got alot of good advice,,,,,,,,,

Like cybrspeedjunkie it would be a good idea to test the psu with a multimeter and post the voltages of the +3., +5 and +12volt for us to evaluate. These are the same voltages we talked about before but your bios does not list them.

speedster123 also has some good ideas try them

Quote:

I only have the recovery disc that I made from the OS when it was running. I tried to run it but it it would either freeze trying to start or just restart.

This tells me there is something wrong other than the operating system and we test the hdd so the voltages are a good place to start but you could also get memtest86 and test the ram. Test each stick individually

http://www.memtest.org/

If you do these tests they could give us a idea to help narrow this down

mlum · 12-31-2007, 05:28 PM

I tried using only 1 stick of ram, trying each one separately, that didn't work. I check the ribbon cable and it looks fairly good. There's no leaks or bulges in the capacitors that I can see. I don't have a multimeter to test the voltage on the PSU so I would have to see if I can get a hold of a PSU and swap it out.

How would I go about testing the ram if it won't bootup?

**Doby** · 12-31-2007, 05:39 PM

memtest is like the hardrive tests, it boots from a floppy or cd depending on the version.

If you ran the hdd test you will be able to run memtest

mlum · 12-31-2007, 06:36 PM

Which one do I download? I tried 3 different ones and each time when I tried to boot from the floppy, it tells me to remove disc and hit any key.

**Doby** · 12-31-2007, 06:41 PM

Go here

http://www.memtest.org/#downiso

"Download - Pre-Compiled package for Floppy (DOS - Win)"
Thats the one you want to download

**Doby** · 12-31-2007, 06:42 PM

If it still don't work try another floppy and make sure you format it but don't use quick format

12-28-2007, 11:41 AM	#1 (permalink)
mlum Registered User Join Date: Sep 2007 Posts: 194 OS: xp	Motherboard gone bad? How do I check if my motherboard is bad? I had problems with winxp, it would keep rebooting every time it comes to the winxp logo screen. It wouldn't go to the safe mode when I tried, going back to the last time it started didn't work, trying the recovery console didn't work, it just keeps rebooting. I had a friend look at it and he checked the memory, power supply, hard drive and he thinks it's the motherboard but he's not 100% sure. How do I know for sure?

12-28-2007, 06:23 PM	#2 (permalink)
anthanog Registered User Join Date: Dec 2007 Posts: 4 OS: xp service pack 2	Re: Motherboard gone bad? his happened soe time ago to me. I replaced the bios battery which solved the problem

12-28-2007, 06:32 PM	#3 (permalink)
Doby Moderator Hardware Team Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Central PA (USA) Posts: 7,254 OS: XP sp2/ Vista My System	Re: Motherboard gone bad? Can you enter bios and post your temps and voltages? Post your full system specs including the psu __________________ Would you like to help TSF fight cancer and other diseases??? JOIN TEAM TSF

12-28-2007, 08:24 PM	#4 (permalink)
mlum Registered User Join Date: Sep 2007 Posts: 194 OS: xp	Re: Motherboard gone bad? The bios does not have any temps or voltages to display. HP Pavilion a305w desktop Intel Celeron 2.7 Ghz 400Mhz front side bus 845GL chipset 1 GB memory 40GB HD Integrated Intel extreme graphics

12-30-2007, 01:16 PM	#5 (permalink)
mlum Registered User Join Date: Sep 2007 Posts: 194 OS: xp	Re: Motherboard gone bad? When I start my computer, it has 1 short beep which I think is normal, it goes to the post screen then the windows xp screen. Here it either freezes or just reboots or sometimes it goes to the blue screen and says that the computer has shut down because of hardware problems or something to that fact.

12-30-2007, 05:21 PM	#7 (permalink)
mlum Registered User Join Date: Sep 2007 Posts: 194 OS: xp	Re: Motherboard gone bad? I already had cleaned out the inside of the computer and it does not freeze when it's in the bios. I ran the HD diagnostic tool like you ask me to do and it didn't freeze and it didn't have any errors.

12-30-2007, 05:46 PM	#8 (permalink)
Doby Moderator Hardware Team Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Central PA (USA) Posts: 7,254 OS: XP sp2/ Vista My System	Re: Motherboard gone bad? I would try a reinstall of windows, is this possible? do you have everthing backed up? __________________ Would you like to help TSF fight cancer and other diseases??? JOIN TEAM TSF

12-30-2007, 06:25 PM	#9 (permalink)
mlum Registered User Join Date: Sep 2007 Posts: 194 OS: xp	Re: Motherboard gone bad? A friend of mine tried to reinstall windows already. I seems that it would freeze or reboot as windows is trying to load.

12-31-2007, 07:35 AM	#10 (permalink)
cybrspeedjunkie Registered User Join Date: Dec 2007 Location: Australia Posts: 11 OS: Windows XP Pro + SP2	Re: Motherboard gone bad? Did your friend test the PSU voltages with a multimeter and reference them with the correct voltages?

12-31-2007, 10:32 AM	#11 (permalink)
mlum Registered User Join Date: Sep 2007 Posts: 194 OS: xp	Re: Motherboard gone bad? He told me that the power supply is fine.

12-31-2007, 10:37 AM	#12 (permalink)
mlum Registered User Join Date: Sep 2007 Posts: 194 OS: xp	Re: Motherboard gone bad? Should I try to install windows again? I don't have the disc and my friend will be out of town for awhile. I don't know how he did it. I only have the recovery disc that I made from the OS when it was running. I tried to run it but it it would either freeze trying to start or just restart.

12-31-2007, 10:40 AM	#13 (permalink)
speedster123 Mentor Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: United States-New York Posts: 4,039 OS: xp pro My System	Re: Motherboard gone bad? use 1 ram stick only make sure the ribbon cable is 80 wire and relatively new. check the capacitors on the mainboard for any bulged or leaking units. is the supply a 250 watt bestec? if so, try and borrow a better unit. __________________

12-31-2007, 05:28 PM	#15 (permalink)
mlum Registered User Join Date: Sep 2007 Posts: 194 OS: xp	Re: Motherboard gone bad? I tried using only 1 stick of ram, trying each one separately, that didn't work. I check the ribbon cable and it looks fairly good. There's no leaks or bulges in the capacitors that I can see. I don't have a multimeter to test the voltage on the PSU so I would have to see if I can get a hold of a PSU and swap it out. How would I go about testing the ram if it won't bootup?

12-31-2007, 05:39 PM	#16 (permalink)
Doby Moderator Hardware Team Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Central PA (USA) Posts: 7,254 OS: XP sp2/ Vista My System	Re: Motherboard gone bad? memtest is like the hardrive tests, it boots from a floppy or cd depending on the version. If you ran the hdd test you will be able to run memtest __________________ Would you like to help TSF fight cancer and other diseases??? JOIN TEAM TSF

12-31-2007, 06:36 PM	#17 (permalink)
mlum Registered User Join Date: Sep 2007 Posts: 194 OS: xp	Re: Motherboard gone bad? Which one do I download? I tried 3 different ones and each time when I tried to boot from the floppy, it tells me to remove disc and hit any key.

12-31-2007, 06:41 PM	#18 (permalink)
Doby Moderator Hardware Team Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Central PA (USA) Posts: 7,254 OS: XP sp2/ Vista My System	Re: Motherboard gone bad? Go here http://www.memtest.org/#downiso "Download - Pre-Compiled package for Floppy (DOS - Win)" Thats the one you want to download __________________ Would you like to help TSF fight cancer and other diseases??? JOIN TEAM TSF

12-31-2007, 06:42 PM	#19 (permalink)
Doby Moderator Hardware Team Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Central PA (USA) Posts: 7,254 OS: XP sp2/ Vista My System	Re: Motherboard gone bad? If it still don't work try another floppy and make sure you format it but don't use quick format __________________ Would you like to help TSF fight cancer and other diseases??? JOIN TEAM TSF