pcblues

Hi,

I have an E Machines T2385 purchased 4 years ago. When I turn the PC on, one of 2 things happens.
A) Nothing. Monitor flashes a No Signal message. The Hard Disk Drive access indicator light on PC is lit up. The Power indicator button is not

B) starts to boot up, get the pretty little e machines logo then screen message comes on about a problem, but shuts down within about 30 seconds. I’d be here all night if I tried to type out entire message but it starts with “we apologize for the inconvenience but windows did not start successfully. A recent hardware or software change might have caused this... It goes on about if there was a powder disruption... and am given choices to start in various modes such as Safe Mode, last configuration.. There are 4 I believe, I have tried all, but basically it shuts down
In all incidents the Hard Disk drive access indicator light remains on but the Power indicator n button is off.

Recent changes are SP2 update about 2 months ago, no problems I recognized. Switched to McAfee Antivirus (free through Comcast) Other than that no real changes. About a week ago I ran my Adaware, Spybot, tools, Panda Virus BitDefender scan and came up clean.

Any ideas what I am dealing with? Bring it in to say Best Buy for a repair or chuck it and buy a new PC?

Thanks for any suggestions, advice on how to proceed

Denise

Bartender

The first thing that occurs to me is replace the coin battery on the motherboard. Here's a nice guide

http://www.liverepair.com/encycloped...mosreplace.asp

They recommend writing down all your BIOS settings, and that's a good idea. What I've done in the past is replace the battery as quickly as possible - ten, twelve seconds if I can - and haven't lost the BIOS settings.

Your problem could be any number of things, but those watch batteries only last five to seven years so the age of your PC rang a bell for me. It's a cheap thing to try before going to BestBuy...

pcblues

Thanks bartender. Seems simple enough, but I have 2 problems.

The instructions refer to another link to learn more about bios, but there is no link. So, I am not certain what BIOS is or where to look for the information when I get into Safe Mode.
And that is if I can get to safe mode. I’ve made 3 attempts to get to safe mode, but again the PC shuts down.

Any other recommendations?

Bartender

Well, first thing is I wouldn't want to place wagers on your prob being the battery but it's as good a place as any to start with a 4 year or older PC that won't stay running. Did you notice it losing track of the date before this problem really kicked in? That's one of the warning signs that the battery's dying.

When you say "there is no link", you mean the link I plugged in doesn't work? If you google "replace motherboard battery" you'll find oodles of references. Of course, you're going to have to borrow some time in front of someone else's working PC for that.

OK, we need to clear something up. Safe Mode is an alternative within Windows. If you catch Windows while it's starting up by tapping the "F8" key, Windows will stop and go to the - um - let's call it the Safe Mode menu. I don't know its real name. You then choose whether you want "VGA Mode" or "Safe Mode" or the other choices. It's still Windows.

When we talk about getting into BIOS, that's a whole different thing. BIOS is a set of instructions that the PC refers to BEFORE it starts up the Windows operating system. BIOS instructions are stored on a memory chip on the motherboard and have nothing to do with Windows or Linux or whathaveyou.

If you want to try the battery replacement, you'll have to get to an operating PC and google that a bit. The other thing you'll have to do is open the left side of your case and find the battery. It should be right out in the open. Get the number off of it, buy a new one, then unplug the PC, lay it on its side, and swap that battery out. As fast as you can without panicking. Just be smooth and steady. Sometimes you'll need a small screwdriver or toothpick or something similar to pry back the little retaining clip. Sometimes a fingernail will do. I'd lay a couple of rags around the working area, like surgeons do when they're operating. I've heard horror stories of people dropping the battery onto the motherboard and shorting things out. I don't know how that would happen exactly; maybe they didn't unplug the PC.

Here's something else to think about. If there were a list of the "Ten Most Common PC Problems", I'd bet the power supply would be about #2. Your problems sound like they could be related to the power supply. There's no way I can cover the issue in this post. TechSupport has a sticky on power supplies at the beginning of the "Other" forum that you might want to read. Please forgive me for judging, but it doesn't sound like you would be comfortable trying to change out a power supply (PSU). Since PSU's just supply the DC voltage needed to run the PC, they are fairly interchangeable if you can find one of roughly the same vintage as yours. Is there anyone you know who'd be willing to sit down with their PC and yours and do a quick PSU swap? That would answer a lot of questions.

It's too bad, really, because the PSU is so important, but when consumers shop for PC's they never ask about the power supply. They want a fast CPU, big hard drive, and lots of memory. Maybe they'll ask about wireless if it's a laptop they're buying. Anything beyond that and their eyes glaze over. The manufacturers know this and spend their money accordingly. PSU's are spec'ced out just good enuf to get by and no more.

The more I think about it, it might be better to concentrate on diagnosing the PSU before you do anything else.

linderman

Well done Bartender! and I second his observations



you could go to staples or Best Buy and try an Antec or Enermax power supply of about 450 watts >>> 500 would not hurt

the Antec SP 500 is about $70.00 if thats not your problem then return it !

I will give you a warning >>>> stay clear of the generics

the best high quality units are

Silverstone, Seasonic, Fortron (FSP), Enermax, Zippy, Sparkle, OCZ, Antec

most any other will be sliding downhill and some will be sliding fast >>> Just outta boredom I recently tried one of the Dynex 500 watt PSU's from the chain stores >>>> they auto shutdown very easily

Doby

Just another note,,,, I have heard of alot of emachinces in that time frame having problems with there psu's, although emachines ain't popular in my area so I don't get many in the shop I have seen problems with them on forums and most of these point to the psu and that model number rings a bell

pcblues

No bartender, your link works, it is in the article that says to click link to the procedure for getting to BIOS.
I did find how to get to the BIOS, but the pc is shutting down so quickly now the emahines logo isn’t even coming up.

I didn’t notice any dates changing, however I did notice this past week several times, that after walking away from PC & then returning, the monitor had the “no signal’ on it. I thought my monitor was going and didn’t realize until the other day when it starting shutting down right after turning on.

You are right, the battery I think I can handle, but the power supply, that is a little scary for me. I get nervous changing a light bulb.

Thanks for recommendations on psu’s. If this is the cause I can at least pick a quality one. I’ll bring it into best buy, circuit city or geek squad.

Thanks for help, I’ll post back with the problem. Denise

Bartender

pcblues -
Hah! My strategy worked again. I keep talking long enuf and sooner or later the smart guys on this forum see your post.

Your PC is at a good age for a thorough hardware tune-up.
- Clean the dust out from the insides
- Pull all the cards & memory sticks and clean the contacts with a little bit of 99% pure alcohol and a lint-free cloth
- Disassemble the CPU heatsink, clean off the old thermal pad, apply new thermal paste, clean dust out of the fins
- Replace any fans that are making grinding noises, clean up the others
- Scrutinize that PSU for proper operation & replace if necessary
- Replace the motherboard battery

Then, once you're up again, you might get a kick out of using Speedfan or Everest or Hardware Monitor. These are free programs that monitor the temperatures inside your PC, report the PSU voltages, etc. I went for years without knowing these parameters. Now that I know how, it's fun to check on this stuff. Would you buy a car without oil temperature, oil pressure, ammeter, or water temp indicators? No. We expect at least idiot lights if not real gauges. Yet most PC's come without any indication of what's going on inside.

A quick PSU story - a friend has a PC that's been crashing intermittently. It would run for days, then it wouldn't stay up at all. We loaded 2 different utilities (VIA Flight Deck, which only works with VIA motherboards, and Speedfan), and they both reported the 3.3V rail was running at almost 4V. That's too high. It's also weird because PSU's usually go low, not high. I went on this forum and the guys suggested manually checking with a multimeter. The multimeter agreed with the software utilities. A coupla days later the 2 utilities were reporting the 3.3V rail as normal! But his PC kept crashing. So I loaned him an Antec 380W Tru-Power, and it's been running like a champ for almost 3 weeks now. Although the case for replacing the original PSU wasn't exactly ironclad, we're thinking that was the problem.

Replacing your first PSU could be intimidating. But after you've figured out some of the nomenclature, and swapped out one or two, you'd be thinking, "This is easy!"
If you lived nearby we could swap a PSU in less time than it took to write this. The best solution for you would be to find someone who can do it, then watch the process. If you prowl back thru the last few weeks on the "Other" forum, you'll find plenty of threads regarding PSU's. Terry Seaforth's from last week was pretty good. The advice never wavers - spend the xtra money for a good quality, name-brand unit that provides enuf power for your PC without breaking a sweat.

dai

there are just 4 screws to undo at the back of the case
the plugs to disconnect and reconnect it is pretty straight forward
don't knock the video card,cpu fan or the ram whilst you are doing it and afterwards check the ide cables are secure in the drives and at the m/board

pcblues

Hi,

I brought the PC into Geek Squad today and the PSU and battery to mother board are working fine. Of course, the PC booted up normally, 3 times in a row & didn’t shut down while there.. They could keep it for a couple days and run it through the diagnostics for $70, but they said in all likelihood it is the motherboard.

Anything I could do from here to verify if it’s a bad motherboard. I would hate to pay the money only to be told it’s helpless.

Thanks again for all your help - Denise

dai

the $70 would just about pay for another m/b
to me it screams power problem but they have their hands on it so they should have a fair idea
try it on a different power point in your house

pcblues

It’s good to here that replacing a motherboard isn’t real expensive. The guys at geek squad basically said if it’s the motherboard I may as well get a new PC.

I have had the PC plugged into same power outlet as it normally has been and so far it’s running fine. I got to thinking if it might be my wireless router. So I hooked PC direct to cable modem and then again through router. The PC hasn’t shut down once.

I’m not convinced that the problem has gone away. I’ve got important documents burned to a CD & am going to order a external hard drive to get all my stuff backed up.

Keeping my gingers crossed here. Thanks a bundle - Denise

Bartender

They've got a point. You see, you're looking at trying to find a motherboard that will accept all of your 4-year old components, in which case you're spending more money to keep a bunch of old stuff running. Another option is using what you can of your old PC. Buy a new board, new CPU, new RAM, and new PSU (oh, yeah, and another copy of Windows). But most new motherboards are supplying only one PATA IDE connection, so then you're looking at buying a SATA HDD too.

It's frustrating.

By then you've spent more money than you would buying a new HP or Gateway. Your comments about the wireless router are interesting. Good trouble-shooting idea.

pcblues

I thought that sounded to good to be true. And throw in installation charges? Well there ya go, a new PC.

Funny thing is everything is working fine. So far no shut downs. The only thing I can think of is I may have plugged it into a different outlet on the power strip, so maybe a bad plug module?

As for the wireless, I thought of it only because I have long suspected something is up there. I have cable and my speed is not as fast as it should be when I have the wireless router hooked up. When I go direct to modem, speed is everything I expect for the outrageous price.

Thanks again for all your time. Enjoy the weekend.

dai

wireless is slower than wired connection,when the voip phone used slows to a crawl so i went back to wired

pcblues

Hi dai,

Hi Dai,

I went to the netgear and their forums months back and they insist wireless doesn’t slow down speed.
How refreshing to hear an honest opinion. It is such a drag waiting for a page to pull up in the time I could cook a turkey dinner. Okay a bit of an exaggeration there, but you get the picture, yes? Hmmm, might just be worth it to buy another modem, drill a hole in wall and run a cable into the lower level room! Now, about drills, cordless, hardwired, amps, how big I learned sometime ago, by trial and error and a bemused brother, that nooooo, you can not take the biggest nail and biggest hammer on earth and simply whack the hole in the wall you want

dai

cordless not much use to me as i use a drill only about twice a year
a new bit makes all the difference i think mine is about 600w
haven't you a port on the modem for usb or ethernet connection

pcblues

Hi dai,

yes have usb ports on PC and laptop.
PC is on upper level, laptop is used on lower level. The distnace is what made me go wireless. I was thinking of getting splitter where cable enters house, and taking that into lower level room to hook up to laptop. Walls & ceilings areall finished off, so that would require "driling" a hole for any cable to go through. I could do that? Or would that cause a problem splitting the cable?

dai

your connections come a bit different to here there i believe you can buy a splitter to put where the line comes in
rather then move the whole thread post this question in networking and i will close this thread
if you need it opened again just send a pm