Brother's new computer won't boot

[DyslexicHobo]

I just built a comp for my bro, and it went fine until I installed windows. It was freezing during boot, probably from the PSU.

I didn't want to go buy a new PSU right away, so I tried clearing the CMOS/reseating the CPU. I took off the heatsink and lapped it with some high-grade sandpaper (1500) because there seemed to be a thin film on it. I applied some AS5 and put the heatsink back on...

I think I might have crushed the CPU diode, is that very likely? It's an AMD Athlon Mobile 2500.

Oh yeah... before when it was working, it said it was running @ 600 or 800MHz, did that indicate there was something wrong with the CPU?

 

[Lonyo]

The 600MHz thing is normal, because they CPU isn't peoperly recognised (it's not a desktop CPU).
Not sure about the other issue.
As for CPU speed, you need to set it manually (FSB and multiplier)

 

[DyslexicHobo]

Ohhh!! No wonder they call it an Athlon Mobile!!!

Thanks for the help... maybe that's why it froze when windows was starting up, because the CPU was running so slow?

 

[racefan]

nope the CPU will work fine at those speeds and the system will only run at 600 mhz till you change the multipliers and FSB.

f-disk and Reformat the HD and reinstall windows and the first thing after you install windows before any other drivers are installed install the motherboard drivers like the nforce drivers then reboot then install the video driver then procede from there.

Make sure there are no finger prints on the Windows CD and that the IDE cable is connected tight as it if froze during the install it could be a IDE issue reading from the CD.

It seems like a bad install of windows now.:frown:

 

[DyslexicHobo]

By not booting I mean I can't even get to BIOS or anything... I turn it on and it acts like it's not plugged into the monitor, even when I have nothing else plugged in cept the video card, RAM, and CPU.

 

[myusername]

fans and hard drives power up?

 

[DyslexicHobo]

Fans do, when I plug the HDD in, I don't think it spins.

 

[myusername]

try reseating and/or swapping out memory. If that doesn't work, time to clean off the thermal paste for a close visual inspection of CPU

 

[DyslexicHobo]

Tried both.

I inspected closely for broken pins-- none. No burn spots or anything. I re-applied AS5 2 times...

 

[DyslexicHobo]

Oh by the way, I'm not getting a POST beep.

 

[NoSpeed]

I have taken a college-level PC Troubleshooting class. One of our lessons was about numeric or audio beep codes. With only the CPU, video card and 1 stick of ram installed on the mobo, your monitor might display a 3 or 4-digit numeric code or your case speaker might emit a series of short/long beeps. It is normal to hear one short beep when you start the computer. No codes, numeric codes or other beep codes are usually bad news! You may need to replace one of these four components. If you can try other known working CPU, video card or ram, you can be reasonably certain the BIOS chip on the mobo or the mobo itself is defective. Since your PSU is working, but your computer won't start and you do not get any error message on your screen or through the speaker, the BIOS chip (responsible for the POST) on the mobo may be bad. Replace the BIOS chip or RMA your mobo and the computer should start. If during troubleshooting, you get a numeric code displayed or hear a beep code, I should be able to tell you its meaning. Good luck.

 

[stevty2889]

Ok, since you are not getting a post beep, try taking out the ram, or the video card, and see if you get a beep code. If you don't, it's more than likely the CPU or the motherboard, or something just isn't hooked up right.

 

[DyslexicHobo]

I'll probably take it to a computer store and have them test another processor in it for me...

 

[racefan]

Do like the post above said remove the ram and video card totally and then reseat them. My system did the same thing once and I had bumped the ram and it unseated it self a bit and the system did exactly like yours and it worked fine not 1/2 hour before.

 

[DyslexicHobo]

Ok I've re-seated both the video card and RAM, and even tried different RAM and vid card... No luck.

I've tried it without the vid card, no luck. W/o the RAM, no luck.

Probably the CPU?