Zap
Elite Member
Not a problem with any CPU with an integrated heatspreader, but yeah I hear ya on those socket A CPUs. A buddy of mine NEVER learns and he's killed a few of them. Still, the smaller surface of an unprotected CPU usually doesn't create enough suction to rip the CPU out of the socket.
I don't see the whole hubbub about trying different power supplies. I mean, doesn't every self respectin' computer geek have a few extra parts lying about? 😉
When I'm trying to figure out stabilty problems, I don't waste time with talking/typing about the problem trying to "reason" it out. Most of my clients (in my former life) would just take their business elsewhere if I couldn't figure it out post haste. I just do "brute force" diagnostics, in roughly this order:
1) General narrowing down of the problem, if possible. Don't spend more than a couple minutes thinking about it.
2) Try clearing BIOS. Check capacitors on motherboard (happens a lot) and try different power supply. Try removing/unhooking extraneous parts, such as floppy/optical drives, any non-boot drive, extra PCI cards.
3) Slap in a test HDD and do a fresh install of Windows. If problem goes away, either original HDD is flakey or needs a Windows reinstall. Yes, NOBODY wants to hear the words "Windows reinstall" for whatever reason. Makes 'em quake in their shoes, but strangely it fixes many, many issues that a simple reboot doesn't take care of. 🙂 If problems go away, test original HDD for errors. If still flakey with different HDD/install, continue to #4.
4) Still have stability problems with different HDD and fresh install? Start swapping parts. Don't have time to run Memtest on slower machines (did one on my own socket 370 Celeron with 1GB PC133 on a VIA chipset that took over 3 days to finish one pass, most customers don't have patience for that). Since different power supply already tested, swap out RAM, then video, then CPU. If still unstable, try different motherboard. I've seen ones with seemingly intact capacitors but were still flakey as all heck.
5) Once flakey part is identified, put back all original parts except using a replacement for identified flakey part, and see if problem still exists. May still need that Windows reinstall because Windows system files could have been damaged.
We've tried POST cards but they were of limited use in our experience.
!@#$
Here's a problem I was asked to investigate on a computer that I built for a family friend. System specs are irrelevant in this example, but I'll state basics (P4 3.2GHz Northwood, Intel 865PE chipset, 1GB dual channel RAM, 7200RPM 8MB cache HDD, Antec case/power, basic AGP video for non-gamers). System was only a few months old, and then started exhibiting some strangeness. Most of the time it was left on, but now and again it was turned off or had to reboot due to some software change or Windows updates. It developed a problem where boot time was excessive. By excessive, I mean it would stay on the Windows XP boot screen for well over 5 minutes. When I built the system it booted up nice and quick.
How would you go about diagnosing this problem?
BTW, I figured it out in about 20 minutes, and most of that time was spent waiting for Windows to reboot during testing.
!@#$
Solution: System ran great once booted, so I ruled out OS/hardware faults. Rebooted once to "observe" problem. Cleared all startup items, rebooted again, problem still existed on reboot. Checked Device Manager for anything funky/different and discovered a video capture device that I didn't know about. It was a composite to USB adaptor. Unplugged it from USB port, reboot took under a minute. Plugged back in, over five minute reboot. Plugged into a different USB port, under a minute reboot and Device Manager was still happy with it. Put everything back in Startup, another quick reboot. Problem resolved.
USB can be strange sometimes. I've had scanners work only in certain ports. PDAs only hotsync in certain ports. Few days ago, just got my USB cable for my Nokia phone and guess what? PC Suite would only properly "see" the phone on certain ports (others, would "see" it when searching for device, but would still report phone as disconnected).
Damn, got sidetracked from OP.
