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  • #1

    Is this PC dead completely?

    I badly need advices on my desktop PC that is relatively old (which has earlier version of Pentium 4 and IDE type HDD's). It does not respond at all now, even though I turned it on.

    The symptom started two weeks ago, when I was trying to update OS (Windows XP) to its latest version (SP3).
    I think this was done without problem. Before restarting the PC to activate the updating, I also downloaded a new definition file of an anti-spyware software.
    Shortly after the downloading or before automatically installing the new definition file, the monitor screen blacked out (relatively) slowly. (Not a monitor issue)

    To make the long story short, I looked into various information I could find on internet for several days and doubted the power supply.
    So I bought a new power supply unit yesterday and replaced the old one with it last night.
    The CPU cooler fan tried to start a move for a while (far less than a second) and stoped soon again.
    No other PC case fans moved at all (Those fans are not the modern sophisticated ones so regardless of the temperature, it should start to move, when turned on.)
    After repeating this process for several times until the wee morning, I'm now competely lost here once again. It was not the power supply unit issue.

    This is the background of the story. Now my specific questions are followings.

    I'm now thinking if I should continue the repair process or to give it up and spend more time for rescuing data saved on the internal HDD's.

    1) What could be the possible reasons for this - I'm inclined now to think it's just too old.
    If possible, however, I want to repair the old guy, as I like to use and can enjoy to use something old for longer time especially these days (as far as PC's and cameras are concerned).
    I tried but could not find any pinpoint helpful information while lurking various PC trouble sites myself.

    2)If you were me, do you think it better to forget about reparing this old PC (which has no monetary value at all) and I should spend the time for rescuing the HDD's data.


    I have one more desktop which has Vista, but also in trouble now. As that one is my major machine, maybe I should spend more time for this newer guy? I confess I'm much more at a loss on the newer one. That's another reason why I'm tackling with the old guy first, maybe.

    regret the long post.

    yoshi
    Tags: None
  • #2
    Re: Is this PC dead completely?

    Hi Yoshi, is there no sound from the PC at all? Is the HD spinning? Is the power supply fan working? Do any lights come on?

    Ian
    Founder/editor
    Digital Photography Now (DPNow.com)
    Twitter: www.twitter.com/ian_burley
    Flickr: www.flickr.com/photos/dpnow/
    Pinterest: www.pinterest.com/ianburley/

    Comment

    • #3
      Re: Is this PC dead completely?

      If the fans are spinning etc, do you get a BIOS screen ?
      NO - unplug everything (disks etc. except the motherboard
      Still no - reduce memory to one DIMM
      still no - motherboard probably dead.

      Buy (or build) a new machine - with at least one disk.
      It's probbaly worth getting a decent amount of disk storage - say 160Gb for system and 750Gb or 1 Tb for data
      Install OS onto it.
      then plug in disks from old system one at a a time and check them, copy data from them etc.

      good luck.

      Keith

      Comment

      • #4
        Re: Is this PC dead completely?

        Originally posted by Ian View Post
        Hi Yoshi, is there no sound from the PC at all? Is the HD spinning? Is the power supply fan working? Do any lights come on?

        Ian
        Hi Ian, no, no sound at all from the PC. The HD's are not spinning.

        The fan of the new power supply unit tried to rotate and the blue illumination LED lamp of the power unit turned on for a third of a second or so but stopped soon after. So same as CPU fan which also tried to move when PC is turned on but then stopped almost instantly.

        The green LED lamp on motherboard turns on. Other than these, no sign of life.

        yoshi

        Comment

        • #5
          Re: Is this PC dead completely?

          Keith's advice is good. I have experienced this problem when building a new PC. It turned out to be one of the peripherals, probably causing a short that prevented the PSU from powering up the motherboard. Removing that component returned everything to normal. It's quite unusual for a motherboard to just die, unless it has ben running very hot for a long time.

          Ian
          Founder/editor
          Digital Photography Now (DPNow.com)
          Twitter: www.twitter.com/ian_burley
          Flickr: www.flickr.com/photos/dpnow/
          Pinterest: www.pinterest.com/ianburley/

          Comment

          • #6
            Re: Is this PC dead completely?

            Many thanks, Keith, for the comments.

            Originally posted by keithrsmith View Post
            If the fans are spinning etc, do you get a BIOS screen ?
            NO - unplug everything (disks etc. except the motherboard
            Still no - reduce memory to one DIMM
            still no - motherboard probably dead.
            The BIOS screen does not show up. - I have already changed the battery (CR2032) of the mother board to make sure it is ok.

            I did the unplugging last night. No change.
            Will give a try to the suggested reduction of memory cards (mine is RIMM, an old fossl).

            Originally posted by keithrsmith View Post

            Buy (or build) a new machine - with at least one disk.
            It's probbaly worth getting a decent amount of disk storage - say 160Gb for system and 750Gb or 1 Tb for data
            Install OS onto it.
            then plug in disks from old system one at a a time and check them, copy data from them etc.

            good luck.

            Keith
            Yeah, I think this is an option worth while.
            It was really a fun in a sense to open the PC box and have a look at the inside in detail. I've never built a PC myself but it might be worth trying.
            IF the CPU and the mother board are already dead, then I might play with interface cards that are still alive, if any. Thanks again.

            yoshi

            Comment

            • #7
              Re: Is this PC dead completely?

              Originally posted by Ian View Post
              Keith's advice is good. I have experienced this problem when building a new PC. It turned out to be one of the peripherals, probably causing a short that prevented the PSU from powering up the motherboard. Removing that component returned everything to normal. It's quite unusual for a motherboard to just die, unless it has ben running very hot for a long time.

              Ian
              hmm, it looks like worth trying once more to find which peripheral is out of shape. One more unplugging attempts tonight. thanks.
              yoshi

              Comment

              • #8
                Re: Is this PC dead completely?

                Originally posted by Ian View Post
                Keith's advice is good. I have experienced this problem when building a new PC. It turned out to be one of the peripherals, probably causing a short that prevented the PSU from powering up the motherboard. Removing that component returned everything to normal. It's quite unusual for a motherboard to just die, unless it has ben running very hot for a long time.

                Ian
                I tried to settle the issue one more night yesterday but could not find out one specific peripherals that probably causes the trouble. I'm sure I need much more knowledge to find the real trouble source and repair it.

                I removed the CPU cooler and looked into the CPU. The glue was already dry and the heat sink could be easily removed from the CPU.

                BTW dismantling a PC was surprisingly interesting. I have never dismantled a camera. Would it be also interesting, I wonder.

                I think I would go to the second proposal of Keith. I bought some books about self-built PC. Looks like interesting but thick. Hope I can finish the reading.

                I used this PC mainly for i-net surfing and for printing photos. Maybe I have to refrain from the printing for a while.


                I appreciate the advices and thank you again, Ian and Keith.
                yoshi

                Comment

                • #9
                  Re: Is this PC dead completely?

                  The fact that he heat sink came off easily may be the clue - probable that the cpu overheated and eventually died.
                  Building your own PC isn't hard - just make sure the PSU and cooling are right for the motherboard / CPU that you choose.

                  I would offer to help, but that would mean you paying for the flight to Japan....

                  Keith

                  Comment

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