Computer dead after cleaning

Check all plug in cards and connectors are pushed right in. Check the memory is pushed fully home. If necessary remove the new memory and try the PC without it. You may need to remove all plug in cards and clean the ISA/PCI slots with the compressed air or vacuum cleaner nozzle. Try the PC with all plug in cards removed except the graphics cards. If that works add the cards back one by one until the fault reoccurs.

Dave

Been there, done that . . . first time it was the memory cards - dislodged one when I blew it out (and the BIOS would have caught it except I had it set to skip the memory test). Second time it was a power plug (those daisy chained things) all except for one pair of connectors was hard to pull apart - the one that came apart easily was the culprit. I just put a cable tie around the two connectors to hold them together.

You most likely dislodged a connector . . .

A FEW BEEPS ? from the internal case speaker???? one beep is normal and indicates it passed the Power On Self Test. more than one indicates a problem - the beeps are spaced out like 123 . . . pause . . . 34 might indicate something like the monitor isn't connected or turned on. The Bios manufacturer will have the data on the beep sequence to tell you what it is indicating - look in the mobo manual or look on line for the BIOS P.O.S.T. codes.

Not to worry . . . just look up the codes then fix what it is telling you to fix. AND copy the POST codes and archive them on paper for the next time you have this problem.

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since the HD in most cases are connected directly to the supply and your not getting any drive activity at all ? i think you better check the power supply plugs.

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Before that, though, open it back up. Remove and reseat *every* accessible connector: power connectors to every drive and mobo; ribbons on every drive (both ends); connectors to each front panel pushbutton; completely remove and reseat every memory module, every expansion card; pull the CPU and replace (if you have separate the heat sink, make sure you use new grease)...everything.

It wouldn't hurt to remove and reseat everything a couple of times (or more).

Do this EVERY time you open up the box for general cleaning. It's mandatory! If you feel up to it technically, remove the power supply, open it up and vacuum/blow it out. Clean the fan blades completely.

You'll probably find that it boots right up. You might even find that little niggling problems like spontaneous reboots and BSOD (Blue Screen Of Death) issues which you blamed on software issues disappear.

jak

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It works again! I'd like to thank everyone for their advice. Removing and reseating things (not everything, but evidently enough) seems to have done the trick.

Come to think of it, I do get the BSOD depressingly often, although I'm sure it doesn't help that I'm still running Windows 98SE, XP being (I'm told) a bit much for my antique to handle.

A PIII 600 is adequate for XP, provided you have 256MB RAM minimum and enough hard drive space. It won't fly, but it'll be perfectly usable. I speak from experience of running XP on a variety of old hardware.

You can even get away with 192MB, but it will be a bit sluggish.

Dave

XP Runs fine on my PII 366 laptop with 128MB memory. A PIII with at least 128 should run it fine, though it may crash if you have lots of stuff going at the same time. The whole key to running XP on a slower machine is to keep it clean, as in no spyware and ad ware. Regards, Chance

You must have a curious idea of *fine*. Even W98 is almost intolerably slow to me on any CPU < 600MHz ( with plenty of memory too ).

Graham

I suppose it depends on what ya use it for. I've recently used W98 on a Pentium II-233 mhz with 64MB RAM and it ran OK except when too many programs were open...also some newer programs would bog it down. Programs were a bit slow loading but they ran fine once they got going. I have also used '98 on a Pentium 100mhz with 32MB- now that *was* sloooow.

In a curious concordance of events, just tonight I was forced to follow my own advice:

I keep a PC in my spare office to answer the phone. When my daughter visits, it gets used for other things. Tonight she got on and instantly it started screwing up: random lockups, BSOD, failure to reboot...general screwing up.

I did the above, including the ps cleanup. (This after reaching into the box and trying to remove and reseat everything piecemeal without pulling the box...with little improvement.) Once I pulled *everything* out, vacuumed, excercised all ribbon connections, cards, outside connections etc; put it back together and instant boot!

I love it when a plan comes together...that thing was REALLY nasty inside.

jak

There is a world of difference between W98SE and Windows 2000. I run

2000 on several under 1 GHz machines (maxed out on RAM) and have yet to experience the blue screen, whereas W98SE required an annual reformat and re-installation of the operating system. XP is a bloated 2000 and takes up a great deal of hard drive space, best to stick with 2000 on these older machines.

I've always believed vacuuming the inside of a computer is a bad idea, as the moving air has the potential to generate static and damage sensitive electronics. At the very least, it is important to have the power cord plugged in (machine off) or a jumper wire between the case and a ground while vacuuming, so that the ground is available to dissipate any static buildup.

I beg to differ.

Vacuuming or blowing out the dust is a good idea particularly if one has a big power hogging processor or it is over clocked. Heat and thermal cycling kill electronic parts - - -

When a manufacturer wants to test for longevity and not wait the anticipated 10,000 hours between failures they cook the parts in an oven to increase the failure rate.

Regarding static - it just takes a little common sense. The jumper to ground is a good idea - but only if anything that touches the computer or connectors is also grounded - it is the potential difference between the op and the parts that causes the damage. Doesn't do to have the computer sitting at zero volts and have your body at 2-3 KV. In that situation, you might be better off to have the computer floating as well as the op.

A humid day and concrete floor is better then a dry day and a carpeted floor . . . One thing you should do as a matter of course is to touch the chassis with your hand before you reach in to touch a component or connector. Or ground the computer and spend a dollar or two on a personal grounding strap.

To dust with a vacuum - sometimes it helps to use a paint brush to direct the stuff towards the nozzle. A synthetic brush is fine provided the humidity is reasonable - wipe the bristles in your hand to discharge them.

I use an air compressor (el cheapo without a dryer on it) blow it out then give it an hour or two to evaporate any water that may have been in the air stream.

I'd worry more about the potential for damage by plugging and unplugging connectors than static. Static control is easy - there are rules to follow to avoid damage - the rules are simple, well defined, understood, and easy to implement.

Lightening is a different matter altogether - I use a lightening detector and unplug the computer when the detector starts going off, Lightening can write to my CMOS memory - or smoke my modem - and it only takes a near miss.

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I agree. In my experience 2k is faster than 9x when you have enough RAM. XP has absolutely nothing making it better than 2k on a normal desktop not in a company network. I've used the same 2k installation almost 5 years with 4 different mainboards. It still works fine. On the other hand, I'm even happier with unix-like OSes, but I'd still blame the users for most of the problems with MS OSes (and no, let's not start a holy war...)

It also helps if you turn off some of the fancy visual effects in XP. Tweak UI for XP lets you turn off most of the eye candy (to the point where XP looks almost identical to 98). Andy Cuffe

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