Hi everyone, I'm really sad because today I fried my computer. This is how it happened : I was burning a DVD using Sony Architect and I wanted to print something on the dvd but my printer was unplugged from the power splitter, the same one that I use for my Computer. and wen I was trying to plug the printer on it, I taped the on/off button while the disc was burning, no big deal right ? ( Thats what I though) but wen I turned my computer back On, I hear the fans Working super fast. But my Screen was black, i opened the cover just to take a look inside everything was working, Hard disk was spinning, the fan on the PSU working, the light in the motherboard was on, but I din't hear the error beeps, oh, the trays of the optical drivers open and close normally. Now I took my computer apart, But before i put my pc together I need some one to tell me or give me an idea on how to fix my computer Please.

Any help its very much appreciated Thank you.

Sorry to hear. What you are experiencing is referred to as "Fails to Post", and unfortunately the great majority of the time a PC won't post it ends up being the motherboard. That actually may not be as bad as it sounds as without knowing the specifics of your PC, motherboards can sometimes be obtained quite cheap. Or you can take the opportunity and do an upgrade. I'm sure others will come along suggesting trying a power supply, and it is possible, but given everything seems to be powering up it isn't probable. If you have access to another PSU by all means give it a go, but if you have to purchase one to find out I would put that money towards the more likely failed motherboard. Others will suggest unplugging your memory, and plugging it in one at a time to test defective modules, again possible, but not likely. You could unplug them all and see if you get any beeps when the MB fails to find any memory installed. No beeps would be further evidence of a failed motherboard, but getting beeps doesn't necessarily mean a good motherboard. Yet others would recommend trying a different video card, if you are using one. Again possible, and if you have access to one for testing purposes by all means give it a go as well. Same as before however, if you have to purchase one to test, you are probably better off putting your money towards a new MB, as it is far more likely.

I could be wrong, just ask my girl, Lord knows it wouldn't be the first time! But the odds are very heavily in favor of the motherboard. I fix computers for a living, this by no means makes me God in these matters, especially when I haven't even seen the PC, but it does give me some above average insite based on my experiences.

Best of luck to you.

If you post more detailed info on your system, maybe some suggestions on how to proceed could be made.

Check that your monitor is plugged in and that your "power splitter" is not at fault.
Try reseating your hardware, ie graphics card, ram etc.

I would have to agree with both ^^^on the graphics card first and try looking at the power splitter,

also as stonehenge00 say not getting the beeps is not a bad thing it is just figuring it out.

I hope you do best of to you

wolf

Thank you all for your Help, I'm going to try Everything you are suggesting mates. Stonehenge My computer is a Dell XPS 710 it has 4 Gigs of Ram, 4 HDD, and the Graphics card is a GeForce Gts 250, oh my Power supply is the one that came with the PC Max Power 750 W. I hope my MB its ok because Dell wants $ 463.oo US Dlls. ( dell). With this money i can just buy a new case and a MB and swap all the parts from my XPS ( if my Mobo its death Ofcourse )

One more time. Thank you all for your help. I need to work on my pc
I let you know later how it went.

I did some hunting and any one of these should make a suitable replacement motherboard, and for far less than Dell. I can't stand Dell.

You didn't specify what processor, or memory type you have so I made a few assumptions,

1) no on board video
2) Socket 775 Motherboard
3) DDR2 memory, including a broad range of speeds so as to accommodate whatever yours may be.
4) 4 memory slots to again accommodate a wider range of configurations
5) 6 USB ports, to match your existing configuration.
6) ATX style board, as I believe this is what will fit your case best.

Hope this helps.

Perhaps it's just the DVD burner that is broken, and holding up the BIOS checks? Try disconnecting the DVD's powercable so that the BIOS doesn't see it.

Or reset the CMOS (removing the motherboard's battery for a minute should do that, or check the mobo's manual for another procedure). You'll have to redo the BIOS settings, though - the BIOS defaults usually work, but some settings may need to be adjusted to run an optimal system. And I don't know how much control over the BIOS you get with a Dell

Some motherboards can literally tell you what is wrong: there is an audio message in case of an error (via the headphone output instead of speaker beeps).

Thank you for the time you spend helping me with my problem mate. can you just tell me if my processor its compatible with any of the MB you found. My Processor is an intel core 2 duo 2.66, 65 nm. and the ram its 667 MHz PC2-5300, I found this information in the manual. One more thing I have to upgrade my Case because my XPS its for BTX Mobos Only (again Dell take this

Thank you again

Din't Work ADL, don't know what to do know besides buying a new mobo and a case .
thank you .

Have you had a good read over at the Dell forums? This sounds like a strange problem and maybe some more reading around will uncover others who experienced the same thing.

Given the memory speed you currently have the only one that will work of the motherboards I listed is this one.
However this one will only support 2 memory modules in DDR2, if you only have to sticks of memory not a problem.

Should also mention that in changing over the motherboard you may have to reinstall the OS, sometimes you get lucky and it will just boot up and your good, and sometimes the drivers are different enough that it won't boot with the new board until you reinstall the OS. I can't predict which way it will go.

Also I have had pretty good luck in the past of fitting boards inside Dell cases, there is a pretty good chance that you will still be able to retrofit this board in your case, although I can't be certain. This board also says it is for a 45nm processor, but to the best of my knowledge a 65nm core 2 Duo and a 45nm Core 2 Duo are both 775 sockets and so it should work.

One other consideration, depending on budget is use this as an opportunity to upgrade your system with a more modern processor and memory, but that would likely run you at least another $200 - $400 or more depending on how far you want to go. But for that cost you could probably end up with a case updated memory and processor and maybe even some extras like larger hard drive. You can sometimes get pretty good deals on "Barebones Systems" Just some examples

Yes I have, And they all ask the same question : its worth to buy the Mobo from Dell, or build a new PC ?. For me I think i'm just going to buy de case, the MoBo and the Processor. As for the OS I Have a copy of XP somewhere and the validation from WOLViSH . .



Hi, mate I think I'm going to buy the mobo for now, and if it fits my Case that will be really good for my wallet . Thank You, Thank You. Thank You All I let you know as soon as I have my Pc Working, cross your fingers Please.

True - you'll certainly be able to buy some other parts for the price of a replacement dell motherboard. That would be quite expensive I'm sure. Unfortunately with the BTX case you won't be able to fit any ATX motherboards in there, as ATX and BTX are like "mirrors" with the card slots and backing plate on the opposite sides.

Click to view attachmentATX Click to view attachmentBTX
Major Differences.

Sorry to assume, but did you think maybe you knocked the power on/off? perphaps you caused a power spike on the adapter block which reset your pc

Change the power cable for the monitor, It's my guess you fused the plug while you were plugging in your printer. (which also caused your pc to reboot)

Hi FlemGrem Just did that, and din't work. and I'm using a 14 gauge Power cord for the PC and a 16 gauge for the monitor. ( Monitor is working fine cause I'm using it on a Macbook )-
But I'm still open to any suggestions from you or anyone, at this point what else can go wrong ( Burn the apartment down to ashes )

this is the compute behavior : soon as I Plug the power cord in the wall I can hear the click noise from the PSU ( Thats Normal ). And after that the other fan's and the Graphics card fan kick on Really fast ( Super fast, not normal cause I don't remember that )

I hope this helps a little. Thank you

If you don't have spare parts to troubleshoot the problem it's going to be difficult. At least you know it's not the monitor. If you've taken all your cards (PCI etc) from the motherboard and just run CPU and one stick of RAM you should get beeps, if you don't it's either the motherboard (possibly), CPU (unlikely) or RAM (likely). No beeps could also be the motherboard grounding on the case. If you get beeps (google your mobo beep codes) put the video card back in and continue to test adding your harde drive etc. Without having extra parts lying around you may not be able to find the true cause of the issue and you might end up buying hardware that you don't actually need and this just exacerbates the problem. If you can't get spare parts to test, I'd get a pro to look at it otherwise you'll be all, "I need a new motherboard" and what if you don't? - just a thought.

I have to agree with aZen on this - process of elimination to try and pin point the problem with as much accuracy as possible.

Use at least 1 stick of RAM otherwise the motherboard will beep complaining of no RAM installed and won't go any further.

Hi aZen, thanks for the tip, but already tried all that, I went to the local store to buy a PSU and a Graphics Card just to test it on my PC, and din't work at least the Graphics Card. Because the PSU needs to be the same one that came with my PC ( The XPS 710 power supply is a proprietary unit according to Dell Forums hate you Dell, first they din't notified me of a free MoBo Upgrade they where offering one month after I bought the XPS. And now this ? ) .





Thank you Mate.