EMERGENCY PROBLEM

[bjalford]

Hi all,

Just found out about this after listening to the radio4 programme on the number 7. A real problem has occured. I installed in on my Dad's computer. It started up well and started going. I then tried to change the memory from 8 mb to 30 for day and night. It did that and then went back to the main screen for about two seconds before his computer turned off instantly. It now will not turn on at all. I've tried unplugging it and waiting for it to cool down but it still wont turned on. What should I do? I need to fix this now! I'm in a lot of trouble. Why has this programme done this????? Please help asap. please

[Moloch]

Can you post some more detailed specs on your dads computer? Do you know the proccessor type/speed, and ram speed/timings?

Also, what exactly happens when you try to boot the computer? Does any text get displayed? If not, do you hear the fans turn on, or any beeps?

[bjalford]

thanks for your reply.

it is a factory built machine. No one has done anything inside the machine or overclocking or anything. Sorry I don't have the spec on me. It's fairly high spec (3Ghz, 256mb, 120gig HD, 64mb grpahics etc..) It has been working well...he only uses it for 'normal' apps eg IE, word etc. Never any problems. Also Norton Antivirus was running I think thats it.

As I said, I loaded the program, and it started doing the test which it said could take an hour. I realised I only had it on 8mb and went into the options and changed it to 30mb for both the day and night. Then the computer turned off as if I had pulled out the power cable. And now it will not turn on at all. Nothing. There was no bang or smoke. I've tried leaving it for a while and unplugging it. still no luck. please help, im in big trouble. Do you think anything serious has gone wrong?

[Moloch]

If its a 3ghz machine it should have no trouble running prime95. I dont know why changing it from 8 to 30mb would make it crash (unless you only have 32mb of ram). Its doubtful you have burned out a pentium 4 cpu even if you had inadequate cooling.. pentium 4's "should" (unless disabled in bios) automatically throttle themselves down when they start to overheat.

So when you press the power button nothing at all happens?.. no text on the monitor?.. There is a good chance you have blown the power supply.. If you dont even hear your fans turn on when you press the power button this is most definately the problem.

If you have a multimeter around you can check the power supply voltage. Put one lead on the ground wire (black) and one in the red. The red wire should read 12v +/- 5%. The yellow wire should test around 5 volts.

Another thing you could try is resetting your bios. There should be a jumper near your battery with 3 prongs. there is a black connector on 2 of them. remove this and put it on the other pins for a few seconds. It should have the word reset printed nearby on the motherboard. After you wait a few seconds put it back in the original spot and try to boot.

*note: Always unplug the computer and ground yourself (touch a non-painted metal piece of the case) before mucking around inside your computer.

[dsouza123]

Check all the devices plugged in (keyboard, mouse, monitor, printer, ethernet cable, etc .. power cord )
are plugged in correctly, something could be loose/out and appear to be plugged in.

If the computer is plugged in on a power strip check to see if it is working.
Some have a fuse that blow if a large surge or spike hits it, some have an
on/off switch which can be turned off accidently or a reset button that can
be pressed.

The wall outlet may be bad or if it is newer type may have a gfi that tripped.

Try a different wall outlet if possible, make sure the power cord is plugged in
both on the computer and outlet/surge trip end.

If the power cord is plugged into a surge strip try a different spot on the strip.

If you have another power cord try swapping it with the current one.

[Uncwilly]

Sounds to me like an over temp of some sort. I have had my current machine OT 2 times. When the Power supply gets the OT shut down from the MB it takes flipping the switch on the PS to restart the machine. Once the tab on the socket that holds the heat sink broke. Once I had the fan in the PS die.

[bjalford]

thanks to all of you for your help. I eventually to the comp into a friendly computer shop and they tested my PSU and found out it had blown. Strange. I've heard a lot of people get this when they use Prime95 and now am too scared to run it ever again. Oh well.

[Uncwilly]

P95 puts a huge stress on a PSU. If the PSU dies because of P95, it was substandard to begin with. The average user would never now about it.

[Moloch]

If you have an adequate power supply there should be no problem running p95. 300-350 watts is usually plenty for most computers. I went with the 550 watt Enermax because.. really because I could .. it never hurts to have too much juice.. your computer will only pull what it needs.

When buying a power supply I would recommend going with a reputable company rather than some cheap off-brand. Buy either Antec or Enermax. They arent too expensive, and they are high quality. One of these should come with a 3-5 year warranty also.

[lpmurray]

2 of the machines I run P95 on are laptops 1 is a amd 1800+ with a 75watt power supply and 1 is a 2.2GHz P4 with a 90watt power supply. They run hot but have run 24x7 for the last 18months. Prime 95 should not kill a power supply unless it was defective to begin with. I have a tiger direct computer which started out as a duel PII 350 then went to a duel PIII 550 and is now a amd 1.4 overclocked to 1.5(its timings are the same as an 1800+). it has been running almost 24x7 for 5 years with the same 300w power supply running prime 95 the whole time

[patrik]

Just a thought. If it is a 3 GHz machine, then perhaps it is so new that it still has warranty, so that you could have it replaced without any cost. A power supply should be able to power the computer even if you run Prime95. (Unless you built the computer yourself and chose an inadequate PSU.)