My Presario has fallen ,And it can't get up!

Hi all. I've had a real nasty week with my Presario Amd 1ghz. It started as random, unpredictabe lockups.The computer would usually reboot normally and be ok. 1 in 10 times after a lockup, the computer would fail to even post the gfx bios at start up. The HD light, and the cpu fan would come on,but the moniter would stay in selftest mode. This situation has degenerated into a 100% rate of failing to even get to the gfx post.

Heres the system I have. AMD 1ghz,640m pc133 sdram,stock 40gig ibm 7200 HDD,SB512PCI, stock nic, and a nvidia 5200 128m agp x 4.

Here's what I have done. Restored windows ME, Tested every device pretty well. Replaced gfx card, sound card, nic. Still no change. Tied many combos of different hardware. Cleaned out all dust(was pretty dusty). Removed memory sticks, and tried different combos.No change. Tested HDD with IBM's DFT for 3 hrs, and receieved no errors.But it locked up after the test had completed, in DOS.Cleared cmos.NO change. Removed all devices from the MoBo,except for the gfx card(tried it with and without RAM)and still can not get to the gfx post.By this point I'm seeing that "Your moniter is working, check your cable" screen in my sleep

So... I believe my MOBO has died.I dont know if its normal for a Mobo to cause random crashes/problems before it finally goes out. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

 

sounds like it could be an overheating problem a system that old probably has enough dust inside to have a bunny farm. i'd take the computer outside, open it up, and blast the dust away.

 

Exactly what I thought. So I did just that,incuding the Power supply,Even tried a new PS. Then tried a fan blowing into the open side of the case. Still nothing. Just sits there acting like everythingd ok, but wont post, or even try to read the a: drive, which is the first choice on bootup. Never even gets to gfx post.

 

Uhm ... this is gonna sound stupid, but have you tried just leaving it off for a while?
I mean, just shut the PC down and wait about half an hour before turning it back on.

It's a weird suggestion, I know; but I've had some pretty weird problems a few times and this cleared them right up.

Sorry, I don't really have anything more helpful to suggest...

 

airbot's got a point. my friend used to have a computer that he walked around the house each time it won't turn on... and the problem magically went away.

worst case scenario (being the god of pessimists here), it's possible that the heat permanantly damaged your computer. odds are, though, it'll pass away in time once you get your updates and stuff installed.

 

Yeah, funny you mentioned that, when if first started doingthis, I would go have do something else for a bit. And sometimes it worked. Its not helping anymore, so I'm thinking the damage has been done.