odd problem...oddlem

[mattsprattuk]

hi, one day i thought 'hmm, computer, ur dusty, i think ill clean you today' just to be nice. i take off the covers and clean each fan and the heatsink, then reassemble it (only did this because it was starting to overheat a little)...
as soon as i had finished, i plugged everything in, assuming everything would work... it didnt.

when i push the power button, i got a siren-like sound from the speaker and then around 5 seconds later, it switches itsself off.

it got worse.

i tried with all my knowledge (not amazing) to fix it with no success, if anything i think i made it worse.
it now will turn on for a splitsecond before cutting out but when it does, the power light stays on.
my first guess was RAM... nope
2nd guess... PSU... nope
3rd guess... processor...unknown
4th guess...motherboard...unknown

the reason CPU and motherboard are unknown is because i dont know which has gone wrong (if not both).
i removed my socket A AMDathlonXP2600+ and replaced it with a duron1000 and it worked... to a certain extent.
i would see the 'power approved' logo in the top right of the boot screen and the motherboard serial number in the bottom left, but nothing else would happen.

anyone know of a cheap way to fix this? as im not really too keen to shell out £80 for a new MB and CPU...

 

[StrangleHold]

Did you take the CPU heatsink off, if so make sure you put it back on right

 

[mattsprattuk]

i gave it a wiggle after i put it back on as it was still in the case i couldnt really go in and check like that.
im pretty sure its my motherboard AND processor
at the moment i have XP on there... if i upgrade to say an athlon 64 and a new motherboard, will it still work? because i tried swapping over harddrives with another old pc and it wouldnt get past the xp screen on the boot up

 

[meanman]

have you put the two mobo power connecters back on the mobo ther is a 4 pin one that goes somewere near the cpu and a 20/24 pin one

 

[StrangleHold]

i gave it a wiggle after i put it back on as it was still in the case i couldnt really go in and check like that.
im pretty sure its my motherboard AND processor
at the moment i have XP on there... if i upgrade to say an athlon 64 and a new motherboard, will it still work? because i tried swapping over harddrives with another old pc and it wouldnt get past the xp screen on the boot up

Change motherboards or move hard drive to new system.
Boot the system from the WinXP CD. Have your CDKEY ready.
Select the “Install” option. (Don't select repair! The first repair option only verifies XP files against the XP CD versions and makes no system setting changes).
Setup will find the XP install that is already there and ask if you wish to repair it. Say yes.
Setup will run the upgrade code that will re-enumerate the hardware and set itself to boot from the new controller.
Install newer drivers as needed

 

[mattsprattuk]

Change motherboards or move hard drive to new system.
Boot the system from the WinXP CD. Have your CDKEY ready.
Select the “Install” option. (Don't select repair! The first repair option only verifies XP files against the XP CD versions and makes no system setting changes).
Setup will find the XP install that is already there and ask if you wish to repair it. Say yes.
Setup will run the upgrade code that will re-enumerate the hardware and set itself to boot from the new controller.
Install newer drivers as needed

thanks stranglehold... seems so obvious now its embarassing to have asked something so stupid
and yea meanmachine, i did plug in all the power cables.
my only problem now is a processor. i dont have another socket A worth having (1ghz). ill replace the mobo as a temp measure and then save the pennies.