Computer is acting up...Help

B

bcomatts

Member
Last week I moved cities(only an hour apart). My computer sat in the trunk of my car, w/out the Hard Drives as I was going to be leaving my car unattended for a few hours, and I didn't need any xtra bs that day.

Before I set it up in my new place, I cleaned the whole thing out, all the dust, and re-greased the CPU, etc.

So I boot it up, Win XP Pro loads fine. But I can't use the internet and my Audigy ZS isn't working either. So I check the cp Device Manager and I get a wack of "Other Devices"(with the yellow question marks. So I investigate, and they all say I need the drivers. Ethernet, IEEE 1394, Multimedia (x2), PCI Input, SM Bus, USB Receiver. This doesn't make sense because it worked completely fine b4 the move. So I download the latest drivers from Gigabyte, and nVidia(which ended up being the same download), to re-install my mobo drivers. It seemed to install completely fine, restart. Still screwed up.

Just now, I formatted and re-installed Windows. I have done this in the past many times, and I have never needed to download 3rd party drivers b4 I could start using things like the internet or sound(mobo sound).

Things I have noted: an attempt to install Audigy ZS Driver, aborted because it could not locate my card. I moved the card up a slot and still can't locate it. So if that is the PCI drivers than why is my ATi card picked up? And the mobo ethernet isn't working, but all the mobo USB's are working. And I was able to get the mobo sound to work, I don't know how.

So any thoughts? Could the mobo be fried? Why aren't the drivers installing even though the installation seems flawless?

And could some1 answer: where do drivers get installed to? The C:\(so wats the prb?)

Thanks!

EDIT: After trying to install drivers this time, I was able to install 1 of the Multimedia and the SM Bus... Why is it only taking a few of the drivers from the same install?
 
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When you pulled the drives out of the case did you bring them near any magnetic sources? Did they get bumped around to suggest possible damage there. The likely problem sounds similar to a board replaced here lately where first the battery(CR2032) on the board(1 1/2yr.s used) lost strength along with the bios chipset acting up. Hopefully you didn't begin to see this. The previous board also ran the Audigy 2 ZS Gamer and simply quit one day. So far the Audigy 4 Pro has outperformed the older model.

Having moved from one city to another the POP server type settings will have changed there where you should go to the ISP's support site or contact their support staff on the lack of connectivity there. Depending on service they may have a small program to get you configured and online. You may want to backup your current bios version before running an update to see if that helps with the board issues you are running into along with trying a new battery to see if that is all you need for this. A failing chipset especially those soldered to the board is something you don't want. A bad supply can also start causing problems like this when it becomes unstable and eventually fails. These are the first things to look over.
 
Well thanks, I'm now trying to install windows to a brand new HD. We'll see how that goes. Odly enough, I think this whole bunch of bs seems familiar to my last format... not quite sure what i did to fix but I do rm doing a 2nd format. But that has not helped this time. I have arranged cables and formatted like 3 times now. Oh, and now my bloody monitor is making this high pitched ringing... wat will go next? And it only rings when WinXP completely loads, not on boot, not during winxp intro screens. wtf?

EDIT: It seems to be getting worse by the second. New install on new HD did nothing... and when I put in my Drivers disc for my mobo, winxp could pick up the drive, but accessing it was impossible... a bunch of errors.
 
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Go into the bios and check to see if the boot sector protection is enabled. On just about all boards that acts like an antivirus tool there. That will put a fast stop on a fresh install if it is not caused by something like what was seen on a board where backing the memory timings down was the only way Windows could even load. Af first it looked like the dimms went. But that didn't quite add up even with memtest showing 573 errors on the #5 test. The bios chipset proved to be the actual of suddenly seeing a list of problems. A simple repair install was used after the new board went in now seeing 0% errors on anything. Did you try a battery swap? If that doesn't see results try backing the timings down a little in the bios. It could be a hardware detection problem being seen.

This is what I now can point out about the Socket A board I just tossed! http://www.funnies.com/computerpots.htm
 
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Well i didnt really have any time to look at it so its just been in a heap.

But today I tried unplugging everything and replugging, resinking, etc. And i only put in the bear minium components. Same prbs.

Well not bear minimum, cuz when I pulled the Audigy and everything all of a sudden worked except for the ethernet, so right now im trying a new format with nothing but 1 hd, 1 Rom, and thats it hooked up. Otherwise, 2moro im gonna get a battery, and then maybe a new psu, or mobo... shit.
 
Alright, I think for sure now that it is the Mobo. If I install the Audigy hardware it kicks all the old drivers. And I have a feeling that the PCI slot is causing the last of the drivers to mess up. And the monitor is fine, I hooked it up to my laptop and it runs fine. So I am thinking that the mobo is sending bad info to the PCI, to the vid, and to my monitor.

So it looks like i'll be trouble shooting the ol mobo. BOO!
 
Could be that it fried while sitting in the trunk of ur car. Trunks can get pretty hot. Espessially if it was left there for a good amount of time. Now ive never really tried it so im not sure what would happen if the mb burnt up. but even if one component on the mb burnt it could give u problems like this.
 
I had the same problem with the internet since I just reformatted my computer. So I got out my Resource CD and reinstalled all the drivers and now I'm good.
 
When reformatting an reinstalling the operating system you also have to remember to put the board drivers back on as well. If the board isn't too old and discontinued entirely you can often grab the last updates right from the company that made it. The items like memory controllers, system bus managers, etc. have to be there for onboard features to work properly. Look over the board carefully even with a small magnifying glass and small bright flashlight at the capacitors as well as diodes to see if you anything bulged out or leaking like a bad cap or a discolored component like a diode or IC chip. That would be a clear indication of board failrure there.
 
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