| Motherboard Help
Posted: 9/20/2006 12:30:53 PM | I have had my comp for 3 years and I usually leave my computer on when Im not using it but I turn the moniter off. I know its not good for the comp but I did it anyways. I came on at 12 am one day and checked my msn messenger msgs and the next morning I went to use the computer and it kept resetting itself. Then I fooled around with the cords and then tried to turn it on and it wouldnt even do that. It suddenly had no power going to it. My parents got a friend who is a "comp tech" (I use the term lightly since he's not even working right now and my family only knows him throught their friends) and he said it was the motherboard. he replaced my emachines motherboard with a different brand and he says that I should copy all my pics on disc as soon as possible because my comp is about to crash. My computer works really slow now and it is not the same. I cant even use my emachines restoring disc on it now because its not the same brand. So here are a couple questions I would like to ask and see if anyone can help me with.
1. What causes a motherboard to not work anymore?
2. If you replace a motherboard do you also have to replace the processor?
3. If I paid for the new motherboard, should I have got the old one back?
4. Is it possible to tell if a comp is gonna crash by the comp just going slow? because thats the reason he said he can tell it is going to crash.
5. What can I do to stop it from crashing or is it possible to prevent it at all?
If you can just answer some and not all thats fine to. Anyone that helps I thank you alot and it's greatly apprieciated. | |
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| Motherboard Help
Posted: 9/20/2006 1:24:54 PM |
1. What causes a motherboard to not work anymore?
Faulty ram, video card, any other add-on card [sound card for example], You could of had a bad cmos battery, your power supply could of been going bad. It could of been something as simple as your updating a driver and it conflicted with something. Too many variables.
2. If you replace a motherboard do you also have to replace the processor?
This is going to depend on the type of motherboard that is purchased to replace the old one.
3. If I paid for the new motherboard, should I have got the old one back?
I would of asked for it back, because the problem might not even be the motherboard.
4. Is it possible to tell if a comp is gonna crash by the comp just going slow? Because that’s the reason he said he can tell it is going to crash.
The only time I make this suggestion is if I run a test on the hard drive and it comes back that its going to fail soon.
5. What can I do to stop it from crashing or is it possible to prevent it at all?
If the problem is only with the hard drive you can run test on it, with third party software. There are other test you can run on your computer, but again your problem could of been software related, not hardware.
I would suggest seeing if you can get the old hard drive back. If you need to look up the model number on the manufactures site [if possible] and download the manual. Sometimes the manual or the web site will list the model number and specifications of your machine.
I would then take it to someone certified to run some test on the machine, first with old motherboard installed. | |
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| Motherboard Help
Posted: 9/20/2006 3:08:00 PM | | I've never added anything on it. It's the same as when I bought it I just put a new keyboard on it like 2 years ago. Im not good at comps. LOL. The thing you said about the power supply though is weird. The guy who fixed it said the motherboard is what caused the power supply to fry. I paid $50 bucks just for a new power supply and had to put out more cash for the freakin' motherboard LOL | |
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| Motherboard Help
Posted: 9/20/2006 8:04:34 PM | Your friend replaced the old motherboard with a new one and then he told you the motherboard he just put in is about to crash?
Before I type anything more I'd like to know the answer to that question. | |
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| Motherboard Help
Posted: 9/21/2006 11:23:35 AM | It sounds pretty clear to me that they guy who's been 'helping' you doesn't really know what he's doing.
Do you still have to old motherboard?
If you do take it to a shop, fixing this over a forum is *way*, *way*, *way* to difficult if you have no experience.
Hell even if you don't have to old motherboard still take it to a shop!
:-)) | |
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| Motherboard Help
Posted: 9/21/2006 11:27:32 AM | | honestly, mobos main reason for dying, faulty caps. there was a guy before that was doin capacitor replacement, but honestly just buy a new one thats the same socket as your current cpu. | |
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| Motherboard Help
Posted: 9/21/2006 12:15:03 PM | i build my own pc's so i know the tech side of pc's like the back of my hand. if your pc was slowing down it doesnt mean it was about to crash. for a start, if your motherboard was faulty then your pc wouldnt work full stop, however if the motherboard bios were corrupt it could cause all kinds of problems but all you need to do is download the latest bios for your motherboard from the manufacturers website, put them onto a floppy disk and reinstall them.
there's 4 possible reasons why your pc was slowing down, 1) fragmented hard drive, 2) you're running more software than your ram can handle, 3) you have a virus or spyware running in the background that is using up all your ram and virtual memory, leaving not enough to run your regular software at normal speed, 4) errors in your registry
processors and motherboards are matched up according to their socket number eg, a new pentium 4 with hyperthreading or 64 bit enabled will need a socket 775 motherboard, whereas a dual core amd64 processor will need a socket 939 board. if your pc is running slower now than it was before its because the front side bus speed on the motherboard he's put in your pc is slower than your old one
yes he should have given you back any parts he removed from your pc. why would he want them if they were broken? smells fishy to me
any more questions just drop me a mail | |
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| Motherboard Help
Posted: 9/21/2006 1:45:55 PM | | Well he aint a friend but he told me after I paid him and after the new motherboard was installed that if I dont restore it as soon as possible it is gonna crash. He said he could tell by how slow the comp is going.?!!??! Im just as confused as you on that one. | |
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| Motherboard Help
Posted: 9/21/2006 2:11:39 PM | | I think I understand why he said it could crash. The drivers installed in the Operating System on your hard drive [Windows], more than likely crash on first reboot after a new [different] motherboard install. | |
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| Motherboard Help
Posted: 9/21/2006 3:01:23 PM | 1. What causes a motherboard to not work anymore?
the most common ways are 1 of 2 ways.
corrupting the bios, which for 98% of people isnt even a option. so thats not likely.
or, something caused a short.
a short can be done from almost anything, especially in a dusty enviroment, the worst is when dust gets down near the choke coils of the ram, or near the mosfets of the power regulators (PWM) but dust near the capacitors by the CPU socket can do just as much damage.
its important to atleast every few years clean out a computer.
one lady brought me a computer a few years ago, that didnt work.
I opend it up, and it was a inch and half of dust at the bottom of the case, and it was caked on, with a yellow goo... cause she was a smoker.... and the PSU was clogged in every concievable inch, with cat hair.
that PC very literally could have killed this person, from bursting into flames, while she slept or something.
cat hair is the worst, cause it gets in every inch of a PC, and once its in the PSU, its a big fire hazard, cause its putting a very flamable thing, on a very hot object...
very important, especially for smokers, and cat owners.
clean your PC sometimes.
just power it down, take a vacuum cleaner and suck out what you can, then take a can of air and blow out the rest, especially from the PSU.
a short can also happen from a bad PSU.
a cheap crappy PSU, can take out a motherboard, if theres a power surge...
unfortunatly I can think of a dozen more ways to kill a PSU, that aren't all to hard to have happen.... (but the list is boring and technical...)
2. If you replace a motherboard do you also have to replace the processor?
assuming the processor is from the same socket type, the no.
like if your board was a socket 478 Intel Pentium 4, and you replaced it with a Socket 478 board, then no.
but if for some reason, he switched your board from one socket, to another, then yes.
like say if you went from socket 478, to a AMD Socket 462, then yes you would need a new CPU for that board.
there are about a dozen types of sockets to have come out in the last 10 years.
heres how someone can take advantage of you, if they know you know nothing about your PC.
say you have a nice dual core AMD64 X2.... and the repair guy has a cheap single core 3000.
well, if you know nothing about your PC, and he knows this, he might be tempted to switch out your processor, for his...
you get a crappy working PC back, and he gets a $300 upgrade, and whatever you paid him for the "work".
there are many ways someone can take advantage of someone, if they dont know whats inside thier PC, swapping good parts out, for bad ones is the most common.
3. If I paid for the new motherboard, should I have got the old one back?
YES. ABSOLUTLY.
this is the most common way to stop someone from trying to switch out your good hardware, for thier junk hardware.
if this person switched out boards and CPU's for you, find out what he put in it, and find out what your PC originally had in it.
if you need help with that, I can help you very easily.
that is of course, if you think something shady happend...
if you trust the guy and all that, then dont worry about it.
4. Is it possible to tell if a comp is gonna crash by the comp just going slow? because thats the reason he said he can tell it is going to crash.
noooo.... thats like predicting the weather.
sometimes your right, sometimes your wrong, and it's always just your best guess.
a computer always gets slower from software only.
hardware, never wears out, never gets slower.
a 1 ghz CPU will be 1 GHz from the day you get it, till the day it stops working.
hardware, never wears out.
slowing down of a PC, is always software related.
anything software related, can be fixed.
5. What can I do to stop it from crashing or is it possible to prevent it at all?
hahah.... well, thats kinda impossible.
its hard to describe how complex windows really is... but I'll try.
windows, is a simple program, that every piece of hardware, that came out 10 years before it, and for the next 10 years after it... will have to be compatible with, so it's like trying to predict the future... while trying to make ancient hardware compatible... everything single product, from the cheapest no name 56k modem, right up to the top of the line X1950 videocard of today... all have to be compatible with windows.
that is a monumental task to ask of any single program.
on top of that, you have to also be compatible with millions of programs... that people write, people who are not connected to microsoft in any possible way most of the time, from hardware drivers... to little spyware programs, everything has to be compatible with it, software and hardware wise.
on top of all this... you have tons of ways to screw up, spy and hack that software, and theres always someone looking to do just that.
snoop on you while you type in your bank password, while your in seattle, and they are in brazil... or read everything you write in a email... or send you spyware, when you accept a picture, or try to pirate something... to the simple fact that the goverment knows every single thing you do, and see on the internet, by tracking you... (there is no such thing as privacy on the internet, the internet is considerd a public domain)
the complexity of what windows really is, is monumental.
it's like if someone built a building with 5 million doors in it, and gave you one key, to open every single door in that building...
thats whats expected of windows.
to be that one key, that does everything....
while it does exceptionally well, we are still human and make mistakes.
programming errors, security leaks, bad drivers. conflicting programs...
its always gonna be a issue.
crashes are just a unvoidable fact.
all that can really be done, is try to minimize the possibility.
in that sense, avoiding pirating sites, porn sites (the most common, and aggressive ways of getting spyware/viruses) to simple common knowlege, like keep your security up to date, with windows, and some forms of spyware and virus protection, and even more basic knowlege, like dont accept a picture download from someone you dont know, or dont open a email from someone you dont know.
cause not everything downloaded to your computer... needs you to know about it.
theres dozens of ways to comprise a computers security.
ok I gotta end this... I forgot what I was saying. | |
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| Motherboard Help
Posted: 9/21/2006 3:13:26 PM | | The reason I asked some of the questions is because I don't know this guy very well and when he told me that the motherboard was crashed he said he needed to get a new motherboard and processor. Then he told me the price. It was gonna be $260. He said it was his discount price at a shop. (first hint he didnt know what he was doin because he brought it to a shop) So the harddrive was at his house and on Friday I called him and told him I didnt have the money right at the moment so I just wanted the harddrive back for now. He said it was fine for me to pick it up at his house. Then on Monday he called me and said "funny thing, I went to go get the harddrive from the shop and my buddies put the motherboard in it already and you can have it for $140, if you dont want it I can get them to take it out" so I said fine I will just take it. But I think the reason the price went down was because he sold my old motherboard. I FEEL REALLY SCAMMED AND STUPID FOR FALLING FOR IT. So should I ask him for the old motherboard? and does he have any right or authority to refuse giving it back? | |
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| Motherboard Help
Posted: 9/21/2006 3:21:39 PM | the board is yours.
if he does not give it back, then thats theft.
you bought a new board true, but that does not mean the old board then becomes his.
it then means, you own 2 motherboards.
if you need help figuring out, if you got scammed. I can help you very easily, assuming you have the PC there, working now. | |
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| Motherboard Help
Posted: 9/21/2006 7:31:17 PM | 1. If the capacitators on the motherboard burst, that will cause a power cut to the entire
computer system as well as system instability. This is mostly caused from power
surges. Also, if something blew in the power supply, that will cause a power cut to
the entire computer system and system instability.
2. If the motherboard doesn't support the old processer then yes, a new processor will
have to be purchased. There are motherboards out there to support some of the
older processors but may have to be purchased at a used computer shop.
3. The old motherboard will have to be returned back to you upon request unless you
stated otherwise. You also should have been shown the reason why and where the
motherboard is damaged.
4. Rule #1: An honest individual would never return a computer that is not in a
decent functional state. Someone is after your money and as much as
possible as well. (old scam tactic, still used today)
Suggestion: All parts returned, all money returned or that computer gets
fixed properly. (No extra cost involved)
5. Number 4 sums it up. Power supply could be damaged as well. I bet that was never
checked. The cause of the computer crashing is computer instability. (hardware
related or possibly software related.)....he screwed it up. It wasn't like this before....was it? | |
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| Motherboard Help
Posted: 9/22/2006 1:09:02 AM | | This guy sounds like he is ripping you off. You can get a Gigabyte Motherboard for less than 100 dollars. 250 should get you a dualcore processor, motherboard and power supply. Throw in another 150 and you can add up to 1GB RAM & IDE drives. Plus you said you have an emachines. Not to knock the product but I beleive you can get a brand new e-machines for about 350. | |
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| Motherboard Help
Posted: 11/2/2006 11:20:42 AM | thanx all for helpin. I really appreciate it. Here's a hug for you all  | |
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| Motherboard Help
Posted: 11/5/2006 11:50:49 PM | 1. excess heat and use causes wear on motherboards.
eventually they die.
There are signs for this.
Errors and such.
I don't think in your case, it was the motherboard going bad.
But I would need more information to verify that.
2. You don't always have to replace the cpu, when you replace the motherboard.
Same socket for the cpu, so reuse the cpu.
3. If the old motherboard was going bad, it's trash.
Did he test it? What did he say was wrong exactly?
4. with my experience, tons of files, excess programs running in the background, ad and spyware on your computer, will cause it to run slow.
Sometimes excess heat will cause your computer to slow down as well.
5. If, I say if, you are experienced enough know which programs to unistall and what to delete, then one should.
But since you seem to lack experience, someone knowledgable in that area, might be of assistance.
Some advice, computer cpu's have only a set amount of cpu power, with new programs taking up more and more cpu cycles. It limits the amount you can do.
sometimes more ram, or a faster hard drive will help.
If you wish. use www.pcpitstop.com It's an online testing utility that will give you some information on your computer.
Feel free to message me if you have any questions. | |
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| Motherboard Help
Posted: 11/5/2006 11:55:30 PM | just power it down, take a vacuum cleaner and suck out what you can, then take a can of air and blow out the rest, especially from the PSU.
--------------------------
Are you crazy? It's dangerous to use a vaccum cleaner around a computer, all the static electricity in the air will probably damage your computer/components.
Even if it's 10 volts, it can still cause damage. | |
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| Motherboard Help
Posted: 11/5/2006 11:58:00 PM | My cousin Annie's computer had a motherboard that had a heatsink on north bridge, without a fan.
It overheated one time and fired the motherboard and power supply.
I was thinking it could be possible in this case.
The old cpu and ram survived.
Remember, only use cans of compressed air when cleaning dust out of a computer.
:) | |
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djbtop
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Joined: 5/28/2006
Msg: 19 | |
| Motherboard Help
Posted: 11/6/2006 7:41:19 AM |
Are you crazy? It's dangerous to use a vaccum cleaner around a computer, all the static electricity in the air will probably damage your computer/components.
Even if it's 10 volts, it can still cause damage.
...... Keep your pc grounded at all times and you'll be fine sweets | |
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| Motherboard Help
Posted: 11/6/2006 7:09:28 PM | I've heard shops will loose their certs? if they use vacuum type cleaners on computers.
So if certified techs don't use em, should you? | |
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djbtop
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Joined: 5/28/2006
Msg: 21 | |
| Motherboard Help
Posted: 11/7/2006 9:50:31 AM | | lol at work we use a vaccum on reverse so it blows the dust out then we have a filter near by that gets all the crap that comes out. we've never fried anything on a computer with it, so I can say from experience that the chances are extremely small anything bad will happen | |
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PcGeek
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Joined: 10/17/2006
Msg: 22 | |
| Motherboard Help
Posted: 11/7/2006 10:45:50 AM | Q 1. What causes a motherboard to not work anymore?
A. It is usually capacitors on the motherboard that go. This is always cause from bad power or too much load on the powersupply. If you unplug and plug in the power cord on generic powersupplys, that will cause the powersupply to short out and feedback bad power into the main board effectivly killing it.
The solution is to purchase a respected brand name powersupply, but this only replaces the powersupply, your mainboard will have to be replace too (which is has been).
I would suggest replacing the powersupply as well to be on the safe side (this is so if your powersupply is damaged you aren't destroying the new motherboard)
Q 2. If you replace a motherboard do you also have to replace the processor?
You can replace the motherboard with the same socket as your processor. What this means is say your computer is an Intel Based Processor and a socket 775, you will need to purchase another socket 775 motherboard.
But things like the ram and videocard you have to know what to look for. If your using onboard video on your current motherboard (this is a video card built literally onto the motherboard) then you can find another motherboard socket 775 to replace it with, the new one having onboard video.
OR
You purchase a new socket 775 motherboard with a video card slot (AGP, PCI-E) and get a basic video card to put in.
Q 3. If I paid for the new motherboard, should I have got the old one back?
If you have purchased a new motherboard, ideally you should keep the old one so you know what you had, but really not necessary.
I would replace the powersupply as well.
Q 4. Is it possible to tell if a comp is gonna crash by the comp just going slow? because thats the reason he said he can tell it is going to crash.
Computers won't crash if its going to slow, if the computer is processing a ton of data and it its slow and then you try doing something it may crash.
Slow computing means the computer is actively doing something. If you can figure out what its doing and decide if its worth processing then terminate it or wait until its done.
Q 5. What can I do to stop it from crashing or is it possible to prevent it at all?
Crashing can be caused by many things. If you are experiencing many crashes, I would save your data, and run a hard drive diagnostic utility which you can get free from the manufactors of the hard drive. This utility will determine the working status of your hard drive. If the hard drive has bad sectors that are not known to the operating system, the operating system will attempt to write to those bad sectors and crash due to an input output error.
If you are experiencing lots of crashing, overhaul your computer, if thats not possible, run Spybot Search and Destroy (Free antispyware software), Lavasoft Adware Free version (free antispyware software, and then some sort of antivirus software.
I personally have bad power from the area I'm in, I have had to purchase a battery backup to help clean and protect my computer.
Feel free to message me if you have further problems (or want help).
Thank you for your time. | |
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PcGeek
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Joined: 10/17/2006
Msg: 23 | |
| Motherboard Help
Posted: 11/7/2006 1:18:52 PM | I'd also like to say,
"I usually leave my computer on when Im not using it but I turn the moniter off. I know its not good for the comp but I did it anyways."
Doesn't really harm the computer. I have a watercooled pc and I leave it on all the time. Its become my mini server. | |
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| Motherboard Help
Posted: 11/10/2006 3:57:55 PM | | You can get brand new emachines for under $300 at Walmart now fully loaded (1.8 GHz AMD Proc., 512MB SDRAM, 120GB HardDrive, etc...) | |
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