Expensive paperweight

[skinnypimp]

I have an old Compaq Presario 1255, 333mgh 64mb ram. A few months ago it started having trouble booting. It would hang during the bios check <where the big compaq logo appears on boot> and would have to be shutdown and restarted. Then it slowly started hanging in other places after the reboot like the winders splash screen. Now it doesnt even get to the Compaq logo, meaning Im assuming, it doesnt even get to the bios check. It wont boot to an A:/ or CD ROM because it doesnt make it that far in the boot. It just sits there. There is power going to the parts because the cd spins up and the hard drive spins up and I get all the pretty LEDs saying its working. But no info on the screen appears.

A little background about when this started may help too. I was in a location running off of generator power for the last 6 months. Very unreliable power at that. I did use a surge protector and made certain not to leave it pluged in when not in use. But could this have been the cause and is there a cheap way to fix this? Or do I have a nice spare parts box http://www.PCGuide.com/ubb/smile.gif

[Whyzman]

skinnypimp,

Read your post the other day and had to chew on it for a bit! My suspicion, with the generator produced power, looks to both ends of the power spectrum.

You mentioned a surge protector which would protect you on the "high" end of things. However, without a battery backup + conditioner, you've not really been protected on the "low" end.

Most surge protectors also have a somewhat predetermined life expectancy. The components take "spikes" in exchange for reduced viability and ultimately failure.

With the setup you've described, your PSU appears to have been at continual power risk on both the low and high ends. Delivering insufficient power to many electrical components can be as damaging to a system as surges.

As to how this would play itself out theoretically in compromising your system and files I'm not exactly sure although it could be what you're experiencing.

I would certainly think your PSU probably feels as though it needs a vacation from the continual up and down exercise to which it's been subjected. http://www.PCGuide.com/ubb/frown.gif http://www.PCGuide.com/ubb/biggrin.gif

One other thought would be to consider replacing your MB battery.

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May all your dealings in life be win/win!


Whyzman
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Reserved for Punishing Humor...A Pessimist's blood is always B-negative!

[This message has been edited by Whyzman (edited 03-17-2002).]

[skinnypimp]

Mobo battery.....never thought of that. Ill give that a try and see what happens. Could be an easy fix. Thanx for the advice.