PC freezes within 30sec. of successful POST

[MANU]

There was a bad mains power supply connection and the PC switched ON and OFF alternately a few times before I could switch off the mains. Now my PC goes through with the POST succesfully ( single beep only ) and then within a few seconds it freezes,i.e., the monitor goes blank, CPU fan and Power supply fan keep running. I changed the ATX power supply and now it takes slightly more time to freeze.

One more observations is that if I boot the PC after a long time, it stays ON for a longer time.

my Bios Id is 02/06/1999-i440zx-W977TF-2A69KPNIC-00, bios version is biz1a v1.1

I suspect one or more of the following:

1. Flash Bios (Winbond 29C020-120ns) may have gone corrupt.
2. Some component on the motherboard is probably getting heated and causes a short circuit/reset/something.

Any other possibilities ... I am waiting here

[DANQU]

If you can get to the CMOS settings try changing to the default settings.

Resetting cables might help

Smell and check for burnt components on the motherboard

Hope this helps
Dan

[ixl]

I'm sure you don't want to hear this, but it does sound to me like "something got fried". The question is, how to determine what. I agree with doing a visual inspection for starters. Any ideas on your own what might be blown, if anything?

------------------
Charles M. Kozierok ( ixlubb@PCGuide.com )
Webslave, The PC Guide (http://www.PCGuide.com)
Comprehensive PC Reference, Troubleshooting, Optimization and Buyer's Guides...

[dale]

Originally posted by MANU:
One more observations is that if I boot the PC after a long time, it stays ON for a longer time.


If I read this correctly, you are saying that the computer actually runs o.k. for a bit (running Windows) before it freezes? If so, then its not a BIOS problem and points to a heating problem. You said the CPU fan is working so that's not the problem. You changed the power supply, so I assume its power supply fan is working. So something else must be heating up or causing a heating problem. If what you meant is that Windows never starts, it just takes longer to appear to freeze, then I agree, maybe your BIOS got scrambled a little somehow.

dale