Computer crashed...need diagnosis help

Haha, that was good for a laugh. I wasn't trying to be mean, I just had no clue what you meant by HUB. Anyway.

 

No prob, never got all the terms down for everything...although I do build my own desktops...lol

 

x2

 

Unfortunately I don't have any spare ram that would fit my mobo..I got 2 other laptops here but neither fit..they are like 5 bucks on egay, but I'll probably try the CMOS battery, Aka HUB first..where do they sell these? Best buy? Radio shack? And are they a one size fits all sort of thing or more specific like RAM is?

 

And with the ram, I have 2 sticks in my laptop, one is a 2gb the other a 1gb, tried both separately, no such luck...

 

CMOS batteries are practically all CR2032's (the coin looking battery). You can pull one from a working system to try this. I am pretty doubtful that it's the problem.

It's unlikely both sticks failed at the same time. That brings me back to the conclusion that it's probably the motherboard having failed.

 

If it beeps, you can possibly look up the beep code online.

 

Ordinarily, true. Unfortunately, it only beeps when the OP totally removes the ram. If the ram is in, it shits itself (sounds like during POST) without any beep codes.

Edit: meant post, not boot. Time for bed.

 

exactly

 

Bah, correct, so he'd just be getting the error of no RAM. meh.

 

Attach a monitor to the computer via VGA cable. See if anything shows up on that screen. It could be outputting a CMOS Checksum error, which would be a relatively easy fix involving resetting the BIOS/CMOS settings.

If the relatively basic troubleshooting steps don't fix it, like removing parts until you find the problem, or seeing if the problem appears under other circumstances, chances are good the problem is not going to be as easy to deal with. It's not like you are the feds where you can just throw money at it hoping it will suddenly work - you actually work for your money

 

Even if it's a different model it will likely work. Definitely no reason at all to format the hdd.

 

It will work with a different model, but the OS gets highly confused and performance suffers.

 

No... The worst that can happen is that the Windows anti-piracy stuff will think you're trying to move your license to a second machine. Even if it does happen, you can call Microsoft, and they can read you off an activation code to fix it.

But you're explicitly supposed to be able to still swap at least one part at a time with XP/Vista/7 for exactly this reason. I don't remember what the rules are exactly.

 

Argue with me if you want, I've done it before. Might be better in Win7 but certainly wasn't the case with XP. Had problems with drivers and games didn't perform as well until a reformat.

 

Right... OP, don't reformat unless you like wasting time.

 

just ordered a refurbished mobo and 4gb of ram(time for an upgrade)..ram was free expedited shipping, and the mobo is being sent ups ground...should be here next week at the latest...then my ass is gonna get to work on this bastard