HELP! Computer just quit!!!!!!

Hello all. I have built many computers in the past, including the two I currently own.

My main one is fine...but my secondary one is the one that I am having problems with.

I attempted to install RAM and a Sound Card tonight.

So I get it in, and I power on the machine. It recognises the new ram and it says RAM OK. Then it stopps.....nothing happens beyond this point. I cannot access bios by pressing "del" like it says...I cannot get anywhere!

I took the SBLive AND the RAM out...same problem.

The system specs are:

500MHz Athlon
Giga-Byte GA-7IX Mobo
Maxtor 7200RPM 30Gig Hard Drive
OS: Windows 2000 Professional
Siemens Ethernet Card
ATI All-In-Wonder 128 16MB Video
Was attempting to install SB Live! Value
Existing 128MB RAM...I was putting in a a stick that had previously been in the computer...so I don't know why it caused this.

PLEASE HELP ASAP as this is a FTP server for my website, and it needs to be up!

Thanks A Lot to anyone who replies!

-Mark

*EDIT* I will be checking this forum every 10 minutes for replies...so please check back if you require an answer or to see if the solution worked.

 

I'm assuming you have power to everything...... how about trying to clear the CMOS. You should have a jumper to do this. If not, take out the battery for a few minutes. It should reset to the default settings. See if it will fire back up.

Debe

 

Will taking out the battery cause any data loss?

Thanks for the quick response!

-Mark

P.S. There is no jumper for that

 

It will set all your bios settings back to default. No data loss to the hard drive.
If it decides to boot back up, just go back into the bios and recheck the settings you may have changed. Sometimes the drives have to be reset to auto detect, if it fails to "see" them.

Good Luck....

Debe

 

Attempt failed....still same thing.

Can't get anywhere...it stops at the same point as before.

Any more ideas?

Thanks

-Mark

 

Did you recheck all the drive cables? Might have knocked one loose when installing the soundcard and RAM?

See if any loose screws got trapped under the MB.

Is the CPU fan working properly?

Doesn't the Gigabyte MBs have that dual BIOS function? Not sure exactly how it works, but I think you can switch to the 2nd BIOS if you are having a problem with the primary.

All I can think of at the moment...

 

What you said would make sense...but it's not the cables because I double checked them.

One more thing I forgot to mention...when I booted up with SoundCard and RAM it went a step further...it said "Detecting IDE Drives"...but then it stopped...it didn't detect any.

-Mark

 

Is the hard drive formatted? And jumpered correctly And does the hard drive show up in the bios? Since you took the battery out, you may need to manually reset the hard drive size.

 

AcaCandy: To answer your question...I can't even get into the BIOS to do anything...I press "del" which is the key and nothing happens.... Everything was working fine until I tried to install this stuff. I had Windows 2000 on one partition and Mandrake Linux on another.

JSanguancheu: I was only working with one screw...which is sitting on the table now. The CPU fan is working properly. Also, this Giga-Byte mobo doesn't have that feature because it is from 1999. My new Giga-Byte in my Athlon XP 1800+ box has dual BIOS.

Any more ideas on what to do?

-Mark

*EDIT* I tried the battery out again now for about 10 minutes...still same old stuff.

 

Is the ram in slot 1? Does it count up at all? Pull the soundcard out........disconnect the hard drive, put a boot floppy disk in.......will the computer boot to the floppy?


EDIT: I see where you said the ram was ok......but double check.....

 

What I did was this...

When it didn't work, I pulled out the 256MB RAM I was trying to install....I also pulled out the sound card...and I haven't had them in at all during this whole troubleshooting thread.

By boot floppy...what exactly do you mean? This machine was running Windows 2000. I didn't make a boot disk or anything. How would I do that?

So let me clairify...because I have to go to work now:

1. The sound card is: OUT
2. The new RAM is : OUT
3. The old ram is: IN
4. The hard drive is: CONNECTED

I will try to check back during the day so I can reply at work...but I might not get around to it.

Thanks for your help so far!

-Mark

 

I'd still disconnect the hard drive then, just in case......

You can download a boot disk here......save to desktop, double click and follow instructions.......


http://freepctech.com/pc/002/files010.shtml

 

What boot disk do you want me to download?

If I disconnect the hard drive...than why would I download the Win2k one?

-Mark

 

Download either one you want..........I like to use the win98 because I'm more familiar with that one......I can't say I've used the others.......

the main issue here, is to get access to the computer.......

 

Well what am I trying to acomplish by making a boot disk?

If I have the hard drive disconnected than how would it boot up Win2K?

I don't see the point in downloading a win98 boot one when I don't have 98 on that box.

I downloaded one just to see what it was...it was the 2000 one, and it had 4 exe files...is it supposed to go on to 4 floppy disks?

And if I did the 2000 one wouldn't I need the hd connected?