AboutBenedict Brand-Cotti Expertise General questions about Hardware selection, PC self-building. POST issues and boot problems, are all fine. I am also confident answering questions regarding Linux based systems.
Apple Mac is my current weakness, but I'm happy to help where I can.
Experience 15 years Building, Repairing and upgrading PC's and workstations. 5 years Supporting international customers whilst integrating a fixed wireless access systems into their networks. This includes directly training Engineers of various nationalities about our (VectaStar) equipment.
Education/Credentials Data Communications and Telecommunications at Degree Level
Question the compaq is a presario 5000 thereis no where in bios that gives me what the temp is the speed if needed is 900/100 i took the cpu out and replaced it with one i had and it still did it i dont think its windows cuz i tried another hard drive with windows and it did the same thing husband thinks that the motherboard might be going bad? i do have a xp cd ill try that again it told me somethin but cant remember what it had said...
-------------------------
Followup To
Question -
no there is no beeping u turn it on starts up good ..but when it is reading or loading windows u see the window xp symbol and the green bar going back and forth and then it slows down as if its about to start up and then it flashes and restarts over and it just keeps doing that i check he cmos put it in 2 and 3 had no power put it back to 1 and 2 and still did it
-------------------------
Followup To
Question -
when i turn my compaq on it starts loading windowxp and then a quick flash on the screen and computer restarts i checked memory that is fine could a bad cpu cuz the contiuos restart?
Answer -
Hi Maria,
I would say that I'm 90% sure your problem is NOT the CPU.
Is there any other info? Does the Computer beep at all?
The first thing to try is a CMOS reset. Look on the Motherboard for the CMOS (Configuration Memory Operating System) Battery (about the size of a bottle top).
Close to it, you should find three pins with a jumper connector across 2 of them (usually 1 and 2). These should be labelled CLR_CMOS or something similar. You should move this jumper from it's original position across to the other (i.e. pins 2 and 3). wait 5 seconds and move them back.
This process shorts the Battery long enough for the CMOS to lose the information stored in it. This will force your System to resort to default CMOS settings, when you reboot.
CMOS settings can become corrupt for many reasons, it's no big deal as it's quite easy to remedy.
If this fails to fix the problem, I would suspect Temperature to be the cause of your rebooting system.
Check to see if your CPU fan is spinning when you power on.
If it is, then it could be the Thermal Paste that is not transferring the heat well enough. Has your CPU been removed or replaced recently?
A badly cooled Processor can reach a critical Temperature (Around 80 degrees) in as little as 10 seconds. At this point, it may shutdown your system to preserve itself.
At this point, I really hope your system is fixed. If not, let me know and I'll ask a few colleagues what they think?
I hope this has helped.
Kind regards,
Ben
Answer -
Hi Again,
I've just got back from a Funeral. I'm on GMT but I'm never sure the time difference between questioners and UK, as this site is global, so sorry if this is delayed.
We'll try something else; it would be rude to give up this early.
I'm still a little worried about temperature.
Try entering the Setup screen when you boot up (usually by hitting F2 or DEL) during start up.
Once you are on the Blue screen with yellow text, look for PC health or System Monitor or such like. Basically, there should be an option that will show you Fan Speeds and Temperatures of your system.
Check what these are and see if they increase over the space of say 60 seconds?
Failing the Temperature being a problem, Windows could have become corrupt.
Does the PC have a working Floppy Disc Drive?
Finally, do you have a Windows XP CD?
While you try these things, I'll do some research and see what else I can find out.
Kind regards,
Ben
Ps Could you tell me the model of your Compaq Maria?
Answer Hi Maria,
Try the XP CD. If you boot into the Setup (Blue Screen) again and change the Boot Priority to be CDROM/DVD First, your PC should boot off the CD. Follow the prompts as if you intend to do a fresh install, and then select repair the current version. Be sure not to choose the ASR console as it will be of little use to you as your PC keeps restarting.
Let me know how you get on, I've asked a few friends about your situation, so I may hear something back over this weekend.
