OT: Massive computer problem, help appreciated

Renegade 13 · #1 June 9th, 2007, 05:53 PM

As the title suggests, my computer is out of commission, and I have no idea how to fix it. Here's a detailed account of what happened:

1. I was playing an online game last night, when the game froze. Exitted the game, tryed to restart, didn't work. Restarted the computer.

2. Attempted to re-enter the game once more, after the restart. Everything was good...for about 5 seconds, then it kicks me off again. Restart the computer again.

3. After the restart, I try to connect to the internet. Now I can't even do that, as it says the modem is "already in use" or some such thing. This has happened before on occasion, a restart has almost always fixed it. So I restart...again. At this point, during the shutdown process, Windows hangs up at the "Shutting down Windows" phase. I have to use the power button to kill it.

4. Restart, try to connect to the internet, same message as before. This problem has only occurred twice in a row once before, but, again, a restart has always fixed it. So, I restart *again*. Same issue as before, Windows hangs up at "Shutting down Windows", and I have to use the power button to shut it down. For reference, when I do this, it usually takes a good 4-5 seconds of holding down the power button for it to shut down windows; this is the norm.

5. I try to restart the computer, but almost as soon as I restart, I hear an abnormal, long beep noise. Lasts probably 1-2 seconds. Now there is absolutely no output to the monitor whatsoever. So, I give it a while, to complete the boot-up, since I know that if you kill it during bootup...bad things can happen. So, after a bit, I kill it, again.

6. Restart again, exact same thing as step 5 occurs, and has occurred ever since. Now when killing it with the power button, I only have to just touch the power button and it shuts down, unlike before when you have to hold it for a while.

7. Switched video cards with an old one I have lying around and that didn't do anything. Switched monitors, and that didn't do anything.

So basically, I've eliminated video card and monitor as sources of the problem, but then again, with all the other issues that occurred just before, I didn't think that was the problem anyways

At this point, I'm thinking either a dead motherboard or a particularly nasty virus.

What do you guys think? Any input whatsoever would be very appreciated. I doubt I can fix it on my own, but since its the weekend, I'll have to wait before I can take it anywhere to get fixed anyways

Thy_Reaper · #2 June 9th, 2007, 06:25 PM

It sounds to me like at least one component on the board, or the board itself (unlikely) went bad. That long beep is a BIOS Error code. Different motherboards have different codes, however, so I can't say for certain what the error was.

Can you tell me anything about the motherboard?

Renegade 13 · #3 June 9th, 2007, 07:09 PM

The MB is a Biostar NF4ST-A9, as far as I can tell. It's worth mentioning that the long beep only occured the one time, and does not occur anymore upon starting the computer.

Fyron · #4 June 9th, 2007, 07:18 PM

I wouldn't suspect a virus; boot sector viruses are extremely rare, and any virus in windows would not prevent the BIOS from outputting to the video frame buffer in the bootup process.

Thy_Reaper · #5 June 9th, 2007, 08:20 PM

Hmm... the beep codes for AWARD motherboards (which a biostar is) are quite varied, so I can't find what that exact code might mean, but it should be happening every time.

You should taking your RAM out, then putting it back in. Sometimes major errors like this occur just because the RAM is slightly out of place.

NullAshton · #6 June 9th, 2007, 08:59 PM

It's memory I betcha.

I had the same problem with my dads computer. It turns out that the long beep sound was in fact the memory having gone bad. Either reseat the memory like it was suggested, or if that doesn't work, see if the RAM works in another computer. If it doesn't... yup, memory is bad.

Renegade 13 · #7 June 9th, 2007, 11:54 PM

I shall try reseating the RAM, and if that doesn't work, I'll remove some of the RAM and put it in another computer, to see if it's still good. I'll let you guys know how it goes.

Renegade 13 · #8 June 10th, 2007, 01:00 AM

Reseating the RAM met with no success. I was unable to check the RAM in another computer however, so that possibility still exists, though I have reason to doubt it.

I have 2 Gigs of RAM (4x512Mb), 1 Gig came with the computer, the other I purchased separately and installed at a later date. I removed the extra gig that I installed at a later date, and tried again; no success. I then swapped the groups, putting in the stuff I bought later and the stuff that came with the computer; the result was the same. It seems unlikely that more than one segment of 512 would go simultaneously, doesn't it?

Atrocities · #9 June 10th, 2007, 02:45 AM

Quote:

3. After the restart, I try to connect to the internet. Now I can't even do that, as it says the modem is "already in use" or some such thing. This has happened before on occasion, a restart has almost always fixed it. So I restart...again. At this point, during the shutdown process, Windows hangs up at the "Shutting down Windows" phase. I have to use the power button to kill it.

Ren have you tried pulling or uninstalling your lan or modem then do a restart? After the restart does your system detect and then re-install those devices?

Atrocities · #10 June 10th, 2007, 02:47 AM

Quote:

5. I try to restart the computer, but almost as soon as I restart, I hear an abnormal, long beep noise. Lasts probably 1-2 seconds. Now there is absolutely no output to the monitor whatsoever. So, I give it a while, to complete the boot-up, since I know that if you kill it during bootup...bad things can happen. So, after a bit, I kill it, again.

When this happened to me it was bad RAM, Video Card, Sound Card, and bad HD. As you can see it has happened many times. Hell even once it was a bad key board.