krusewalker Posted July 24, 2009 Report Share Posted July 24, 2009 Hi guys We just had a thunderstorm but switched off the PC on the unit and at the wall, but not immediatetely, after couple minutes. Just gone to switch PC back on (currently using old dodgy laptop), and the unit shouts an audio message "system failed CPU test". No boot up, nada. Any ideas? Was it the thunderstorm`? Is she completely dead_ Can i replace the CPU_which bit is the CPU. thank you in advance. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pingu Posted July 24, 2009 Report Share Posted July 24, 2009 what make and model is the PC? from a quick google I am afraid its not looking too good with solutions ranging from flashing the bios to fried motherboard Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
snow Posted July 24, 2009 Report Share Posted July 24, 2009 If you are very lucky it will only be the battery - try replacing it, if you are very unlucky then the problem could be that you will need a new cpu, however, the error can also be caused by a dodgy MB or video card or several other things such as a failing fan, the heatsink being cracked etc etc. it's not that easy to try and track it down yourself if you don't know what you are doing with the insides of a pc. There is a slim chance that static has built up inside, so unplug it, take the side off, earth yourself and touch the side of the casing (not any of the parts inside), whilst there you then might as well blow into the fan a few times and then using a clean small soft paintbrush or makeup brush dust the MB and the fan and give it a good clean. Then plug it back in and try rebooting - don't give up on the first attempt, try a few times and hopefully it will eventually boot up. If it doesn't then if it were mine I'd be trying to decide whether it was so old it wasn't worth fixing or I'd be thinking of getting a man out to take a look lol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rumpole Posted July 24, 2009 Report Share Posted July 24, 2009 If it doesn't then if it were mine I'd be trying to decide whether it was so old it wasn't worth fixing or I'd be thinking of getting a man out to take a look lol oi what happened to equality it doesnt have to be a man Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cycas Posted July 24, 2009 Report Share Posted July 24, 2009 I agree with snow, give it a dust, try turning it on and off lots of times, you might be in luck. Re what caused it, it could be a coincidence, but if you just turned it off but didn't physically unplug it from the phone line, it could still be fried. Electricity can still travel along a phone line/ network cable as long as the cable is physically connected, it doesn't matter what the switches say. However, if the laptop uses the same router via wireless, it's unlikely to have been lightning cos lightning will fry your ADSL box and router first and only after that anything that is physically connected to it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DanishPastry Posted July 24, 2009 Report Share Posted July 24, 2009 (edited) If you are very lucky it will only be the battery - try replacing it, if you are very unlucky then the problem could be that you will need a new cpu, however, the error can also be caused by a dodgy MB or video card or several other things such as a failing fan, the heatsink being cracked etc etc. it's not that easy to try and track it down yourself if you don't know what you are doing with the insides of a pc. There is a slim chance that static has built up inside, so unplug it, take the side off, earth yourself and touch the side of the casing (not any of the parts inside), whilst there you then might as well blow into the fan a few times and then using a clean small soft paintbrush or makeup brush dust the MB and the fan and give it a good clean. Then plug it back in and try rebooting - don't give up on the first attempt, try a few times and hopefully it will eventually boot up. If it doesn't then if it were mine I'd be trying to decide whether it was so old it wasn't worth fixing or I'd be thinking of getting a man out to take a look lol cheers snow. Luckily i managed to get Anne's old laptop working and did some googling of the error message. All the tech links listed all the hardware faults you have....testing, etc, etc So, i just googled "where is your CPU" and found a video. Worked out how to remove the heatsink first, and then the CPU chip, blew away some dust from both, put it all back together.......... and blow me down with a feather, it works! I was convinced it was electro-magnetic damage from the storm, but that was just coincidence. Im a bloody genius! Actually, the inside of your PC is quite simple once you get past it looking scary. It's just a bunch of plugs and sockets. Funny enough, i had another part go wrong last year and all the googling and tech people listed all sorts, and that was just dust as well. Hey Snow, how come you are the only tech expert on the net that ever mentions dust!!! Thanks for your help Whoops! Krusewalker on Danish login Edited July 24, 2009 by DanishPastry Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
snow Posted July 24, 2009 Report Share Posted July 24, 2009 Perhaps because I lost an unbacked up pc to dust many many years ago you'd be surprised how many problems are caused by people not realising just how much dust can get into a pc, especially if it's sited on the floor and/or there are smokers in the home - which applies to me LOL once a fan goes or the heatsink packs up you have only a seconds to turn the flipping thing off before it overheats and goes poof forever. Once my machines get out of warantee I have developed a habit of installing extra fans and making sure they get a good airdusting & brushing every 4 weeks - plus I now have more than 1 pc and have external hard drives and I even remember to back them up now and again Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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