Big problem here that eventually opened up a can of worms...
Specs:
AMD X2 6000 Windsor 3.0Ghz
Gigabyte GA-MA78GM-S2H Board
4 gb 2x2gb G.Skill DDR1000 (auto clocked to 800 cause I dont have an AM2+ chip)
Corsair vx 550W Power Supply
Single Rail ,+12V@41A
http://www.corsair.com/products/vx/default.aspx
I have a dual boot system, XP and Vista.
Okay, here is the situation. I was playing World of Warcraft yesterday in Windows Vista. All of a sudden my computer shuts down and I smell some smoke. It seemed like a power surge..I re-power up the computer and upon just getting past the Vista logo the computer reboots again.
I assume it is one of the following:
I shut everything down because I am assuming that perhaps there was a power surge and something got fried (smoke smell).
Removed Radeon 4870 video card and same issues happens. My first thought here is I am begining to think the motherboard got fried. This removes the video card from the eqation.
To elminate the Vista hard drive issue I attach that hard drive to another computer as a secondary drive. I turn on that computer and my Vista hard drive catches on fire. One chip started burning. I look closely and in my testing I did not properly attached the power cable to the Vista drive; it was half way out. Now I am screwed because the guy who may have comitted the murder is now dead, and he cannot be properly tested.
I try to boot up my XP drive on my original system with issues. Unfortunately I am getting the A"missing bootmgr" message so I cannot even test that drive! I browse the internet and look for many workarounds for this. Nothing works. WIndows XP repair recovery console requires the "system password" which I dont know what it is because I never use it at all and I cant check because I can't get into my Tweak XP program! I hook this drive up to my other computer (currectly this time) and I can view and use all the files. I have come to the conclusion it is not this drive.
I took the drive from my secoond computer and placed it in my main computer and got to WIndows and it rebooted but I assume this is because it does not match the chipset..
I decide to place my XP drive back into my main system and go through the Vista install disk and see what happens. Maybe I can fix the "missing bootmgr" issue there? I get to the colorful desktop and just before I choose a language, BAM, computer reboots again.
This is now a Power SUpply or a Motherboard issue.
I could not properly test the power supply because I can't get deep enough into Windows to test them. I have a working one but it is only 300w. Also I have a SATA DVD drive so when I place the 300w Power SUpply in my computer I cannot access my Vista DVD disk.
I took out the motherboard and on the back there is a brown spot about an two inches in diameter. Keep in mind this spot is very faint, and you have to look closely.
So the big question is, does a mothermoard have to look scorched to be fried? Or are there various degress one can burn out? Is dis-coloring on the back of the motherboard normal from a year of heat? The motherboard is blue and there is a faded brown spot.
I am about to purchase a new motherboard. Help is appreicated..
Specs:
AMD X2 6000 Windsor 3.0Ghz
Gigabyte GA-MA78GM-S2H Board
4 gb 2x2gb G.Skill DDR1000 (auto clocked to 800 cause I dont have an AM2+ chip)
Corsair vx 550W Power Supply
Single Rail ,+12V@41A
http://www.corsair.com/products/vx/default.aspx
I have a dual boot system, XP and Vista.
Okay, here is the situation. I was playing World of Warcraft yesterday in Windows Vista. All of a sudden my computer shuts down and I smell some smoke. It seemed like a power surge..I re-power up the computer and upon just getting past the Vista logo the computer reboots again.
I assume it is one of the following:
- Power Supply
Vista Hard Drive
Motherboard
Video Card
I shut everything down because I am assuming that perhaps there was a power surge and something got fried (smoke smell).
Removed Radeon 4870 video card and same issues happens. My first thought here is I am begining to think the motherboard got fried. This removes the video card from the eqation.
To elminate the Vista hard drive issue I attach that hard drive to another computer as a secondary drive. I turn on that computer and my Vista hard drive catches on fire. One chip started burning. I look closely and in my testing I did not properly attached the power cable to the Vista drive; it was half way out. Now I am screwed because the guy who may have comitted the murder is now dead, and he cannot be properly tested.
I try to boot up my XP drive on my original system with issues. Unfortunately I am getting the A"missing bootmgr" message so I cannot even test that drive! I browse the internet and look for many workarounds for this. Nothing works. WIndows XP repair recovery console requires the "system password" which I dont know what it is because I never use it at all and I cant check because I can't get into my Tweak XP program! I hook this drive up to my other computer (currectly this time) and I can view and use all the files. I have come to the conclusion it is not this drive.
I took the drive from my secoond computer and placed it in my main computer and got to WIndows and it rebooted but I assume this is because it does not match the chipset..
I decide to place my XP drive back into my main system and go through the Vista install disk and see what happens. Maybe I can fix the "missing bootmgr" issue there? I get to the colorful desktop and just before I choose a language, BAM, computer reboots again.
This is now a Power SUpply or a Motherboard issue.
I could not properly test the power supply because I can't get deep enough into Windows to test them. I have a working one but it is only 300w. Also I have a SATA DVD drive so when I place the 300w Power SUpply in my computer I cannot access my Vista DVD disk.
I took out the motherboard and on the back there is a brown spot about an two inches in diameter. Keep in mind this spot is very faint, and you have to look closely.
So the big question is, does a mothermoard have to look scorched to be fried? Or are there various degress one can burn out? Is dis-coloring on the back of the motherboard normal from a year of heat? The motherboard is blue and there is a faded brown spot.
I am about to purchase a new motherboard. Help is appreicated..