Possible Hard drive or motherboard problem

[Xavier45X]

Hello. I have a Medion computer that is about 3 years old right now. About a year ago, I encountered some hard drive difficulties and, as a result, had to purchase a new hard drive. The hard drive I purchased was a Western Digital Harddrive EIDE Harddrive. I installed it and on the very rare occasion, have had my computer shut down on me. Upon restarting the computer, the screen would freeze on the Pentium IV Screen. In order to fix this, I would need to open up the computer and adjust the connections connecting the Hard Drive to the Motherboard. The computer would then restart.

A few days ago, I encountered this problem yet again. I made sure the attachments were all tightened between the motherboard and all other computer components but when I restarted, the comptuer would freeze up on the Pentium IV screen write after showing the BIOS. I have tried switching in an extra hard drive we have for an older computer as well as my computer's old graphics card to try and role out both of those. With a different graphics card and hard drive attached, I am still witnessing the same problem.

What I am wondering is if there is any other possiblity for what is wrong with my computer before I conclude that it is the motherboard? Perhaps the cables attaching these together? If it is the motherboard, is it feasible to replace it or would I be further ahead replacing the computer altogether? A final thing is that my last data back up was a little over a month ago and I have some important files that have been updated. If the hard drive is indeed workign corretly, could I install it into another computer of the same brand and model and retrive these files, or would the computer prompt me to reformat the harddrive upon being installed?

Thank you for your time,

Todd

[ctal]

That sort of erratic behavior can be caused by dust buildup causing temperatures to become too high, particularly on the cpu chip, northbridge chip (the one with the heatsink located near the cpu), or power supply. Perhaps when you temporarily fixed the problem by adjusting the hd cables, you were simply giving the components time to cool off. Look for signs of air-flow obstruction in these areas and around the fans.

If you are running Windows XP, I would think that placing the hard drive as the system drive in an identical computer would allow it to boot and work normally, or at worst you might have to re-activate Windows on-line, which is pretty simple to do.

Another approach to retrieving your files is to create a BartPE cd:

Bart's Preinstalled Environment (BartPE) bootable live windows CD/DVD

which would take some time to do but will be a valuable tool to have. You could then boot to the cd, and use its file management provisions to copy the files to external media such as a usb key. Alternatively, and this would be quicker to do, you could download and burn a bootable cd of a linux distribution such as Ubuntu, boot to that, and copy your files to external media. Of course, if you can't get the computer to boot at all you would have to do this with the drive in another computer.

Besides dust buildup, other possible causes besides the motherboard are the power supply (for an intermittent problem like this probably the only way to determine that is to swap in another one), memory (do a Google search for memtest86 or memtest86+ to test it), or the cables.

Good luck!
-- Al

[ctal]

As a p.s. to my previous post, if you find that there is dust buildup the proper way to remove it is with a spray can of compressed air (available at Radio Shack and elsewhere). Do not use a brush if it might come into contact with chip leads or circuit points, or you risk damaging chips with static electricity. If it is just chassis metalwork, fan grills, etc., that you are trying to clear out, then a small brush is probably ok.
-- Al

[ctal]

One further thought -- perhaps the cmos battery (on the motherboard, but user replaceable) is getting weak. A way to tell that is if your computer's clock has not been running accurately. It would be most likely to be weak after 3 years if the computer spends a lot of time disconnected from the ac mains supply, which is when the battery is called on to back up the clock and cmos settings.

[3 of 7]

If you want to grab the data off your drive, the easiest way to do it would be hook it up to a working computer (just use the cable for the cd drive) you can then copy the files to the other computer to be burned..

[Xavier45X]

My computer spends the majority of its time plugged in and on. The clock doesnt seem to be calibrated correctly as it has, in the past, always gone off by a few minutes over time. Sometimes when the computer goes to sleep over night, it will be af ew hours behind. Is this characteristic of having that battery go bad too?

Also, I did boot up the hard drive on another computer and it seemed to work perfectly fine. Could the graphics card be the problem or would that not have any affect on the computer freezing like it is?

Thanks

[ctal]

With most modern desktop pc's with atx type motherboards and atx power supplies, standby power from the power supply powers the clock circuit as long as the computer is plugged in. The battery powers the clock circuit when the computer is not plugged in. I don't know whether the design of your Medion is different in some way, that may call the battery into play even when plugged in. But I would definitely replace it and see. Check your manual, or the mfr. website, for information on its type and how to replace it. Many computers use a CR2032, available at Radio Shack or wherever watch and calculator batteries are sold. It's also possible, though, that the power supply is causing the problem.

I don't think it's the graphics card. You said you had tried another one, and I suspect that a graphics card problem would be more likely to appear during or after Windows startup, while it sounds like the freezing you are seeing is occuring before Windows begins to start (during what you described as the "Pentium screen," which I assume is put up by the bios).

-- Al

[SpeedDMN]

Originally Posted by ctal

With most modern desktop pc's with atx type motherboards and atx power supplies, standby power from the power supply powers the clock circuit as long as the computer is plugged in. The battery powers the clock circuit when the computer is not plugged in. I don't know whether the design of your Medion is different in some way, that may call the battery into play even when plugged in. But I would definitely replace it and see. Check your manual, or the mfr. website, for information on its type and how to replace it. Many computers use a CR2032, available at Radio Shack or wherever watch and calculator batteries are sold. It's also possible, though, that the power supply is causing the problem.

I don't think it's the graphics card. You said you had tried another one, and I suspect that a graphics card problem would be more likely to appear during or after Windows startup, while it sounds like the freezing you are seeing is occuring before Windows begins to start (during what you described as the "Pentium screen," which I assume is put up by the bios).

-- Al

yeah the 2 things that occurred to me were power supply and cables. The battery would be a cheap solution and after 3 years wont hurt to replace anyway even if it turns out not to be the problem.