DavidW

Thanks for that. It worked! David

Still having the same problem. Taskbar frozen until I load a file via My Documents as described. From then on all is fine. I'm a bit reluctant to turn off the computer, in case it won't work at all next time! David

After rebooting following a windows update this morning, all went ok until the ESET NOD32 logo come and went as usual, but the ESET icon did not appear on the right hand side of the bottom taskbar as it should. I tried to click on "start" button to reboot, but found it didn't work, showing the "egg timer" symbol. This applied to all icons on the taskbar. When it was still hanging about 15mins later, I rebooted using the on/off button, and had the same problem. I then found that the desktop icons were working, and loaded an excel spreadsheet via My Documents with no problem, after which the taskbar icons started to work. I've rebooted several times since, with the same results. Any ideas? David White

CPU/RAM compatibility OK - understood. Thanks

CPU/RAM compatibility DirtyPolo Thanks for that. What does "667MHz RAM, should not be downclocked at all." mean?

I am currently upgrading a computer (see "PC won't start" threads), replacing CPU/Board/RAM. The CPU is a Pentium Dual Core E5200 with 800FSB, the board is a Gigabyte GA-G31M-2SL, and the RAM 2x1GB DDR2 400MHz. Unfortunately the board only supports 667MHz & 800MHz RAM (didn't notice this until I read the manual - the eBuyer blurb just said it supports DDR2 SDRAM, and I assumed it supported all speeds - rookie error!) I think that 400MHz RAM is the minimum required for a 800FSB CPU, and that 667MHz would work OK, I just wouldn't get the benefit of the extra speed. Is this correct? Or do I have to use the 400MHz RAM? I would rather swap the RAM with eBuyer than the board - less postage!

PC won't work Jack Hackett – re BIOS battery: the current one is new, as it came with the new board Plastic Nev – by “jiggling the PSU” I mean that by taking it out & cleaning it, it might have made it work properly again temporarily. I did not suspect the PSU until the fault came back after 2 weeks. I think you are correct when you say the old PSU has damaged the new board. That fits the facts. I think it’s time to stop throwing good money after bad. The CPU is an old 478 socket, so I think I’ll spend £150 with eBuyer and upgrade to a modest Dual Core with new board & RAM, and give it another lease of life. Many thanks for all your help.

PC won't start Tootech No go! I followed your advice to the letter, but with just speaker & power switch connected, its just the fans - no beep. The speaker is working, as I disconnected it & applied a voltage, and it beeped OK. I have 2 concerns: The original fault (not booting, just fans & LEDs working, with the power button switching it on & off normally) happened with the original set up with the MSI board. The fault reappeared after I changed the board to the ASRock (albeit after a couple of weeks of normal operation). This seems to rule out the board as the cause, as it would be an incredible coincidence if the second board developed an identical fault to the first one. As I have also replaced the PSU, this seems to leave the CPU as culprit. However, my second concern is what happened yesterday. I removed & replaced the BIOS battery (with the power off), and when I turned on the power, the fans immediately started (no LEDs), and the power switch has no effect. It would seem that the board is stuck in the power-on mode. It is still doing this today. Why should just removing & replacing the battery cause this? Weird! Have you come across this before, and is it repairable? I now seem to have a faulty board as well as a probably faulty CPU!

PC won't start Many thanks for the advice. I will give it a go & let you know what happens.

I have used Quicken 2001 (UK version) for some time, but I reconcile bank & credit cards manually, so am not an expert in Quicken's automatic reconciliations, however I have a vague memory from something I tried to do a few years ago that Quicken doesn't like specified dates of 29th/30th/31st for regular routine monthly functions, because it causes a wobbly in February. Do you have a recent backup from before you changed the date that you could roll forward from, leaving the date as it was, or is that not practical? I think that if to try to un-reconcile the Jan transactions for 2008 year end purposes, Quicken will permanently disable the reconciliation facilty on that account, so beware! Apologies if this advice is not helpful!

PC won't start I transferred the CPU from the original MSI board to the new ASRock one after the fault first appeared. I think this was done OK (cleaned surfaces with iso-propyl alcohol & used Artic Silver according to their instructions). Anyway, with the new motherboard the computer worked ok for about 2 weeks before the fault re-appeared.

I have what appears to be the identical problem reported recently by P4UL In summary, a computer I built about 5 years ago (which has been fine until now) developed a fault about a month ago whereby when it is switched on, the fans start and the power & HD LEDs come on, and stay on, and nothing further happens. The basics of the computer are: Intel P4 2.66GHz 478 socket/MSI motherboard/1GB (2x512MB) PC2100 RAM/Windows XP Home. On board audio & graphics are used, with no PCI boards attached. My first instinct was a faulty motherboard, which I replaced with an ASRock P4i65G. Whilst replacing the board, I stripped the computer to give it a clean before re-assembly. It worked OK immediately, but this only lasted for about 2 weeks, when the fault returned. I then thought it must the power supply, which had been jingled into temporary action whilst I was cleaning it. I replaced it with a Compucase Green Earth 350W (to help save the planet), but the fault is still there. I have since tried everything I can think of: starting it after disconnecting all drives, front panel USB & audio, trying both RAM strips in DDR1 in turn (leaving DDR2 empty), testing the front panel switches & LEDs , rechecking all connections etc, but no joy. The only thing I hadn’t done that was suggested in the P4UL threads was to remove & replace the motherboard battery with the power off. I did this, and now the fans come on as soon as the computer is plugged in, neither LED works, and the power switch does nothing at all! Before I throw the beastly thing (and myself) into the canal, can anyone suggest anything I’ve missed? Could a faulty CPU be causing it?