HELP! My computer won't start! Hardware problem

C14N

I think this is in the right thread but I'm not sure since I'm new enough.

Anyway today I was putting in a CD drive and while my PC was open I decided to have a peep at the CPU. I removed the fan thing (it's not actually a fan) from above the CPU and took it outside to blow off the pile of dust. So while it was off I took out my CPU to have a look. I unclipped it and took it out carefully, holding it by the corners. I put it back in and re-clipped it. Then I put the fan thing in it's frame and put it back where it belonged and screwed it in. But then when I reconnected the plug and tried to turn it on it wasn't working. Nothing was showing on my screen (as in it wasn't getting a signal) and I got an odd buzzing noise from my computer every 2 or 3 seconds that sounded like an old dial up connection. Can somebody please help because this is my main PC and I really don't want it to be broken.

Edit, if it means anything, I think that some of the cooling gel might have been wiped off but very little

maclad

You really should have removed the thermal paste and applied a new layer. I think trying to reuse old paste after removing the cooler is bad but i'm not sure if it would fry your cpu. Did it boot for a while afterwards or did the problem start straight after?

C14N

maclad wrote: »

You really should have removed the thermal paste and applied a new layer. I think trying to reuse old paste after removing the cooler is bad but i'm not sure if it would fry your cpu. Did it boot for a while afterwards or did the problem start straight after?

Immediately when I turned it on it started acting up. If I get rid of the paste, will I have to put a new layer on before it works again? And if the paste was fine up until now, why does it stop working when I remove the CPU?

allybhoy

The thermal paste wouldnt affect it like that. It sounds to me that the CPU is not sitting in the socket correctly, try and reseat it, you should see if you look at the cpu upside down that in one of the corners there is a section of pins missing (kind of like a triange) Make sure these line up correctly. Also, when you removed the fan, did you reconnect it to the correct plug? Normally there are a few jumper settings together and it may be possible that if you have connected it to the wrong one, that the motherboard detects there is no fan connected and therefore will not boot. Dont panic though, I doubt you have done any major damage and by opening the case etc is the only real way you will learn

C14N

allybhoy wrote: »

The thermal paste wouldnt affect it like that. It sounds to me that the CPU is not sitting in the socket correctly, try and reseat it, you should see if you look at the cpu upside down that in one of the corners there is a section of pins missing (kind of like a triange) Make sure these line up correctly. Also, when you removed the fan, did you reconnect it to the correct plug? Normally there are a few jumper settings together and it may be possible that if you have connected it to the wrong one, that the motherboard detects there is no fan connected and therefore will not boot. Dont panic though, I doubt you have done any major damage and by opening the case etc is the only real way you will learn

I'll try taking it out and putting it back again. Actually like I said it isn't a proper fan so it doesn't plug in anywhere and yes I was surprised too. I'll try and upload some pics if it still doesn't work

C14N

Okay here's some pics of my "fan":

Top:


Bottom:






Any more help?

allybhoy

That isnt a fan, that is a heat sink, the paste does look really dry but if it was working fine before you opened your case I doubt this was the issue. Have you tried reseating your CPU? What beeps are you getting when you power up your pc? What motherboard\pc have you got?

C14N

My bad:oBut it's problem solved now. I think the problem was in my HDD. I tried disconnecting/reconnecting all components and after the hard drive it worked. Thanks a million for the help and patience though.:)

allybhoy

No Problem man,at least ya got your hands dirty under your case and maybe wouldnt be as afraid in the future to install\remove components

partyatmygaff

thats a beastly sized heatsink, whats your CPU temperatures like if ya know?

allybhoy

Sure is, it looks more like a radiator off a car than a heatsink. Look at the thickness of it near the bottom? I doubt its dissipating all that much heat judging by the state of the thermal paste. It looks like dried asphalt to me.

partyatmygaff

probably that graphite sh1te intel sometimes give with their cpus

looks to be quite a good passive solution, but so damn big

C14N

Not sure about the heatsink. Came with the computer and back then I had to have someone tell me if a PC was good or not. It seems a lot of Dells come with it though

How can I check my CPU temp? At the time it was a brilliant CPU actually, Pentium 4, 3.00GHz

C14N

Problem's back and it's not the HDD. I was upgrading some parts (graphics card, HDD and RAM). I put them all in and when I pushed the power button the exact same beeps came back again. I removed all the new hardware and put back in the old stuff and it still kept beeping. I took out the heatsink again but only because it was in the way of all the other stuff. If it helps there's always 6 beeps and then it just stops but nothing comes up on screen

C14N

Help? I spent a lot of money on thses parts so I really need some advice

Edit, never mind, I found out from another site what to do...