Win xp
celeron 2.4ghz
512 ram

hey everyone, I've been having some trouble with my pc and I was wondering if anyone can help me.

Problem #1
Sometimes when I turn my pc on it will say that the bios has failed to load various times but then it goes into windows without much problems.

Problem #2
Sometimes the keybord doesn't work, when I turn the pc off the three leds (number lock, cap lock, scroll lock)keep on blinking while the pc is off and if I turn it on I know that the keyboard will work. but if only the number lock led is on (no blinking) the keybord will not work and then to make it work I have to disconnect and reconnect the keyboard. Sometimes the keyboard is working and then suddenly it stops working. Once some keys worked like the letters and numbers but the arrows and the control, shift keys were not working.

Problem #3
I have two drives a samsung dvd and a samsung cdrw and when I insert a cd it will take a long time to load ( a cd with software) or it simply will not load (cd with mp3).

if somebody could help me out it would be greatly appreciated.

Sounds like your motherboard might be on the edge of dying. All three of those problems relate back to it. I'd suggest looking into a new board...

-r-

I concur - see about replacing that mobo.

I actually just thought of something - could be a flaky power supply too. I'd actually suggest replacing that before replacing the board since that's cheaper - if it doesn't fix things then you have a spare sitting around. I've found spare power supplies to be a great thing to have sitting around.



-r-

thanxs guys I'll let you know how it turns out

Woah woah now here people. Blinking keys on your keyboard is generally a sign of bad RAM or misseated RAM, not a motherboard failure. Open your machine and make sure that the RAM is seated correctly in the slots and then run memtest86 (from memtest86.org I believe). Do the full test of the memory, not just the short run. It's more likely that something happened to your RAM than the motherboard itself.

Doc

this could actually be a hardcore virus, u shud get a good scanner (mcaffee or even better kaspersky) and scan the whole system.. they can get around if the guy knows how to program well.. once a virus fried my video card.. no joke.

if BIOs is failing u could try to replace the chip, but u'd need the EXACT same model. see if the mobo vendor can help u out.

as for the load times on the CD, u could try to clean the drive with a lens cleaner.

the computer is relatively new, i was thinking like 1994 w/ some upgrades till i read the specs. the problems are too random to totally replace the mobo, which is why i think it's a virus of some sort. i mean: cd drive, bios, PS2 keyboard port (that's what ur using right?) .. are a bit too random to fail all at once, unless u like dropped the PC and the pipelines inside cracked or something

so scan w/ an updated virus scanner, and if that doesn't work, contact ur comp people and tell em bout the problem. they'll tell u what to replace and how.

well I scanned it and no virus came up and the mem test came up negative also.

The reaSON for the problems might lie in the fact that both the memory and mother board were changed resently because of a power surge. could it be that there is a compatibility issue ? or maybe I just got a bad product or something.

Did you replace the power supply after the surge? If not, that's the first place I'd check. If it's providing bad power to the main board, then it's logic levels will be all screwed up and it won't be getting anything like it wants to be getting. Also explains the CD drive buggering off - CD drives on bad power are like people on a bad trip. They'll do everything weird.

If you did replace the power supply, I still say do the main board. All of these problems relate to it.

Denis: BIOS/keyboard port/cd drives are ALL related, everything goes through the BIOS - if it's flaky then just about anything can go on a system and make it seem completely random. While a virus might cause ONE of these issues, one virus isn't likely to cause all of these, and the number of machine coded viruses out there (read: viruses that AREN'T designed to penetrate a windows vulnerability or other and are instead aimed at hardware) are VERY rare.

-r-

I'll put $10 on the memory being seated incorrectly or being bad or incompatible...still. After hearing that the memory was recently replaced, it even leads me to believe that its even more an issue with the RAM.

Doc

well, once in a storm, there was a massive flash and thunder, and then my PC shut off...

and b4 i knew it, my net was dead.. why? the LAN card fried..

thank god that was a PCI one and not the mobo ones

sounds like the lightning hit the wiring of my cable line somehow and well, smoked my LAN card and i guess the mobo was like "holy F-ing [bleep]" and shut itself off in some kind of voltage overload procedure.

***Steele... being quite a bit of a virus/trojan man myself I hardly thought of it as almost impossible to get f-ed in the hardware by a virus. Till I was tipsy and got a file, didn't scan it, and opened it, and a split second later i was like "damn should scan" and 2 seconds later an error popped up, and my screen went all garbled up, and was like that till i threw my Geforce 3 TI500 away.

What's sicker, is that I've seen a PC mobo melt from a virus. Or close enough, the bastard friend of mine who made it tested it at school, and the comp's power setting got so wasted it smoked from the inside and then totally died.

..

But in that case, I'd see about the BIOS chip first. So to the original poster, see if you can get another.

well since the motherboard and ram were recently changed I will now try the power and let you know how it turns out.
thanxs