PC shut itself down & will not boot

[mick.n]

Hi all. As the topic title says.Was online the other day & it shut itself down without any warning It is a self build I7 sandybridge that i built in 2011.
When i try to boot, it doesn't POST and keeps going in a cycle of attempting to boot over & over.

Paper clip test on the PSU spins up the PSU fan.
Tried removing BIOS battery & shorted the pins out, re-seated the RAM. Disconected all peripherals to a bare bones state.

Anyone else had this kind of problem?

Or do you think 13 years is a good innings & time to replace?

Thank you in advance for any suggestions.

PS, sorry for and bad spelling & other typo stuff..........using a new laptop with a crap keyboard

[OneWorld]

Seems like you've gone throiugh all the cpr routine and now it's nil by mouth, as good as gone, it should put its affairs in order and call the family too tell them it loves them then administer the last rites(or last boot, and boot it into the skip), have a funeral service at the city dump.

A machine from a bye-gone era might well be sending you a message from the grave "get a new computer"

On the subject of replacement computers, I got one of those min-pcs and it has surpassed all expectations, and is Intel i9, NVMe, DDR5, +Data Drive, USB3 etc ok I had to jettision Firewire and my PCIe UAD card but do I miss them? nah

"PS, sorry for and bad spelling & other typo stuff..........using a new laptop with a crap keyboard"

I have a problem with keyboards, the letters X,E,S seem to wear out prematurely

[zenguitar]

I have a problem with keyboards, the letters X,E,S seem to wear out prematurely

Searching for Essex often?

Andy

[OneWorld]

I have a problem with keyboards, the letters X,E,S seem to wear out prematurely

Searching for Essex often?

Andy

That would mean the 'S', 'E' wears out twice as fast

[ajay_m]

Can you get into the bios? F2 repeatedly or delete depending on motherboard are the most common keys. If not, remove all memory dimms and unplug drives and then try. If you can get into the bios change the boot order to boot from usb and (on another pc) make a bootable memtest86+ usb stick. Change boot order to usb first. Then replace dimms and see if it'll boot and test ram.

[resistorman]

It has served you well! Time to move on... RIP

[OneWorld]

It has served you well! Time to move on... RIP

There peaks the voice of reason

[OneWorld]

Hi all. As the topic title says.Was online the other day & it shut itself down without any warning It is a self build I7 sandybridge that i built in 2011.
When i try to boot, it doesn't POST and keeps going in a cycle of attempting to boot over & over.

Paper clip test on the PSU spins up the PSU fan.
Tried removing BIOS battery & shorted the pins out, re-seated the RAM. Disconected all peripherals to a bare bones state.

Anyone else had this kind of problem?

Or do you think 13 years is a good innings & time to replace?

Thank you in advance for any suggestions.

PS, sorry for and bad spelling & other typo stuff..........using a new laptop with a crap keyboard

Where are you based? I have upgraded my setup and that includes an old 'office' machine, but certainly adequate for average DAW work. In fact despite it esteemed age, it performs surprisingly well. It is a quad core intel, 8 gig'o'ram 2 drives, you can have it on collection. Just PM me if interested

[ef37a]

I am in a similar place with an Asus home build of some years ago. Not used for many months, when I fired it up a few weeks ago not a lot of joy.
As I recall..."INI Boot error" "Insert valid boot media" Had little clue but then I recalled you can make W7 boot disc with a laptop. Worked! But, "This copy of Windows 7 is illegal. To validate........." No way could I find a way to do that.

I was then told I could upgrade to W10 with the "Ms MCT tool" Nope, it does not like my shronky copy. I then found my product key and spent 2 hours re installing W7 with SP1. Still does not work but is at least legal.

The PC is an AMD Black 3G 6 core and was pretty quick and has not had a lot of use. As a W10 machine I am sure it will be useful.
I am going to fully format the hard drive and try a fresh install.

Dave.

[mick.n]

Thanks for the replies & suggestions everybody, much appreciated.

Looks like i am going to buy a ready built desktop from Scan. Got a short list of 2 & would be interested to hear any comments.

https://www.scan.co.uk/products/3xs-pro ... ssd-win-11

https://www.scan.co.uk/products/3xs-pro ... -ssd-win11

Bearing mind that nowadays i am more of a hobbyist than involved in anything "Mission critical"

Thanks in advance

[tea for two]

interested to hear any comments.
https://www.scan.co.uk/products/3xs-pro ... ssd-win-11

My preference would be this Ryzen 7700x as it can be run efficiently in Eco mode 65W using official AMD software. Which would consume less wattage, run cooler, quieter, lower electricity bills, whilst offering plenty performance apparently only approx 5-7% reduction in performance.
Thereafter for those instances requiring extra oomph just using official AMD software to take it out of Eco mode.

Intel 14th gen have the worst in terms of inefficiency.

[OneWorld]

interested to hear any comments.
https://www.scan.co.uk/products/3xs-pro ... ssd-win-11

My preference would be this Ryzen 7700x as it can be run efficiently in Eco mode 65W using official AMD software. Which would consume less wattage, run cooler, quieter, lower electricity bills, whilst offering plenty performance apparently only approx 5-7% reduction in performance.
Thereafter for those instances requiring extra oomph just using official AMD software to take it out of Eco mode.

Intel 14th gen have the worst in terms of inefficiency.

I never would have thought I would factor in the cost of running a computer to be considered when trying to save on energy bills, thinking the cost of running a computer was minimal. Not any more, I de-commissioned my old PC. though it was still quite capable of doing the job and bought a modern replacement and now I am saving about £1.25 a day, (I left it turned on for at least 12 hours a day) not much some might say, but £37.00 a month, that is a considerable saving.

I can put the new computer into sleep ode in a couple of seconds and it comes out of sleep just as fast, the old pc was like having to wake Lazarus, so I never bothered with the sleep mode

[tea for two]

I wasn't aware of this intel is getting sued for their defective 13th gen 14th gen cpus which reportedly intel knew they were defective under certain use cases.
From 16min25sec of this video.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=_ZDvfg-4ncg

::

Gamers Nexus is one the reputable reliable impartial cpu computer components testers on utube.

[N i g e l]

....bought a modern replacement and now I am saving about £1.25 a day, (I left it turned on for at least 12 hours a day) not much some might say, but £37.00 a month, that is a considerable saving.

I had somthing similar when I upgraded my screens.

The waste energy is mainly dissapated as heat, keeping your studio nice and cosy in winter and reducing heating bills.

In the heat of summer, the new tech should help keep cool.

[mick.n]

Thanks again Gents. Looks like it is the AMD Ryzen one am opting for.
Just trying to find a VGR to display port adaptor at the moment.

[dj-congress_bill-of-rights]

if all other options fail, you can take your pc into Best Buy and for a fee they can try to repair it, I personally have the sneaking suspicion they harvest data however

I personally recommend for professional or serious computing you buy from a vendor like hp or dell instead of building a computer, the reason is vendors offer tech support and if covered under warranty, an option to repair, either through a service center or by mail

I personally have had dell workstations last upwards of 10 years and hp workstations that stop working right after their 1 year warranty

[ef37a]

I have actually managed to get my 6 core 3.5g AMD running pretty well, legal now.
I want to upgrade it to W10 but days of trying have come to naught. It seems Microsoft just want you to go and buy a new W11 machine and make it virtually impossible to download and install ten...and I don't want free!

My only hope it seems is to find someone with a "non windows" machine. That can apparently bypass the block Ms put on the download of the ISO.
Once I have ten on a stick or DVD I think I can install it then buy a license?

Dave.

[ef37a]

Thanks again Gents. Looks like it is the AMD Ryzen one am opting for.
Just trying to find a VGR to display port adaptor at the moment.

https://cpc.farnell.com/av-link/122427u ... t=Adaptors ?

Dave.

[Martin Walker]

I have actually managed to get my 6 core 3.5g AMD running pretty well, legal now.
I want to upgrade it to W10 but days of trying have come to naught. It seems Microsoft just want you to go and buy a new W11 machine and make it virtually impossible to download and install ten...and I don't want free!

My only hope it seems is to find someone with a "non windows" machine. That can apparently bypass the block Ms put on the download of the ISO.
Once I have ten on a stick or DVD I think I can install it then buy a license?

Dave.

Hi Dave,
Like you, I'd like to upgrade my 'archaic but plenty powerful enough and still working beautifully' Windows 7-based PC to Windows 10.

Please let me know if you manage this, as I'm damned if I'm going to retire my Intel quad-core i7 machine running at 4.4GHz, simply because a few modern apps refuse to install under Windows 7.

[James Perrett]

My only hope it seems is to find someone with a "non windows" machine. That can apparently bypass the block Ms put on the download of the ISO.

Why not set up a Linux virtual machine using Virtual Box? Modern Linux is much more friendly than it used to be.

[ef37a]

I have actually managed to get my 6 core 3.5g AMD running pretty well, legal now.
I want to upgrade it to W10 but days of trying have come to naught. It seems Microsoft just want you to go and buy a new W11 machine and make it virtually impossible to download and install ten...and I don't want free!

My only hope it seems is to find someone with a "non windows" machine. That can apparently bypass the block Ms put on the download of the ISO.
Once I have ten on a stick or DVD I think I can install it then buy a license?

Dave.

Hi Dave,
Like you, I'd like to upgrade my 'archaic but plenty powerful enough and still working beautifully' Windows 7-based PC to Windows 10.

Please let me know if you manage this, as I'm damned if I'm going to retire my Intel quad-core i7 machine running at 4.4GHz, simply because a few modern apps refuse to install under Windows 7.

Hi Martin, I have found a firm that offer a w10 download "kit" for £17, seems to good to be true? But they had a phone number 08002796218 "Your Web Shop" does not work so I tried the chat box (a struggle with my mince!) and the guy said support would phone me within 24 hours.
I am not hard up for 17 quid and will gladly pay a lot more for a good result.
I can't even check to see if the PC will run W11 because Msoft won't TALK to Win 7 anymore!

Linux James? During my machinations I installed a version. Gobbledygook! I shall be in me box before I work that out!

Dave.

[ef37a]

I have done it! I jumped in and did a remote desktop installation from a company called "Any Desk Services" they appear to be in Germany.

I had to download and install some software to allow them access. I shall remove that once I am totally happy. The process IS complex, Msft throw all the spanners at these guys that they do us but they are s*** hot on the ball and circumvent the problems!

I have now paid my £17 for an activation code. Not got it yet but I decided to take the chance.

The PC had a fresh 480G SSD in it with virtually nothing but W7 on it so letting someone else have control was pretty safe? I have kept the same password for it but will change that as well once I am cooking. I only have details such as my bank on one laptop.

Maybe Martin worth putting W7 on a spare, empty drive and giving this a go?

Dave.

[Martin Walker]

This does sound encouraging, although I do have significantly more sensitive data on my Pc after 10 years, so I’d be a bit averse to letting any outsiders take control of it to install Windows 10.

I’ll have a think about how much effort it would take to ‘anonymise’ it

Still, let’s see how you get on once you’re properly activated.

Thanks for the info!

Martin

[ef37a]

This does sound encouraging, although I do have significantly more sensitive data on my Pc after 10 years, so I’d be a bit averse to letting any outsiders take control of it to install Windows 10.

I’ll have a think about how much effort it would take to ‘anonymise’ it

Still, let’s see how you get on once you’re properly activated.

Thanks for the info!

Martin

Yes, I imagine you would be very cautious! Assuming you have a W7 install disk you could do what I did. Install W7 on a new SSD (old 1TB job is a spinner*) then disconnect all your other drives to do the dirty deed.

Re the activation, I can only assume it is done? I have had no warnings from microsoft that I shall need to active and Belarc Adviser shows me the product keys for w10 and the old w7. Is it seven days when they start to get twitchy?

I have to say the computer is very bloody swift! The new install has fixed a lot of stuff such as the USB 3.0 PCI card that I could never get working in seven. Neither did the on board ethernet port but I have no yellow blobs in Dev Mang anymore so that's my next test.

I will say, watching the PC being manipulated remotely for the best part of an hour is both terrifying and fascinating!

*That is now a useless lump I have borked the format and the PC will not even find it now. I am hoping a USB dock will allow me to save it.

Dave.

[FrankF]

I don't understand all the reticence to download W10 from Microsoft to a W7 machine and upgrade: if you have an existing MS licence, then it's free, unless things have changed recently.

I bought a USB thumb-drive (a tenner) and put W10 on it myself, then upgraded a desktop and a laptop with it. It was painless, quick, anodyne, analgesic, simple, swift, etc.

For the record, I also bought a reconditioned Dell desktop from Amazon for the outrageous sum of £114, delivered, and guaranteed for a year. It's W11, and has lotsa RAM, an SSD, a 22" monitor, kbd and mouse.

It boots up in under 10 seconds, and it's so much better than the W10 desktop I upgraded (see above) that it will soon be promoted to Main Desktop. :-}