Strange Problem At Startup?

[toofan]

Hello guys,
My pc was running peacefully on 3rd July evening. But When I started my PC this morning(5 th july). A strange thing happened.
After pressing the start button on the CPU the green light turns on. And all the fans started running at full speed ( I guessed it by the sound it produced). But the pc doesn't booted. My HP-TFT showed no AV or DVI Signals.
And after One minute the pc started booting itself and everything goes calm. Fans at normal speed.
Same thing repeated when i started my pc at noon. And this time also.
No one touched it in my absence.
Whats wrong with the pc and how to solve this.

[nish_higher]

change the CMOS battery and in case u r overclocking reset everything to default

[toofan]

I am not a over clocker by nature and I am't over clocking anything. But yes I will try to replace the CMOS battery. How much will it cost?

[k6153r]

^^
rs. 10

[ax3]

@k6153r ...... 10rs ....... no no ......

150rs ....... frd, if u get it from watch shop ......

[narangz]

Maxell battery is available for Rs. 18. That was the M.R.P. a couple of years back.

If you buy it from computer dealers they charge anything from Rs. 40-100.

[pimpom]

When I visited Lamington Road 4 months ago, most computer shops quoted Rs.7-10 for a CMOS battery (CR2032). One roadside hawker on Proctor Road quoted Rs.6 for Maxell and I bought a pack of 10 @ 5/- each. (they cost Rs.20-40 back home). I tested those 5-rupee batteries and thy're as fresh as any - >3.3V each. I've used half of that lot and they're OK. No sign of early aging.

[k6153r]

^^
see I told you

[toofan]

What would be the life period of such batteries. My original one lasts 2 and half years. And my friend has never changed them since 5 years. why it is so.?

Bye the way I just removed my original ones and placed them back and its working fine now. And I hope that it will do some days to me . till I will buy a decent one.

[pimpom]

The life of a battery is influenced by a number of factors : temperature, moisture, dust, ratio of on to off periods (the PSU takes up the load when the computer is on), how fresh the battery was to start with, difference in loading by different BIOSes. I'd say your own experience of 2.5 to 5 yrs pretty much covers the normal range, though 5 yrs would be longer than average. I've known a few CMOS batteries to need replacement after only 2 years, but those had probably been subjected to unfavourable conditions.

[toofan]

No its not working. Next morning when i started the pc it does the same thing again.
i changed the Battery also( two pairs) its still not working.
I removed the ram and replaced them but thats too not working. It there some fault with the motherboard.
i asked a computer vendor he said there would be no problem with battries because battries doesn/t finishes at once. First the mother board gives some warnings for some time then after one month they get discharged.

What should i do.

[manusag]

offtopic: my cmos battery is over 6 years old n still no probs at all

[toofan]

yes I think that battery is not the problem but where is it.
This time I am running my pc without a battery. I started in same fashion. 45 to 60 sec fans running at speed then the pc starts normally.
help help otherwise it may get late in finding the problem and I will have to change some part of it.

The two pieces i tried were of maxell.

Is I am placing the battery wrong in the mobo. How to place it and remove it.
I just pull it out and fix it there pressing by thumb.

[k6153r]

Mine's 4.5 years old.

[pimpom]

So your problem is still not solved, eh? OK, we've pretty much eliminated the battery as the cause. Let's get on to other things. Instead of tackling all possibilities at once, let's take them one by one.

First, how old is your computer? Is there a lot of dust inside? Do you have a lot of rain these days, and is the room exposed to damp weather? How often and how long do you have the computer turned on? All these questions are related.

[realdan]

by the way it would be more convenient for others if you can give complete system specs to aid in the troubleshooting

try remove all unnecessary components
1. if not happen then insert one component at a time to find which one is causing it
2. if it happen then problem with the necessary component..

if 2 then remove hard disk(power and cable) and boot
-happen then check the graphics card and clean its contact with eraser
-clean the contact of the ram also
-can do the same with other pci card.
-blow away the dust from the slots

also check whether your mains current has no problem with leakage or anything

thats it for now

[toofan]

First, how old is your computer? Is there a lot of dust inside? Do you have a lot of rain these days, and is the room exposed to damp weather? How often and how long do you have the computer turned on?

My PC is around 2.5 years old.
There is no dust inside as I clean it regularly.
Yes it raining a lot-lot these days in Nainital Haldwani( We haven't seen sun from past 1 and half week) and my room has a big window opened.My PC runs at an average of 6 hours and I open it 3 times morning, noon and at evening till night.

by the way it would be more convenient for others if you can give complete system specs to aid in the troubleshooting

Model: Compaq SR1921IL
P D 2.8 Gz, 1 Gb RAM, Asterope 3 Motherboard, 160 GB HardDisk. DVD writer,
Currently using 256 MB Inbuilt Graphic memory.PSU is 300V.

Is it a moisture problem. If yes How to remove the moisture?

[dreamsalive]

Originally Posted by toofan_nainital

it a moisture problem. If yes How to remove the moisture?

just put a packet of silica gel in the cabinet at some empty space.
& dont ask me where to get it(i got it from a pack of newly bought cd wallet).......anyways other members can tell u where to easily get it.

[Zangetsu]

@toofan: is ur HDD LED glowing along with mobo LED....

& wat abt beep sound...

[realdan]

silica gel..if im remember correctly..someone in the past said the chemist shop might sell them..havent ever bought it though

[toofan]

@toofan: is ur HDD LED glowing along with mobo LED....

& wat abt beep sound...

I Have only one green bar which glows normally as ever. and there are no beep sound.

just put a packet of silica gel in the cabinet at some empty space.
& dont ask me where to get it(i got it from a pack of newly bought cd wallet).......anyways other members can tell u where to easily get it.

I will try to get some silica bags for moisture removing.

These comes free with Milton should I buy one for around 300-500 to get a silica pack free. great Idea.

[toofan]

There was sunlight yesterday for full half an hour. It was enough now PC running Fine. Thanks for all your suggestions. It it starts again i will inform U all.
But those silica Bags are really rare at Haldwani(nainital)

[pimpom]

Glad to know you're seeing some improvement. A personal matter from my side please: I clearly remember answering the OP's question asking if moisture was a problem. I even remember some of my words -"Moisture is one of the worst enemies of computer hardware....." and I went on to explain why and suggest measures (more than one) to dry it out. But looking at this thread again, I don't see my post at all. Does anyone remember seeing it?

toofan_nainital : a simple and very effective way to dry out the insides of your computer is to open the side of the cabinet and expose it to the sun, especially now that the sun has started coming out again over there.

[toofan]

@Pimpon
I did the same. Its still working fine. Moisture related problem is also at my office. There the monitor refuse to display anything while the cpu works fine all the lights glow. There I used to remove and replace the ram and it works.

One sugestion for moisture removal is using sunlight. Second is using silica bags. but what if both of them are not available. some more suggestions guys. These will help others also.

[pimpom]

Another method is to use a hair dryer. Be careful not to overheat anything, but don't over-worry about that. Most of the components can withstand temps of up to 85 degrees. Use your common sense to judge how much heat you can apply.

Make sure you blow into every nook and cranny. Let it cool down again before you turn it on.

The silica gel is a good idea, but once moisture has lodged itself firmly enough to interfere with start-up, the silica gel alone may not be effective enough to get the computer working again, at least not for a long time.