# Multiple issue on pc



## naijai (Aug 19, 2006)

I am having multiple issues on my pc and it seems that my motherboard is the only thing they all have in common but i cannot tell directly

The problems that keep on coming up start with the USB ports. My wireless mouse and keyboard have to be unplugged from the any of the usb ports and then plugged back in for the pc to detect it, Then i have a Linksys WGA-600N connected and i have to unplug it from the power before the pc is able to connect to the internet and i have 2 ethernet ports on the board and same problem on both ports, i have a second 600N on my HR23 which i swapped thinking the adapter was dying and i have to repeat the process no matter which OS i am booted into. I also have an issue with Windows 7 boot up on the pc. If i have the Seagate drive selected as the primary drive in the bios it will not give me the option anymore to select which OS i want to boot up but when i set it to the WD 250 it works fine but with both settings windows 7 will lockup on bootup, i have reformatted the hard drive and it did let me install all the updates, antivirus (MSE) but evenetually went back to the same thing. I just installed 32 bit Win 7 on the 1TB drive on Monday night which was previously an external drive and seems to be working fine for now booting up properly though the usb issue returned, I am installing my programs on at a time to see if the boot up issue returns on the Win 7.

*Specs*
*Motherboard*: ASUS M2N-SLI Deluxe
*CPU*: AMD Athlon 64 3000 3.0GHZ
*Hard Drives*: 
Seagate 320Gb Win 7 64Bit Professional
WD 1TB Win 7 32 bit Ultimate
WD 250GD Vista 32 bit Ultimate 
WD 250GD External

*Memory*: 3GB Ram
*Video Card*:Nvidia 8400GS


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## jerry downing (Mar 7, 2004)

Have you added anything lately? Your power supply may not have enough capacity to run everything. That causes some strange problems when voltages sag due to overload.


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## naijai (Aug 19, 2006)

750 W power supply 
Nothing new or additional to the system, I haven't overclocked the processor or made any performance changes to the system


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## jerry downing (Mar 7, 2004)

That should be more than enough.


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## Marlin Guy (Apr 8, 2009)

You need to determine whether or not there are hardware issues with the PC.
The way to do that is to boot it to a diagnostics CD and run some tests. These tests will prove or disprove the stability of the hardware and let you narrow down that to do next - replace hardware or replace the OS.

There are several ways to accomplish this.

Assuming you have another machine that's stable enough to do so, burn a copy of the Ultimate Boot CD and run some of the CPU and memory tests.

I'd also consider running HDD diagnostics from their respective manufacturers.

You can also run a live CD of Linux under a number of different distros, including Knoppix, Ubuntu, DSL (Damned Small Linux) to see how your hardware fares under a different OS.

Whichever approach you choose, the idea is to simply separate the software from the hardware to determine which one is being problematic.


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## naijai (Aug 19, 2006)

Marlin Guy said:


> You need to determine whether or not there are hardware issues with the PC.
> The way to do that is to boot it to a diagnostics CD and run some tests. These tests will prove or disprove the stability of the hardware and let you narrow down that to do next - replace hardware or replace the OS.
> 
> There are several ways to accomplish this.
> ...


Looks promising but i have replaced the OS & i have the same issues with Vista Ultimate , Win 7 pro on different drives. I even tried to repair Windows 7 on the boot issue with the CD and it was unable to repair the boot file. As far as trying Linux that is going to be very unlikely, tried it before and not a big fan though it's been a few years 
I am going to download and try it once i get home tonite and hopefully get some answers.


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## dpeters11 (May 30, 2007)

naijai said:


> Looks promising but i have replaced the OS & i have the same issues with Vista Ultimate , Win 7 pro on different drives. I even tried to repair Windows 7 on the boot issue with the CD and it was unable to repair the boot file. As far as trying Linux that is going to be very unlikely, tried it before and not a big fan though it's been a few years
> I am going to download and try it once i get home tonite and hopefully get some answers.


Linux is better, but Marlin isn't asking you to change to it, it's just a very easy way of running a completely different OS (without doing anything to your main OS) to rule anything related to Windows out.


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## Marlin Guy (Apr 8, 2009)

The Linux distributions listed can be ran from a live cd environment.
That means that no changes are made to your existing installation of Windows.
When you eject the CD and reboot, you're right back in Windows.

It definitely sounds like hardware.
I'd test the CPU and memory first, then go forward from there.

I know lots of folks like to build their own systems, but I think this is a classic case of a good argument for buying from a tested integrator like Dell. Not only have they put the components through their paces to insure that everything plays well together, but they also offer some very good diagnostics tools to help isolate the problems, when they do occur.

It sure would be nice to be able to tell you to press F12 and go right into the diagnostic series of tests.


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## naijai (Aug 19, 2006)

Marlin Guy said:


> The Linux distributions listed can be ran from a live cd environment.
> That means that no changes are made to your existing installation of Windows.
> When you eject the CD and reboot, you're right back in Windows.
> 
> ...


I definitely agree with you about the diagnostic tools supplied and i have used then with laptops but when it comes to desktops i prefer building them but this is one downside but if it is my motherboard or memory at least i can buy a new one independently compared to an oem pc which could possibly require me scrapping it since the computer is about 4 years old out of warranty, dell or hp charging you an arm and a leg to repair it 
There are cons and pros to everything


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## Marlin Guy (Apr 8, 2009)

I routinely buy OEM replacement parts at prices comparable to those of 3rd party suppliers.
Just because it's a Dell, that doesn't mean that you have to buy the parts from them directly.
I have never worked on a machine that was so far out of date that I couldn't find the desired part for it.
Of course, I do refuse to work on PC's that are, in my opinion, not worth fixing. But these are typically 7+ years old and have already lived past their prime.


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## bleggett29 (Feb 2, 2008)

naijai said:


> I am having multiple issues on my pc and it seems that my motherboard is the only thing they all have in common but i cannot tell directly
> 
> The problems that keep on coming up start with the USB ports. My wireless mouse and keyboard have to be unplugged from the any of the usb ports and then plugged back in for the pc to detect it, Then i have a Linksys WGA-600N connected and i have to unplug it from the power before the pc is able to connect to the internet and i have 2 ethernet ports on the board and same problem on both ports, i have a second 600N on my HR23 which i swapped thinking the adapter was dying and i have to repeat the process no matter which OS i am booted into. I also have an issue with Windows 7 boot up on the pc. If i have the Seagate drive selected as the primary drive in the bios it will not give me the option anymore to select which OS i want to boot up but when i set it to the WD 250 it works fine but with both settings windows 7 will lockup on bootup, i have reformatted the hard drive and it did let me install all the updates, antivirus (MSE) but evenetually went back to the same thing. I just installed 32 bit Win 7 on the 1TB drive on Monday night which was previously an external drive and seems to be working fine for now booting up properly though the usb issue returned, I am installing my programs on at a time to see if the boot up issue returns on the Win 7.
> 
> ...


First thought was PSU. Even though you have plenty of wattage for your system, it may be failing. Remove all expansion cards/RAM/periphials/drives except for the bare minimum required for bootup.
Second thought is CPU. Can you check if it overheating? You mentioned you're not OCing but double check in the BIOS.
Third thought is RAM. First thing to do is remove and re-install RAM. Then check the BIOS to make sure the timings are correct. If you have more than one module, run each module on it's own to see if you can isolate a bad module.
Last thought would be the motherboard. Might be time to build a Phenom II system. 

EDIT: Forgot to mention the Vid Card. Is it overheating? You have a spare one you can test with?


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## dpeters11 (May 30, 2007)

bleggett29 said:


> First thought was PSU. Even though you have plenty of wattage for your system, it may be failing. Remove all expansion cards/RAM/periphials/drives except for the bare minimum required for bootup.


And one thing about power supplies, the wattage isn't always realistic. Some lower quality supplies can only provide that wattage in operating temps that don't include a running system in a room temp area.


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## PokerJoker (Apr 12, 2008)

One thing I would do is in your situation is take a very close look, with a good flashlight, at all the capacitors on the motherboard. If any of them are bulging on top, blown open, or oozing stuff, your motherboard is toast. It's a very common problem with boards of a certain vintage.

Keith


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## naijai (Aug 19, 2006)

Ok i basically combined all suggestions into one big step but most of them i had already checked my bios settings are set to defaults the processor temperature is normal no overheating,all the capacitors look fine, i have 4 fans in total in the machine all blowing air on the cpu and through the machine but for the last hour i have removed all additional hardware and gone through bootup with 1gb stick and the hard drives individually and the same problems happening, though i do think my seagate drive might be fried (luckily i backed up my files on both drives) but still had all the other issues on different drives with my usb and internet not working without resetting them after startup so i guess my next questions will be on replacement motherboards


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## Marlin Guy (Apr 8, 2009)

I removed 200+ infections from a PIII running XP this morning.
She's a sweet kit built that weighs about 45 lbs. on the moon.

Got a 30 GB IDE with a 52X CD-ROM in a nice smoked beige color.

She's pushing 800 X 600 on a Gateway CRT that's heavier than the center of the sun, and darker than an eclipse on Europa. 

Rocking 32 MB of the shared 128, she's keeping those HDD bearings nice and loose. No sitting around and getting gummed up with this one. No sir.

I'm thinking the owner is going to follow my advice and buy a new Dell. Something from this century.

I can probably pull some strings with the owner and put you in this jewel for $50 plus about $300 for motor freight?

Just letting you know that you have some options.
Here to help.


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## naijai (Aug 19, 2006)

Marlin Guy said:


> I removed 200+ infections from a PIII running XP this morning.
> She's a sweet kit built that weighs about 45 lbs. on the moon.
> 
> Got a 30 GB IDE with a 52X CD-ROM in a nice smoked beige color.
> ...


Umm Umm Ummm :eek2:


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## djlong (Jul 8, 2002)

Marlin: Wow.. Just... ..ummm... Wow....


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## The Merg (Jun 24, 2007)

I would lean towards a possible PSU failure. Have you tried a different PSU with the system at bare essentials. You shouldn't have to remove your current PSU to do this. Just disconnect the old and put the new one near the case. The cables should all reach fine.

Also, remember that while the total wattage of your PSU is 750W, each rail has a certain load that it can handle.

- Merg


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## dmspen (Dec 1, 2006)

This is a long shot, but there used to be an obscure Windows problem with USB connections related to ghost hardare USB devices. Under the Hardware device manager, select the show hidden devices. Check for any 'ghost' USB devices that might show up there. Delete them. If you're brave, you could delete many of the ghost and non-ghost and let Win7 re-install them on next boot.

I think Win95 had this issue. There was a limit on the number of detectable USb devices. The ghost devices would get detected then, the limit would be reached so 'real' USB devices didn't work. 

As I said, this is probably a real long shot.


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## naijai (Aug 19, 2006)

I have been working on this for 2 weeks to resolve it and i am tired or taking it apart every evening and so is my wife who feels i spend more time on my toys than with her. so i'm using this to upgrade my board and video card

Motherboard
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131382

Video Card
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814121339

Maybe new processor 
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103843

An additional 1Gb memory stick should round it off to a nice system

I know i will have to reinstall Win 7, Win Vista, Win Xp long tedious hours ahead for me once they arrive


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## bleggett29 (Feb 2, 2008)

naijai said:


> I have been working on this for 2 weeks to resolve it and i am tired or taking it apart every evening and so is my wife who feels i spend more time on my toys than with her. so i'm using this to upgrade my board and video card
> 
> Motherboard
> http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131382
> ...


I'm not so sure from the reviews that this motherboard would be the best choice. But most of the problems from the bad reviews are most likely user error. lol Just make sure it's configured properly and have a good PSU and you should be good to go. 
As for reinstalling windows, you'd be surprised. If the chipset on the new motherboard is close enough to the old motherboard, you can probably get lucky and just plop the hard drive(s) in and have windows come up no problem. You'll just need to re-activate windows. If that doesn't work do a google search for mergeide. Run mergeide on the original motherboard in each version of windows. Not sure if it would work for win7 but I've used it on xp and vista. It's a set registry keys that basically "resets" the IDE driver to a basic one allowing windows to boot up. This process can take awhile booting up initially on the new motherboard because windows will be installing the drivers for the new motherboard.


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