I think it's time my venerable desktop was laid to rest - but I was hoping someone could give me other possibilities! What happened is it just got into the BIOS startup first thing this morning and then hung there forever. I rebooted and now don't even get that far! There is power to the motherboard - you can hear the CPU fan spin up quite happily and taking the cover off you can see lights and things inside flashing away and there are no warning/error beeps. I'm guessing this means that BIOS is now kaput and it's time for at least a new motherboard if not a complete new system? Can any hardware geeks out there give me an idea if it's fixable or a good excuse for shiny new tech!?

Thanks in advance :)

I think you've made your decision really, haven't you ;)

I think it's time my venerable desktop was laid to rest - but I was hoping someone could give me other possibilities! What happened is it just got into the BIOS startup first thing this morning and then hung there forever. I rebooted and now don't even get that far! There is power to the motherboard - you can hear the CPU fan spin up quite happily and taking the cover off you can see lights and things inside flashing away and there are no warning/error beeps. I'm guessing this means that BIOS is now kaput and it's time for at least a new motherboard if not a complete new system? Can any hardware geeks out there give me an idea if it's fixable or a good excuse for shiny new tech!?

Thanks in advance :)

Is the CMOS battery ok?

Try resetting the CMOS on the mobo, usually a header near the battery?

Is the CMOS battery ok?

Try resetting the CMOS on the mobo, usually a header near the battery?

I can't actually find the battery on there with my searches around - I'm used to ancient mobos where the battery is about an inch across! I've found the CMOS header which has a pair of pins but no jumper so I've tried shorting the pins with a screwdriver but with no useful result :( I'll have another hunt for the battery though :)

I can't actually find the battery on there with my searches around - I'm used to ancient mobos where the battery is about an inch across! I've found the CMOS header which has a pair of pins but no jumper so I've tried shorting the pins with a screwdriver but with no useful result :( I'll have another hunt for the battery though :)

if you dont have a jumper just go to a pc shop and they will give you on for free if you ask :)

I've tried shorting the pins with a screwdriver but with no useful result :( I'll have another hunt for the battery though :)

Usually there's a procedure for resetting the bios.

Last one I had issues with, you had to remove the battery, short the header and reboot (whilst the jumper is in place), then shut down, reinsert battery, remove jumper and reboot (or something like that).

Can you not find a manual for the mobo?

YAY!!! ressurected by rather circuitous means but I got the CMOS reset and am now back on the desktop :) The only question now is how much longer will it last!?!?

YAY!!! ressurected by rather circuitous means but I got the CMOS reset and am now back on the desktop :) The only question now is how much longer will it last!?!?

And the answer to that question is - about 2 hours!

how old is / was it?

About 5-6 years now I think :o So in all fairness I've had pretty good service from it!!

Download and run EVEREST Free Edition 2.20

http://majorgeeks.com/download4181.html

It will tell you the make/model of your motherboard and you should be able to find a manual for it via Google.

Download and run EVEREST Free Edition 2.20

http://majorgeeks.com/download4181.html

It will tell you the make/model of your motherboard and you should be able to find a manual for it via Google.

Thank you for that :) I had got the name of the MOBO from poking around on it then searching the gigabyte site for details to get it re-running (temprorarily!) I'm just glad that I have a laptop as backup or I would have had non computer DTs!

were you anywhere near the lightning the other night ?