Hello,
I have an IBM 300GL PC- an old Pentium III-600 mhz, c.2001 vintage.
Recently, I opened the case to clean out the dustbunnies with a
compressed air cannister. When I set it back up again, at first it
wouldn't turn on. Then, a minute or so after pushing the power button,
it came on- but only the power supply fan and CD-ROM drive showed
activity, and a few beeps from the speaker. The hard drive was quiet,
the fan on the front grille remained still, and the screen remained
completely blank. And it wouldn't turn off by pushing the power button
for 10 secs, like normal- had to pull the plug out.

Does this indicate what the problem might be? And what might have
caused it?

I didn't touch the motherboard or any other circuitry when I was
inside. I did remove the front grille, and inadvertantly jostled the
PC a bit in the process. I also unsnapped the front grille fan to get a
better shot at cleaning it. When I sprayed the power supply fan, I
held it still with a plastic fork- but it works. I've checked to see if
everything is properly seated- it seems to be, but I suppose to be sure
I'd have to start detaching stuff and putting it back in.

Also, a friend of mine installed some new RAM in it the day before
this- but it started up fine after that, so I assume, unless he caused
some static damage that didn't show up until later, that that went okay.

"Bill Johnston" wrote in message
ups.com...
Hello,
I have an IBM 300GL PC- an old Pentium III-600 mhz, c.2001 vintage.
Recently, I opened the case to clean out the dustbunnies with a
compressed air cannister. When I set it back up again, at first it
wouldn't turn on. Then, a minute or so after pushing the power button,
it came on- but only the power supply fan and CD-ROM drive showed
activity, and a few beeps from the speaker. The hard drive was quiet,
the fan on the front grille remained still, and the screen remained
completely blank. And it wouldn't turn off by pushing the power button
for 10 secs, like normal- had to pull the plug out.

Does this indicate what the problem might be? And what might have
caused it?

I didn't touch the motherboard or any other circuitry when I was
inside. I did remove the front grille, and inadvertantly jostled the
PC a bit in the process. I also unsnapped the front grille fan to get a
better shot at cleaning it. When I sprayed the power supply fan, I
held it still with a plastic fork- but it works. I've checked to see if
everything is properly seated- it seems to be, but I suppose to be sure
I'd have to start detaching stuff and putting it back in.

Also, a friend of mine installed some new RAM in it the day before
this- but it started up fine after that, so I assume, unless he caused
some static damage that didn't show up until later, that that went okay.


Check all plug in cards and connectors are pushed right in. Check the memory
is pushed fully home. If necessary remove the new memory and try the PC
without it. You may need to remove all plug in cards and clean the ISA/PCI
slots with the compressed air or vacuum cleaner nozzle. Try the PC with all
plug in cards removed except the graphics cards. If that works add the cards
back one by one until the fault reoccurs.

Dave

Bill Johnston wrote:
Hello,
I have an IBM 300GL PC- an old Pentium III-600 mhz, c.2001 vintage.
Recently, I opened the case to clean out the dustbunnies with a
compressed air cannister. When I set it back up again, at first it
wouldn't turn on. Then, a minute or so after pushing the power button,
it came on- but only the power supply fan and CD-ROM drive showed
activity, and a few beeps from the speaker. The hard drive was quiet,
the fan on the front grille remained still, and the screen remained
completely blank. And it wouldn't turn off by pushing the power button
for 10 secs, like normal- had to pull the plug out.

Does this indicate what the problem might be? And what might have
caused it?

I didn't touch the motherboard or any other circuitry when I was
inside. I did remove the front grille, and inadvertantly jostled the
PC a bit in the process. I also unsnapped the front grille fan to get a
better shot at cleaning it. When I sprayed the power supply fan, I
held it still with a plastic fork- but it works. I've checked to see if
everything is properly seated- it seems to be, but I suppose to be sure
I'd have to start detaching stuff and putting it back in.

Also, a friend of mine installed some new RAM in it the day before
this- but it started up fine after that, so I assume, unless he caused
some static damage that didn't show up until later, that that went okay.

since the HD in most cases are connected directly to the supply and your
not getting any drive activity at all ? i think you better check the
power supply plugs.


--
Real Programmers Do things like this.
http://webpages.charter.net/jamie_5

default wrote:
On 24 May 2006 17:35:49 -0700, "Bill Johnston"
wrote:

Hello,
I have an IBM 300GL PC- an old Pentium III-600 mhz, c.2001 vintage.
Recently, I opened the case to clean out the dustbunnies with a
compressed air cannister. When I set it back up again, at first it
wouldn't turn on. Then, a minute or so after pushing the power button,
it came on- but only the power supply fan and CD-ROM drive showed
activity, and a few beeps from the speaker. The hard drive was quiet,
the fan on the front grille remained still, and the screen remained
completely blank. And it wouldn't turn off by pushing the power button
for 10 secs, like normal- had to pull the plug out.

Does this indicate what the problem might be? And what might have
caused it?

I didn't touch the motherboard or any other circuitry when I was
inside. I did remove the front grille, and inadvertantly jostled the
PC a bit in the process. I also unsnapped the front grille fan to get a
better shot at cleaning it. When I sprayed the power supply fan, I
held it still with a plastic fork- but it works. I've checked to see if
everything is properly seated- it seems to be, but I suppose to be sure
I'd have to start detaching stuff and putting it back in.

Also, a friend of mine installed some new RAM in it the day before
this- but it started up fine after that, so I assume, unless he caused
some static damage that didn't show up until later, that that went okay.


Been there, done that . . . first time it was the memory cards -
dislodged one when I blew it out (and the BIOS would have caught it
except I had it set to skip the memory test). Second time it was a
power plug (those daisy chained things) all except for one pair of
connectors was hard to pull apart - the one that came apart easily was
the culprit. I just put a cable tie around the two connectors to hold
them together.

You most likely dislodged a connector . . .

A FEW BEEPS ? from the internal case speaker???? one beep is normal
and indicates it passed the Power On Self Test. more than one
indicates a problem - the beeps are spaced out like 123 . . . pause .
. . 34 might indicate something like the monitor isn't connected or
turned on. The Bios manufacturer will have the data on the beep
sequence to tell you what it is indicating - look in the mobo manual
or look on line for the BIOS P.O.S.T. codes.

Not to worry . . . just look up the codes then fix what it is telling
you to fix. AND copy the POST codes and archive them on paper for the
next time you have this problem.


Before that, though, open it back up. Remove and reseat *every*
accessible connector: power connectors to every drive and mobo; ribbons
on every drive (both ends); connectors to each front panel pushbutton;
completely remove and reseat every memory module, every expansion card;
pull the CPU and replace (if you have separate the heat sink, make sure
you use new grease)...everything.

It wouldn't hurt to remove and reseat everything a couple of times (or
more).

Do this EVERY time you open up the box for general cleaning. It's
mandatory! If you feel up to it technically, remove the power supply,
open it up and vacuum/blow it out. Clean the fan blades completely.

You'll probably find that it boots right up. You might even find that
little niggling problems like spontaneous reboots and BSOD (Blue Screen
Of Death) issues which you blamed on software issues disappear.

jak


----== Posted via Newsfeeds.Com - Unlimited-Unrestricted-Secure Usenet News==----
http://www.newsfeeds.com The #1 Newsgroup Service in the World! 120,000+ Newsgroups
----= East and West-Coast Server Farms - Total Privacy via Encryption =----

jakdedert wrote:
default wrote:
On 24 May 2006 17:35:49 -0700, "Bill Johnston"
wrote:

Hello,
I have an IBM 300GL PC- an old Pentium III-600 mhz, c.2001 vintage.
Recently, I opened the case to clean out the dustbunnies with a
compressed air cannister. When I set it back up again, at first it
wouldn't turn on. Then, a minute or so after pushing the power button,
it came on- but only the power supply fan and CD-ROM drive showed
activity, and a few beeps from the speaker. The hard drive was quiet,
the fan on the front grille remained still, and the screen remained
completely blank. And it wouldn't turn off by pushing the power button
for 10 secs, like normal- had to pull the plug out.

Does this indicate what the problem might be? And what might have
caused it?

I didn't touch the motherboard or any other circuitry when I was
inside. I did remove the front grille, and inadvertantly jostled the
PC a bit in the process. I also unsnapped the front grille fan to get a
better shot at cleaning it. When I sprayed the power supply fan, I
held it still with a plastic fork- but it works. I've checked to see if
everything is properly seated- it seems to be, but I suppose to be sure
I'd have to start detaching stuff and putting it back in.

Also, a friend of mine installed some new RAM in it the day before
this- but it started up fine after that, so I assume, unless he caused
some static damage that didn't show up until later, that that went okay.


Been there, done that . . . first time it was the memory cards -
dislodged one when I blew it out (and the BIOS would have caught it
except I had it set to skip the memory test). Second time it was a
power plug (those daisy chained things) all except for one pair of
connectors was hard to pull apart - the one that came apart easily was
the culprit. I just put a cable tie around the two connectors to hold
them together.

You most likely dislodged a connector . . .

A FEW BEEPS ? from the internal case speaker???? one beep is normal
and indicates it passed the Power On Self Test. more than one
indicates a problem - the beeps are spaced out like 123 . . . pause .
. . 34 might indicate something like the monitor isn't connected or
turned on. The Bios manufacturer will have the data on the beep
sequence to tell you what it is indicating - look in the mobo manual
or look on line for the BIOS P.O.S.T. codes.

Not to worry . . . just look up the codes then fix what it is telling
you to fix. AND copy the POST codes and archive them on paper for the
next time you have this problem.


Before that, though, open it back up. Remove and reseat *every*
accessible connector: power connectors to every drive and mobo; ribbons
on every drive (both ends); connectors to each front panel pushbutton;
completely remove and reseat every memory module, every expansion card;
pull the CPU and replace (if you have separate the heat sink, make sure
you use new grease)...everything.

It wouldn't hurt to remove and reseat everything a couple of times (or
more).

Do this EVERY time you open up the box for general cleaning. It's
mandatory! If you feel up to it technically, remove the power supply,
open it up and vacuum/blow it out. Clean the fan blades completely.

You'll probably find that it boots right up. You might even find that
little niggling problems like spontaneous reboots and BSOD (Blue Screen
Of Death) issues which you blamed on software issues disappear.

jak

It works again! I'd like to thank everyone for their advice. Removing
and reseating things (not everything, but evidently enough) seems to
have done the trick.

Come to think of it, I do get the BSOD depressingly often, although
I'm sure it doesn't help that I'm still running Windows 98SE, XP being
(I'm told) a bit much for my antique to handle.

"Bill Johnston" wrote in message
ps.com...

Come to think of it, I do get the BSOD depressingly often, although
I'm sure it doesn't help that I'm still running Windows 98SE, XP being
(I'm told) a bit much for my antique to handle.


A PIII 600 is adequate for XP, provided you have 256MB RAM minimum and
enough hard drive space. It won't fly, but it'll be perfectly usable. I
speak from experience of running XP on a variety of old hardware.

You can even get away with 192MB, but it will be a bit sluggish.

Dave

XP Runs fine on my PII 366 laptop with 128MB memory. A PIII with at
least 128 should run it fine, though it may crash if you have lots of
stuff going at the same time. The whole key to running XP on a slower
machine is to keep it clean, as in no spyware and ad ware.
Regards,
Chance

Chance wrote:

XP Runs fine on my PII 366 laptop with 128MB memory.

You must have a curious idea of *fine*. Even W98 is almost intolerably slow to
me on any CPU 600MHz ( with plenty of memory too ).

Graham

I suppose it depends on what ya use it for. I've recently used W98 on
a Pentium II-233 mhz with 64MB RAM and it ran OK except when too many
programs were open...also some newer programs would bog it down.
Programs were a bit slow loading but they ran fine once they got going.
I have also used '98 on a Pentium 100mhz with 32MB- now that *was*
sloooow.

Bill Johnston wrote:
jakdedert wrote:
snip

Not to worry . . . just look up the codes then fix what it is telling
you to fix. AND copy the POST codes and archive them on paper for the
next time you have this problem.

Before that, though, open it back up. Remove and reseat *every*
accessible connector: power connectors to every drive and mobo; ribbons
on every drive (both ends); connectors to each front panel pushbutton;
completely remove and reseat every memory module, every expansion card;
pull the CPU and replace (if you have separate the heat sink, make sure
you use new grease)...everything.

It wouldn't hurt to remove and reseat everything a couple of times (or
more).

Do this EVERY time you open up the box for general cleaning. It's
mandatory! If you feel up to it technically, remove the power supply,
open it up and vacuum/blow it out. Clean the fan blades completely.

You'll probably find that it boots right up. You might even find that
little niggling problems like spontaneous reboots and BSOD (Blue Screen
Of Death) issues which you blamed on software issues disappear.

jak

It works again! I'd like to thank everyone for their advice. Removing
and reseating things (not everything, but evidently enough) seems to
have done the trick.

Come to think of it, I do get the BSOD depressingly often, although
I'm sure it doesn't help that I'm still running Windows 98SE, XP being
(I'm told) a bit much for my antique to handle.

In a curious concordance of events, just tonight I was forced to follow
my own advice:

I keep a PC in my spare office to answer the phone. When my daughter
visits, it gets used for other things. Tonight she got on and instantly
it started screwing up: random lockups, BSOD, failure to
reboot...general screwing up.

I did the above, including the ps cleanup. (This after reaching into
the box and trying to remove and reseat everything piecemeal without
pulling the box...with little improvement.) Once I pulled *everything*
out, vacuumed, excercised all ribbon connections, cards, outside
connections etc; put it back together and instant boot!

I love it when a plan comes together...that thing was REALLY nasty inside.

jak

There is a world of difference between W98SE and Windows 2000. I run
2000 on several under 1 GHz machines (maxed out on RAM) and have yet to
experience the blue screen, whereas W98SE required an annual reformat
and re-installation of the operating system. XP is a bloated 2000 and
takes up a great deal of hard drive space, best to stick with 2000 on
these older machines.

I've always believed vacuuming the inside of a computer is a bad idea,
as the moving air has the potential to generate static and damage
sensitive electronics. At the very least, it is important to have the
power cord plugged in (machine off) or a jumper wire between the case
and a ground while vacuuming, so that the ground is available to
dissipate any static buildup.

On 26 May 2006 04:19:06 -0700, wrote:

I've always believed vacuuming the inside of a computer is a bad idea,
as the moving air has the potential to generate static and damage
sensitive electronics. At the very least, it is important to have the
power cord plugged in (machine off) or a jumper wire between the case
and a ground while vacuuming, so that the ground is available to
dissipate any static buildup.

I beg to differ.

Vacuuming or blowing out the dust is a good idea particularly if one
has a big power hogging processor or it is over clocked. Heat and
thermal cycling kill electronic parts - - -

When a manufacturer wants to test for longevity and not wait the
anticipated 10,000 hours between failures they cook the parts in an
oven to increase the failure rate.

Regarding static - it just takes a little common sense. The jumper to
ground is a good idea - but only if anything that touches the computer
or connectors is also grounded - it is the potential difference
between the op and the parts that causes the damage. Doesn't do to
have the computer sitting at zero volts and have your body at 2-3 KV.
In that situation, you might be better off to have the computer
floating as well as the op.

A humid day and concrete floor is better then a dry day and a carpeted
floor . . . One thing you should do as a matter of course is to touch
the chassis with your hand before you reach in to touch a component or
connector. Or ground the computer and spend a dollar or two on a
personal grounding strap.

To dust with a vacuum - sometimes it helps to use a paint brush to
direct the stuff towards the nozzle. A synthetic brush is fine
provided the humidity is reasonable - wipe the bristles in your hand
to discharge them.

I use an air compressor (el cheapo without a dryer on it) blow it out
then give it an hour or two to evaporate any water that may have been
in the air stream.

I'd worry more about the potential for damage by plugging and
unplugging connectors than static. Static control is easy - there
are rules to follow to avoid damage - the rules are simple, well
defined, understood, and easy to implement.

Lightening is a different matter altogether - I use a lightening
detector and unplug the computer when the detector starts going off,
Lightening can write to my CMOS memory - or smoke my modem - and it
only takes a near miss.

----== Posted via Newsfeeds.Com - Unlimited-Unrestricted-Secure Usenet News==----
http://www.newsfeeds.com The #1 Newsgroup Service in the World! 120,000+ Newsgroups
----= East and West-Coast Server Farms - Total Privacy via Encryption =----

wrote:
There is a world of difference between W98SE and Windows 2000. I run
2000 on several under 1 GHz machines (maxed out on RAM) and have yet to
experience the blue screen, whereas W98SE required an annual reformat
and re-installation of the operating system. XP is a bloated 2000 and
takes up a great deal of hard drive space, best to stick with 2000 on
these older machines.

I've always believed vacuuming the inside of a computer is a bad idea,
as the moving air has the potential to generate static and damage
sensitive electronics. At the very least, it is important to have the
power cord plugged in (machine off) or a jumper wire between the case
and a ground while vacuuming, so that the ground is available to
dissipate any static buildup.

I agree. In my experience 2k is faster than 9x when you have enough RAM.
XP has absolutely nothing making it better than 2k on a normal desktop
not in a company network.
I've used the same 2k installation almost 5 years with 4 different
mainboards. It still works fine.
On the other hand, I'm even happier with unix-like OSes, but I'd still
blame the users for most of the problems with MS OSes (and no, let's not
start a holy war...)

On Thu, 25 May 2006 18:01:22 +0100, "Dave D"
wrote:


A PIII 600 is adequate for XP, provided you have 256MB RAM minimum and
enough hard drive space. It won't fly, but it'll be perfectly usable. I
speak from experience of running XP on a variety of old hardware.

You can even get away with 192MB, but it will be a bit sluggish.

Dave


It also helps if you turn off some of the fancy visual effects in XP.
Tweak UI for XP lets you turn off most of the eye candy (to the point
where XP looks almost identical to 98).
Andy Cuffe