dead pc quick question

[Jonesy83]

my pc is dead its either the procceser or the motherboard has gone

its got windows vista built in on the harddrive so if i replace the board and proccesor will the operating system work

 

[ian.settle1]

my pc is dead its either the procceser or the motherboard has gone

its got windows vista built in on the harddrive so if i replace the board and proccesor will the operating system work

Depends on what make and whom you got the PC from.

Remember some years back when Time and Tiny built PC windows would only work with the original motherboard, if the motherboard was replaced then PC would not work.

 

[mydigitalhome]

have you checked the PSU on the computer these fail regularly and cost about £10 to replace. Sometimes they can kill the motherboard too but worth checking in most cases change PSU and all is well. As far as hard drives are concerned if you buy a new pc install old hard drive as secondary drive that way you can read the data on it so you dont loose anything. Or by an external HD case from PC world or from ebay and once again you can access the info. Other option is to install another operation system onto the drive without formatting it first it is a tatty way of doing it but once again will give full access to the drive again. By the way Laptop Computers | Refurbished Laptops, Cheap Laptops, Buy Cheap Refurbished Dell PCs Online | Dell Optiplex, Toshiba, HP are very good.

 

[Mr.Si]

The Short answer is yes, it should. Sometimes, with the later versions of Windows, you will need to re-activate it due to different hardware.

Try to get the same brand Motherboard & CPU and ALSO you should get them from the same supplier.

What computer do you have?

 

[Adam W]

If you replace a certain number of components or a major part, ie the motherboard, you might need to reactivate windows.
It'll prompt you to do this and give you the number to call. It only takes a couple of minutes but you'll probably need a genuine copy of windows.

 

[Marvo]

Chances are if you replace mainboard and CPU, Vista will definitely start bleating for you to put the keycode in and reregister. If your new mainboard/CPU is 64 bit and your version of Vista is only 32 bit (x86) then you'd be better upgrading to Windoze7. In fact any kind of upgrading or re-installing would be all the excuse I would need to get rid of Vista.

 

[Mr.Si]

That's why I use Linux!

 

[ian.settle1]

That's why I use Linux!

If it is the motherboard, processor or OSU Linux would also not work

 

[Mr.Si]

I know that - If any serious hardware like that fails, then it's hardware and thus will stop the machine from working.

What I'm talking about is once the item of hardware has been replaced, I won't have to do any of that activation rubbish.

 

[topquark]

Not always quite as simple as just the board and processor change. It will depend on the chipset used by the old and new motherboards. It's quite likely the chipset used will be different, unless you can find the same or a similar motherboard. If the chipset is different it is possible that your IDE/SATA drives may not work.

I'd start with the PSU check as a previous poster has suggested. You can get a PSU tester from Maplin that will give you a readout of all of the supplied voltages. If it's a standard ATX form factor then you just need to check that the voltages supplied are suitable for the motherboard you have. Most power supplies will provide a standard set of voltages via either 20 or 24 pin connector.

Meter from maplin here: LCD Power Supply Tester : PSU Tester : Maplin

 

[antimatter]

my pc is dead its either the procceser or the motherboard has gone

its got windows vista built in on the harddrive so if i replace the board and proccesor will the operating system work

When you press the power button, does the / a light come on, or is the system totally dead.

 

[Jonesy83]

the light will flash for a split second the fan will nudge then all will die again i got it from pc world 2 years ago never took out the extended warranty to be honest think i might just splash out 500 quid for a new system i was under the impression that replace the motherboard and chipsets and should be able to get it to work but dont look like the case lol

it died a while ago before my son was born so 5 months ago at least its in been in the cupboard since it died was used for games mostly was thinkin bout getting it working again but might work out cheaper just get a new computer

 

[antimatter]

Then the PSU is dead, save your cash and get a new PSU (power supply unit, about 10 - 15 pounds, can be fitted in a matter of minutes). Really easy to do yourself

400w PSU Ace Grey 400W 20+4pin 80mm Fan PSU - With 2x SATA, ATX12V Connector - Retail Box Digitalpromo.co.uk

This is all you need to get your PC running again no need to change board, etc, this should sort it out

 

[Jonesy83]

ill give it a go cheers mate

its a 24 pin tho pretty sure it is

 

[antimatter]

Doesn't matter, they have both options on them (the connector can unclip to give 20 pin option or you can use it unclipped 24 pin option, depending on your board connection).


20+4 Pin Main Connectors: 1 (as you can see here)
P4 4-Pin 12V Connectors: 1 (this is if you have a Pentium 4 pc) connect this to the board