ARUGH!!!! *depressing emo post, skip if it bugs you*

[Dubird]

Computer down again. Thought it was the power supply, but now I'm not sure. See, I had it turned off while I was gone for Thanksgiving. Got home last night, turned it on and it kicked back off after about 30 seconds. Tried it again, same result. Tested the switch, same result. Unplugged everything but the motherboard, same result. Brought the power supply to work so I can go by Fry's after work today, and we had an old computer up here that's missing memory. so, just for a test, plugged the power supply into that and it worked. I'm still going to take it by Frys and see if they'll test it for me, but I think it could be the motherboard or CPU. *sighs* So in other words, I have no home computer until I can replace it. And I don't know when I'll be able to afford to replace it. Gawd, this is so depressing. Seriously. I can't seem to save the money for it because every time I do, something else happens. I'm just now getting out of my money hole that fixing that damn AC in the truck dropped me into, and I owe about $800 on my credit card right now, so I don't want to use that until I get it payed down. It's going to cost me about $400 to get the upgrades I need for my computer, and that's money I don't have. I can't even get anyone to commission me for arts! I'd have to stay late at work to use my work computer, but I would so do that. Looks like I might have to give up my weekends and get a part-time job, but I don't know how that's going to affect my Christmas vacation time. Nor do I think they'll let me work just weekends, and no one has a shift that will start after I get off work. Let me correct that, no one has a shift that starts after I get off my main work on a job I'm willing to do. It's just so damn frustrating! I'm very tempted to just put it on my CC and pay it off, but what if I need that for medical bills? Or if I need it for emergency truck repair? I'm just so frustrated and depressed about the money situation that I don't know what to do. Some would say 'get a new job!'. Yeah, you'd think that would work except I can't get another job in my chosen field because i don't have the degree. Never mind that I can do the work, and do it better than most people I've seen out there. Never mind that I've actually gotten good at doing design and arts and really want to do this for a living. I don't have the degree, and I can't afford to go get one. *sighs* Ok, going off now. I'm just very glad for my kitty. Having her there has kept me out of a complete tailspin, so there's no way in hell I'm giving her up.

[Eppy]

yeah sad isnt it...cant get the jobs without a degree but when you have the degree no one is hiring for years...world sucks right now employment wise >_<

[gokuDX7]

did you happen to try and update your bios? Sounds like your rom is corrupt. If you have a pc at your work that has the same motherboard try "borrowing" the little rectangle rom chip from it and replace yours on your mother board to see if that helps. Keep in mind the rom chip has to be exactly the same, if your unsure then don't try it. If you dont have one at work you could alwase go to a computer shop and ask them if they can test your computer.

I had the same problem last year when I was messing around with my bios and attempted to flash it. The result was my pc booting up halfway and beeping for a few mins before restarting and doing it over and over again lol. Lucky I had a spear computer with the same type so I did a hot flash and fixed the problem.

[Ladywriter]

I hope it works out for ya :(

[Sledgstone]

Another possible cause of your computer shutting itself down could be your cpu's heatsink fan. if the fan doesn't kick in the cpu temp will get to high really fast and set off the mother board's "kill the power before the cpu melts thru me" failsafe. And if your cpu fan is already working, pick up a bottle of compressed air and very carefully clean out all the dust and grime thats collected all over the fan and the heat sink to improve the airflow and effectiveness of the heatsink and try powering it up again. you never know, maybe it'll work. *shrugs*

did you happen to try and update your bios? Sounds like your rom is corrupt. If you have a pc at your work that has the same motherboard try "borrowing" the little rectangle rom chip from it and replace yours on your mother board to see if that helps. Keep in mind the rom chip has to be exactly the same, if your unsure then don't try it. If you dont have one at work you could alwase go to a computer shop and ask them if they can test your computer.

I had the same problem last year when I was messing around with my bios and attempted to flash it. The result was my pc booting up halfway and beeping for a few mins before restarting and doing it over and over again lol. Lucky I had a spear computer with the same type so I did a hot flash and fixed the problem.

Good call on the rom. Sounds like an issue I've come across before.

[Godgrave]

Awwww man, hope it works out for you Dubie without major concerns *crosses fingers*

[Dubird]

It doesn't even beep, just shuts off. They tested my power supply at Fry's last night and it works fine. When I got home, I cleaned it off a bit and noticed last night that there was something black on the CPU fan, so I took it apart and cleaned it. Then, took the heatsink off and cleaned it and the CPU off. Tonight I'm going to reapply the thermal paste and try again. Maybe I can at least get it going long enough to burn a few data DVDs and get my backups done. I could take the HD out and take it up to work and make CD backups, but it'll take longer. ><

I did some looking around, and found a decent CPU/motherboard combo (http://www.partspc.com/Recommend.asp?Qty=1&ProdID=12981&imageField3.x=51&imageField3.y=6) for $120 base price. I can add memory and a better fan for a little more and get all of them together and shipped for $192 plus tax, so it's not as bad as I originally thought. It's not the latest technology, but it'll be better than what I had before, even before this POS I'm borrowing, so I'll be happy with it. I really, REALLY, don't want to put it on my credit card, but I may end up doing so. I'll have to really work to pay it off, but at least I could get it and have a good computer again. I'll know after payday next week if I can get it or have to charge it, so I have to use this work computer for anything until then. *sighs*

[Ladywriter]

I know credit card pain >.< Sledgers just put a new hd and mem on the card on top of xmas and bills -_-;

[gokuDX7]

It doesn't even beep, just shuts off.

It may not beep. Rom is goofy like that when its f'ed up. O well, hope everything works out.

[Sledgstone]

yeah, good luck with that comp of yours..

credit debt.. -_- we got another credit card just to balance transfer the other card to it to lower the apr. *hopes taxes will pay off good this year* -_-

[Dubird]

Ok, after much testing, I believe it to be the CPU. I could be wrong, but that's what it's looking like. And flashing the BIOS isn't going to help when I can't get it to the point where I can do that. It shuts down almost immediatly. >< So, I may go ahead and get that combo next week after pay day. I need to see what I'll have left after bills and stuff, and damn, with Christmas coming up, I need to set aside something so I can finish getting presents. *dies* Why couldn't this happen two months from now?? I'd be doing ok then!! *sighs*

[Sledgstone]

you know what the issue is and you have a plan for taking care of it so thats good. just hope that nothing else happens that causes you to spend more money than you can budget or you'll end up like me. x_x

[Dubird]

Well, the problem is I really shouldn't put that on my credit card. It'll just take that much longer to pay it off. *rolls eyes* But since I can't use my computer until it's fixed, and I'm going nuts at home without it, I really need to get it back up. I just really wish I could figure out how to get art commissions. I don't know if I'm just not doing it right or my art just isn't good enough for someone to pay me for it, ya know?