Dead Computer -- Advice Needed

[noexitstamp]

I am in Chiang Mai and need a recommendation for an honest computer shop to fix my computer . Since I am not that tech savey I guess I am in for a good screwing when it comes to replacement parts . Anyone know a good shop close to Central ?

Computer plaza is a bit of a generic answer by the way

Symptoms by the way are , just in case there is the possibility of a self quick fix :

Working yesterday , powered down using the " shut down " option .

Turned it on today , nothing on the screen but there is a beeping noise coming from the motherbord .

All cords / leads connected and system runs through a voltage stabilizer.

All lights and fans working .

Thanks

[miltonbentley]

Sorry to hear of your travails NES. I strongly recommend Goodspeed in Computer Plaza. The have a retail shop downstairs but the repairs section is the first shop up the stairs on the right. Very honest, very reliable

[importford]

Had some time ago the same problem.

Took the computer case to the IT center.

They opened it and quickly found that the cable from my hard disk came loose.

Perhaps worth to check some things out yourself.

Make sure that all the cables are good connected inside your computer case.

[realthaideal]

I agree with the other poster, goto GOODSPEED. If you go inside Computer Plaza, it is the first place upstairs on the left. They made my computer a few yrs back, and then also a few of my friends' computers since. I always go to them for service. It's fast and reliable. They're always busy so it's good to check in on them, ie if they tell you it'll be ready 'in 3 days', call on the 2nd day and remind them you'll be checking to see the progress the next day. This helps keep everything on track. Prices are fair and they speak a fair amount of English there if your Thai isn't so good.

They will likely diagnose the problem rather quickly. SOunds scary but you could have everything from a dead hd, to a virus. If the hd is still alive, they'll run a bunch of programs to clean up your computer and get rid of ghost files, temp files, and other things. You'd be surprised how nice it is to have some regular maintenance done on your stuff. But if something did go dead.....hope you did your backing up recently.

[noexitstamp]

Thanks for the advice , I was going to pop in there anyway .

Ragarding the hard drive , PLEASE do not scare me , my life is on it .

The computer has not been connected to the internet for months anyway so I am doubting a virus had anyhting to do with it , I am thinking possibly the video board and HOPING that it is not the HArd drive

[JungleBoy]

Yep, Goodspeed is the place to go. Aek is the one to talk with for good English and expertise. He is a whiz. I'll bet he even knows what's on your HD before you even show it to him. He is awesome. Your problem could just be loose or 'film covered connections' on RAM chips. This, I assume is due to the humidity.

In any case, Aek will fix it for you and might not even charge you. He's not charged me several times for miniscule stupidities on my part. Very fair and honest.

[ThaidleHands]

It's impossible to diagnose remotely, of course, but it sounds very much like the power supply is beginning to fail; the fan spins, the device starts to boot, but the voltage in one circuit is too low and the motherboard halts the process and beeps.

Fortunately that's a very cheap fix, so make sure they test it before moving on to more expensive solutions. Sometimes it can be resolved by removing the power supply from the chassis, opening the power supply and blowing out the accumulated dirt with compressed air.

If you want to try this solution yourself, a can of compressed air is very cheap and usually the only tool you'll need is a screwdriver. It does no harm to open the case of your PC once or twice a year and blow the dust off the internal components. Do not take the power supply to your local auto shop and use the air from their compressor; it can contain water vapour and other contaminents.

Even if the power supply is dying, the replacement won't be costly and the labour time should be no more than a half-hour. Make sure the replacement has the same wattage rating as the unit being replaced, unless you're planning to add a new component such as an additional hard drive or CD drive soon. In that case you might want to increase the rating on the power supply by 50W.

[cmsally]

Is it a problem with the monitor. I spent ages trying to diagnose a computer; only to rig it up to another monitor and it worked perfectly.

[realthaideal]

You're right, could just as well be power supply or monitor or graphics card, though the beeping thing is a bit suspicious. It could just be hanging on something in the boot-up - something that they will be able to clean up for you.

As for the crash of the hd, please please be budgeting and allowing time for yourself to back up your $hit. I know of quite a few ppl who lost years of their lives and work because of not backing up. I burn cd's of my written work and keep in a coule place sin the house, plus one copy at a friend's house. The entire 4 drives of my com get backed up into my new 350 gig SATA drive which ran me about 5,000 B if I remember correctly. I backed up Aug 1st or so, so I'm due again any time since I take lots of pix and am always writing. If I lost my stuff...... I'd be....... I can't even say how sad.

It's a hassle to back-up but nothing compared to hassle of recovery or dealing with losing your virtual life.

[onepen]

You're right, could just as well be power supply or monitor or graphics card, though the beeping thing is a bit suspicious. It could just be hanging on something in the boot-up - something that they will be able to clean up for you.

As for the crash of the hd, please please be budgeting and allowing time for yourself to back up your $hit. I know of quite a few ppl who lost years of their lives and work because of not backing up. I burn cd's of my written work and keep in a coule place sin the house, plus one copy at a friend's house. The entire 4 drives of my com get backed up into my new 350 gig SATA drive which ran me about 5,000 B if I remember correctly. I backed up Aug 1st or so, so I'm due again any time since I take lots of pix and am always writing. If I lost my stuff...... I'd be....... I can't even say how sad.

It's a hassle to back-up but nothing compared to hassle of recovery or dealing with losing your virtual life.

[Pomthai]

Take out your ram boards, clean the connections with a pencil eraser, re-install the modules. I'd almost put money on it that's your problem. Good luck.

[onepen]

From my experience it is some problem with some hardware that connect on to the mainboard for example RAM or VGA Card it is not a problem with Harddisk for sure. So you can try take RAM out of slot used pencil rubber to clean on the part that contact to the mainboard and place it the same place as before then turn it on again. It is sometime happened because of dusty or it loosen.

or PM. to me for more advice

[RJJ]

I am in Chiang Mai and need a recommendation for an honest computer shop to fix my computer . Since I am not that tech savey I guess I am in for a good screwing when it comes to replacement parts . Anyone know a good shop close to Central ?

Computer plaza is a bit of a generic answer by the way

Symptoms by the way are , just in case there is the possibility of a self quick fix :

Working yesterday , powered down using the " shut down " option .

Turned it on today , nothing on the screen but there is a beeping noise coming from the motherbord .

All cords / leads connected and system runs through a voltage stabilizer.

All lights and fans working .

Thanks

Well beeping indicates hardware issues.

Can't be a dodgy monitor because the computer wouldn't beep.

Can't be a hard disk because you will get errors and fairly clear messages that something is drastically wrong.

It must be hardware; it could be bad connections or something is burnt out or full of dust (I won't even mention the ash build up if you are a smoker!).

How many beeps are there?

At least going into a computer shop, they have enough parts and expertise to swap this and that to find what is wrong, then can sell you the item.

Most common causes of system failure with beeping could be:

1) power supply

2) mother board

3) ram chips

4) video card

5) CPU if extensively over clocked. (Doesn't sound like you would be one to overclock)

As for your data, you should invest in another hard disk and simply copy your stuff over sometimes.

For extra safety, use a USB hard disk and unplug it except when you are backing up.

That way if you had a power spike that fried everything, at least your USB disk in the top draw is safe!

[Jimbob1]

Here is a link to a list of what the BEEP's are trying to tell you ...

http://www.technick.net/public/code/cp_dpa...uide_beep_codes

Different BIOS's have different codes so see if any of these come close to what you hear ...

Happy hunting ...

In any case it is an easy enough job to recover files from your HDD if your MOBO needs replacing and system reloaded.