These darn computers...

[shexpeare]

It all started out with have problems to switch from one window to another in Windows (ALT+TAB). I figured a quick reboot would probebly fix it... Yea, right!
After rebooting I couldnt login to Win cause now my keyboard didnt work!

I rebooted a few times with different keyboards in different ports without success. Instead Windows decided fook things up even more. So instead of loading the OS I got a message "Following file is corrupt: ntoskrnl.exe"
My first thought was to try running it safe mode. But gave up that thought when realized it's tricky to press F8 without a working keyboard.
So thought reparing it with the Win CD would do the trick. It was darn frustrating when I saw the message "Press any key to boot from CD" ;D

So I removed the hard drives and installed a new one. A fresh installation on a new drive must work...
But the computer just starts reading the CD and then it shuts down after a minute or two.

At the moment Im out of ideas. If anyone has a nifty solution for this, feel free to enlighten me..

[mash]

try resetting your motherboard by removing battery. or turn of your powersuply 5 minutes.

[=[VnB]=SaintDickless]

Darn computers indeed. I can remember many times where I've had my hands in my hair in frustration of problems you describe.

But do not give up. Like newton's 3th law of motion, for every problem, there is an equal and opposite solution. The trick is to find it. And it seems there is more than one problem in the description you wrote down.

First of all, make it a priority to get your keyboard to work. You can't drive a car without a steering wheel. When you turn on the computer, can you enter the BIOS? Usually done by pressing F1, F2 or DEL, it will tell you which button at the moment it turns on. If it can't go into the BIOS, you can assume the keyboard itself is dead in which case you will need to test this with another keyboard.

If your current one is PS/2, use a USB keyboard. If your current one is USB, use a PS/2 keyboard. If you only have USB ports and no PS/2, use a different port, preferrably at the other end of the machine if possible (front/back).

If you have followed the steps above and you are still unable to enter the BIOS, then the next step is an ATX-reset. This is a procedure which not only works on a computer, but I have found many devices it works on and fixed quite a deal of appliances with it (even a coffee machine). Laptop owners, pay attention. 90% of the laptops which "dont turn on anymore" suddenly work with the following procedure:


- Turn off your PC.
- Remove all external devices (printers, mouse, coffeecup warmers, etc.)
- Unplug the power cord. If it's a laptop, remove the battery as well (important).
- Now hold the power button for about 20 seconds. (fun fact: This will drain all remaining power in the diodes of the circuitry. Sometimes they retain a wrong instruction preventing you from booting.)
- Plug only the power in and your keyboard.
- Boot and test if you can enter the BIOS now.


In case you are able to enter the BIOS, congrats, you can now set the BOOT priority to boot up from the CD and install. If not, the only last option you have is to remove power cord, then the cover, peel out the battery (don't touch it with your hands, nor with a pair of tweezers as both will short-circuit it and decrease it's lifespan significantly), and put it back in after 20 seconds. Easier said than done and usually doesn't help if the ATX-reset failed.

In case that failed as well, your motherboard could be considered a loss, as it is useless without being able to send any input. If you DO want to keep it, you could consider a workaround: get a PCI card which allows USB (google: "USB PCI").

I hope this helps abit, keep me posted. I'm going back to my campfire now and get really, really high. Peace.

[shexpeare]

Thanks for the suggestions. I tried them all but nothing seems to get my computer on better thoughts.

I tried three different keyboards earlier today. Both ps/2 and usb. Didn't work.
Now when I start it up all I get is the first startup screen where you can chose to enter BIOS, etc. And thats all.
I had enough of this. So rest in peace you piece of junk (but we two sure had some good times together. the memories...).

I have another computer I can use after I made a few minor fixes on it. That will have to until I find a new worthy companion to share my digital hours with.

[Karigard]

Maybe you can still recue some parts of it that aren't broken like the graphics card or other cards and use them in your other computer (if their better).

[shexpeare]

Indeed.
I actually had a motherboard, cpu and ram lying here. So I put them in to my old case this morning. I also changed the power supply. But the rest are same old devices.
After everything was installed I started it up. And nothing happened. Well actually the green light on the power supply started blinking. But that was it. By now I got used to this curse and can't say I wasntvery surprised.

As soon as I have regained some patience I'll go take a closer look at it. Hopefully its just some minor problem.

[VnB Tigger]

Many years ago, I started with an IBM system 32 (which cost a small fortune back then) and have now 20 Hewlett Packards and 40 top-end screens, all connected to my stockbroker.

Well, times have changed since then. I still remember selling 5 1/4" disks, as if they were the next best thing.

Welcome

Welcome to the dehydrated land,
welcome to the self-police parade, welcome to the neo-golden age,
welcome to the day's you've made.

You are welcombe.

[mundas]

wat

[VnB Tigger]

Goes like this, magnetic disks were a good laugh, pretty big and you had discomfort swapping the bloody things around too often. 16 meg of memory was like a miracle. Drum printers were the thing at the time, and Olivetti typewriters were better than IBM 92's. Writing code in C was just creeping in, and well, you know. I still prefer Pearl, somehow it's very cool, takes a lot of my time, still use it.

Rather than using Windows on my PC's, as a rule I'm an ardent fan of Ubuntu Linux, having contributed to the scripting.

Just love computers, love and love them again.