Saturday, June 11, 2011

Processor TroubleShooting

Most of the Processor breakdowns occurs due to incorrect installation of processor,dust on Heat Sinks & Cooling Fans,Incorrect BIOS settings and dust on Main Boards.Here are some useful tips to repair your PC at home.

1.Do you hear Beep Sounds ?
It is Normal to hear one or two short beeps when Computer Booting.It is unusual to occur long beeps nonstop and it suggests processor been over heated.
Now we must follow step by step actions to find the solution.
2. Check the Processor installed firmly
Generally Processor is installed into a Socket.
But in Pentium II and III processors were designed in a slot architecture.The most common problem these processors faced was the looseness of processor card.(eg.Intel SPGA Class -pins 242 )By fixing the card properly the problem an be fixed.
Also Socket based processors sometimes face this problem due to looseness of the Lock.In that case the fan ,fan connector,Heat sinks must be kept aside before unlocking the socket.
3.Does the Processor Fan Operates Steadily
Processor failure may occur due to malfunctioned of the processor fan.It 's hard to verify that the fan is operating in suitable speeds by looking at the fan after removing the system unit cover.
Huge amounts of dust on the fan reduce its rotation speeds,so it recommended to clean the fan as well as the heat sink.If System unit generates unfamiliar noise checking the fan can avoid the problem. If the PC is able to display on Monitor ,checking the BIOS can be used to troubleshoot .'PC Health Status' displays
Processor temperature,Fan speeds and etc.If the processor temperature is above 60 'c its overheating.But in some Branded PCs Fan operates when temperature  reach certain limit.  Check the fan connector for loose connection.If you detect a  failure even a minor in the processor fan replace the fan with a suitable one .


 4.Set Motherboard Settings to Default
Processor breakdown happen due to BIOS corruption.These troubles can be overcome by resetting the BIOS .But in case of not having display resetting can be done by Clearing the CMOS jumper in the motherboard.Remember to set the jumper into Normal pins before switch on.Sometimes it's hard to find the CMOS jumper without the Motherboard Manual.By examining the board and the printed signs thoroughly  user can figure out the jumper ,if can not remove the CMOS battery for about ten minutes and fix it.This can also reset the BIOS & CMOS settings.

5.Do a complete check out of the PC
Normally every Motherboard can be switched on  without closing the system casing.But in some branded models it is unable to switch on the PC with system casing open.This occurs due to the small button on the chassis that is pressed when the casing closed.So user can hold that button to switch on the PC to get rid that problem.
It's better to remove the Motherboard out of the casing before a complete check.Clean the Motherboard ,RAM Slots,VGA Slots and other slots with Wine Spirit or Alcohol. Softy clean the Slots with a thin brush.Do not clean the processor socket of a LGA Motherboard( Intel Socket 775,1366,1156) as it can damage the tiny pins which leads to Board failure.Do not clean the Motherboard with water ,this can harm the internal charges of the chips as well as the small water drops can harm the circuitry. It is extremely harmful to dry the Motherboard in sun light because it can expand the internal circuitry into loose connections.After drying the Motherboard under a fan ,Fix the processor with heat sink & fan ,RAM and the VGA to do a basic check.Place the Motherboard on a insulator board ( Card Board or regiform ) and connect the power connector in the casing to the appropriate pins and switch on the PC.It's better to relase power via another power supply as low voltage could also leads to processor failure. If the PC Operates till the BIOS Screen the problem has recovered.

Check the casing for any electrical shorts when Motherboard is fixed into.Be aware the nail holes in the Motherboard are parallel with the one's in the base plate of the casing and do not put extra pressure when screwing the nails.
6.Replace the Processor
Still  there is no beeps or PC not booting problem may be with the processor .In that case replace the processor with same identical one with suitable heat sinks and fan.If that also fails check the RAM for loose connections ,if it possible replace it with another functioning RAM.
Finally if every effort failed we can conclude that the Motherboard is damaged,replace it with a new one.