PC won't power on OCZ PSU help ><

The best option now for Chooseyant is testing the main drive itself usually with a diagnostics tool provided by the manufacturer to confirm or rule out that being the source of the problem. That's where he is at present.

But seeing Windows installed on the drive outside of the present system will present other hardware profile/activation problems unless seeing at least a repair install first when reinstalled prior to any attempt on that. Trying a different drive and still seeing the same problem would be another way to rule the first drive out however.

When using the hardware tester on the last build it only confirmed what had already been suspected about the bios chip giving out after a full 3yrs. of use. The problems were consistent with the usual cause determined without any softwares needed.

Granted some have evolved a bit over the years to actually be of some use while others tend to be unreliable and often misidentify the actual problems as newer boards have become more complex. A program well written and kept updated on a regular basis seeing newer versions often would be the thought as far as software testers.

Hard Drive Testing information


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Granted some have evolved a bit over the years to actually be of some use while others tend to be unreliable and often misidentify the actual problems as newer boards have become more complex. A program well written and kept updated on a regular basis seeing newer versions often would be the thought as far as software testers.

I agree, even on the hardware side of it.
They just can't keep up with the changes, or if they attempt to do so, they end up doing it kind of half-arsed and it is easier and more reliable (from a shop point of view) to just start swapping parts.

Man I loved doing Consumer side break fix. If you are good at it, and honest, it's fun.
But customers can be a real pain some times.

The thing to remember even with the hardware form of testers is that those are limited at times as well unless you get into the 6digit testers where you need a tech to decipher the readout. a 2 or 4 can still be looked up on a chart that points out the part of the board a problem is being seen in general however like bios, cpu, etc. For addons like anything else installed on the board separate tests still have to be seen for each item.

Another possible cause that can come up is where a video card is going on you without any beep codes being heard. You start seeing unexplained display problems however unless Windows locks on you. Typically that is seen once you arrive at the desktop however and go to run something.

The best results as a rule however are through isolation when possible of each component in order to reveal the one or more having a problem. Even with brand new hardwares to work with more then one item could be seeing a defect making diagnostics a real task at times.

Unfortunately still running into the same problem when swapping out the first drive for another would suggect a bad dimm or perhaps mismatched memory was installed from the start. A look at the board's user manual not just the supported memory list at the board manufacturer's site may reveal the wrong voltage range or timings are way off from what the board requires.

As far as heatup issues that wouldn't stall a clean install on a cold startup but result in problems by the time you reached the desktop if too much thermal paste for example had been used on the hsf. The newer boards for some time have had an overheat protection circuit that would kick in if the cpu was getting hot to prevent that from cooking on you.

Unfortunately that brings you right back to board, ram, and drive with the last being ruled out. A bad 7 dvd? A bad install disk or one scratched or smeared up from handling would likely end up seeing a partial install which could hang. Problems with the optical drive would be a second less likely occurance.

Hopefully if the system went to competent repair shop they'll get things running for the price! That will take the burden off of you while it's still a bit disappointing.

If it is locking up in the BIOS.... I might first try to flash the BIOS. This could just be a bad BIOS Flash.

But.... it could be any number of things, from bad ram/solts/mismatched to just a plain bad board. I would make them swap the whole board and make sure the ram is matched properly.

I've had to return boards as well as recently replace one cooked by a supply. It's never fun! But your friend likely made the best move by having someone equipped go through everything.

I have money that says it wasn't fine, they did something or replaced something and just didn't tell him