First boot after some modifications problems

[dxhowto]

I had an old pc laying around and it worked just fine but it only had 512 mb of RAM so I upgraded and put in two new sticks 500mb each. I also added a new sound card. I was thinking about getting a new processor so I took the fan over it off and the processor out but I put it back in and didn't upgrade. I think I put it in right.

So now when i plug this pc in 2 lights on the motherboard light up and one led light outside the case flashes red. When I press the power button the fan moves a little, i hear a beep out of the speaker but it doesn't power up. I am new to this so any help would be greatly appreciated. Any suggestions? Thanks!

[RickyTick]

If it was running ok with the new ram and sound card, and won't boot after removing the cpu heatsink, then I'd say you didn't install the heatsink properly. Did you re-install the thermal compound that goes between the cpu and heatsink?

[dxhowto]

Thanks for the reply. I did forget to add some more heatsink glue and after adding it and putting everything back together I get the same problem. The light on the tower is still flashing red and the motherboard leds are lit up but when I press the power button the fan moves for a second but the pc doesn't turn on. Any other suggestions? Thanks!

[zburns]

I was thinking about getting a new processor so I took the fan over it off and the processor out but I put it back in and didn't upgrade.

According to your first post you did take out the processor and subsequently changed your mind and you put the processor back in! As long as the fan was plugged in, it should run provided it was getting voltage. If you are someone you know has a electronic voltmeter, you could check the voltage at the fan. Assuming the fan did have voltage, then the only remaining possible source of trouble is the cpu. If you 'mishandled' the cpu in any way including 'touching or doing anything to the pins or putting it in backwards --anything at all with the cpu that gave you difficulty in getting it back in the socket could be the source of your problem.

You need to go back over everything you did. There has to be a single 'weird' mistake in the process of reinstalling the several items. Unless you dropped the fan or pulled a wire loose, I cannot think of any way the fan would have been messed up.

As far as the existing cpu goes, there are several ways you can mishandle it and do some permanent damage. If you handled the cpu by the sides only, never touched the pins, set it gently down into the socket, and there was a lever to help fully seat it into the socket -- ie. the exact reverse process to put it back being 'identical to the way it came out', then it is unlikely it is damaged. But as I said above any 'one time' weird thing that happened while the cpu was out of the socket would be a clue as to why you have a problem.

Did you unplug any cables, did you do anything you did not mention in the first post, etc..

[dxhowto]

Thanks!