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A month ago Rita wrote to ICPUG with the following problem:
I have always been able to solve my PC problems myself up to now but this problem has me stopped in my tracks.
My PC screen went completely blank the other day, whilst on the Internet using AOL, and since then I cannot get it to start up again even using the start-up disk.
A couple of days previous to this I had to reinstall the driver for my modem. (I guess there must also have been other software installed at the same time). Following that I got a couple of messages popping up to say check CPU fan, not working properly.
Could this be why my PC decided to shut down and not let me start it back up again? If so, what do I do now? Do I need someone to look at it for me?
Look forward to hearing from you. Thanking you in anticipation
Rita
I sent back my initial response to Rita as follows:
I must admit I have never seen a message suggesting the CPU fan is duff although I do know my BIOS monitors the CPU temperature. I am not sure what happens if it gets too hot.
If the CPU was overheating then I guess it could cause this problem. However, I would expect it to go away again when the PC was starting up from cold. You do not say whether the machine will boot up from floppy - only that the startup disk did not work. If the floppy actually boots but fails when trying to execute the programs on it then it is not likely to be a CPU fault.
If the CPU fan is at fault (you should be able to confirm by listening to it with the computer case open, being careful not to electrocute yourself!), then you will need to buy another fan. Fitting it is relatively easy as they simply attach to the CPU.
I guess another possibility, since I have never heard of the error message you get, is that it is some elaborate form of hoax software or a virus. If the latter then you are going to need a floppy based virus checker to sort it out.
Since that time Rita has not confirmed whether the above helped, or hindered, but I suspect it has not helped because she has agreed to me throwing open the problem to a wider audience.
If you have any further advice to counteract the problem please e-mail Rita with a copy to me here at ICPUG.
Rita: ritac1@onmail.co.uk
Editor: brian@grainger1.freeserve.co.uk
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