Motherboard infected?

I recently built my brother a computer (beginning of jan) and about a month ago the CD-Rom stopped working.. well, more like, the computer didn't recognize it. When i clicked on 'My Computer' it wasn't there.

And i would constantly have a message pop up from the task bar saying something about 'JMicron' (new hardware found) and when i would try to install it there would be a missing file somewhere. I spoke to my uncle who is a technician, and he said that the cd-rom must not be connected properly. So tonight i opened the computer and looked through all the cables, and everything was where it was supposed to be.

Then when i turned the computer on, the monitor wasn't getting any pictures. So then i thought 'great' i took my monitor over to my brothers computer, and i know that the monitors are fine.. so i thought something was wrong with the graphics card. So i plugged in my speakers and let the computer run, and i listened out for the 'welcome to windows' music... Nothing. No sounds at all.

So you can imagine how im feeling now.

My brother is a complete imbecile, he downloads whatever looks appealing to him (he is turning 12).
But he still knows alot about computers for his age (thanks to me).

But i am assuming that my brother must have downloaded something that completely screwed it up. I sat in front of the computer for about an hour looking at it, trying to figure out the problem. But i just dont know.

If anyone has any ideas, or needs me to be more specific PLEASE let me know!
It will be much appreciated.
I dont really want the computer that i built (for the first time in my life) to stuff up after only 3 months =P

Thanks everyone![/b]

have you tried a different graphic card too? - I recently just built my first machine (this one) and I messed up quite bad at first but I got the hang of it, it's a pain all the tests you have to go through to figure out which bit of hardware isn't working

your not getting a picture and sound which means your motherboard could be buggered, you said the computer was coming on with new hardware found, then not coming on? does it come on now? or is this completely random when it comes on?

sounds a bit weird that it was coming on now not, you might of buggered the motherboard, or it might just be a bad virus with you saying he downloads whatever looks good, seems a bit weird to me as I don't actually know the answer but hope I can help anyway possible

I know when I set my computer up being the noob that I am I forgot to put the lol forget the name, the riser things under the motherboard so that it doesn't short circuit, luckily I got it working still when I realized I hadn't put them on (lol biggest noob ever but we all forget something )

Try restoring to a restore point prior to the problem if you can. Sounds like drivers got screwed up somehow.

lol.. well the thing is, when i first built the computer, it was running smoothly.. perfectly.. so good that i was jealous it was doing better then MY computer lol.

Anyway, The 'New Hardware' thing came up everytime we started the computer, and it would come up every 5mins untill we would 'continue' with the installation, and it would say that it has to do some microsoft test thing? I don't know, something about it not being safe. But i would still continue, and then there would be a missing file.

And now the screen doesnt work, and nor does the sound, so basically, i cant get into windows/bios settings or anything.

Buggered? as in, it was running too long? lol, i don't know what you mean by that =S



ATNO/TW: i cant restore anything on the computer.. there is nothing i can do, no screen and no sound. I wanted to restore it, i was going to format the computer aswell.. but now i cant even do that. =(


All i know is, the computer turns on.

hmm, strange, by buggered I meant like fried, nackered, not working, broke the motherboard - understand?

hmm it sounds very weird, the other day my computer kept saying new hardware found and I had no idea what it was, then my computer went funny and I couldn't boot up so I formatted, hmm not sure what to say to you now lol

you can't see nothing at all? what happens when you now power it on? nothing, not even the black startup screen with the choice to enter setup etc?

basically, i turn on the computer.. but nothing transmits to the monitor, its like.. the monitor isnt even plugged in.

I dont know how i could have buggered the MB. I didnt do anything to it..

All i did was, unplugged the cd-rom. turned on the computer to see if that 'New Hardware' message still came up. Not only did i NOT get the message.. but i got nothing on the screen at all.


the graphcis card has 2 ports for the monitor cable, so i tried both of them, and still got nothing.

I double checked that the hard drive was connected correctly, and same with the graphics card, ram, cpu and rom.

If the MB is buggered, wouldnt the computer not even turn on?

This is so confuzing.

not really, it depends, I mean the reason I say it might be the motherboard is because you say it was coming on, then your sound doesn't work and your not getting a picture, meaning it could be your motherboard is faulty, or something else which I donno what, lol I'm not very good am I

but when I first built this one, the computer came on at first, a few times, then It never, I had power lots of times, then I started to see "no input device detected" so I was like hmm that must be the graphic card or monitor, tried monitor on me old pc works, so it must be the graphic card or the motherboard, Could not try another graphic card as my old pc was AGP and this PCI-E

anyways, lots of tests later I did find out my motherboard was faulty, sent it back to the place I got it, they replaced it, computer booted up properly and worked.

Not saying yours is your motherboard I'm just trying to help and get to the bottom of it. With it not coming on at all suggest to me it's either your motherboard or graphic card, if it was your hard drive then you would still see something on screen (i think) the other day my computer said it couldn't detect a hard drive, but I could still see things on screen

hmm you could do what I did, if you have not already, take one thing out at a time, try boot up, so take a ram chip out, boot up, take your CD ROM Drive out, boot up etc and see if you get anywhere

well.. i would go back to where i got the motherboard from.. but they will charge me to have a look at it! and if it isnt faulty then i will be paying money for nothing you know? Thats why im here =)

And i sort of already did do what you suggested. but there is only one ram stick, the cd-rom is already out.


i want to get my graphics card out and put it into my brothers, but im not sure it will work because my computer is older. and if it does work, im scared that it might screw up my graphics card!

ill probably try more things tomorrow to get some more answers (its 2am here now)

im here trying to get as many suggestions as i can.
thanks for you help!

ill keep everyone posted!

and if anyone has any more ideas/suggestions.. im all ears!
(actually im all eyes, considering im readong, not listening =P )

Thanks again kinnerdesign!

hehe It's np I only wish I actually knew what was wrong, and I know what your going through it was torture the first time I built this computer, Do not take it back to the store then, Keep researching and trying on here for help I'm sure someone will soon tell you what's wrong and tell me to shut up hehe

I wish I lived in Austrailia, It's where I want to live but I don't know why

Hope you get it fixed, do you know what type of graphics cards they both are? that will help you to know if they will both fit in one computer.

In your case, I'd be inclined to check the mobo manual and look for the jumper that forces the BIOS to revert to the default settings which are usually of a lower performance value.

If your board doesn't have a readily available jumper, pull the BIOS battery and have a drink or a smoke while the BIOS reverts to the factory settings.

Reboot and see what effect, if any, it has had.

Good luck.

before you jump to conclusions, check every computer component one by one. I suggest you completely disasemble the computer and re-assemble it again from scratch! i.e remove every single component (and i mean every single component until the computer is stripped right down. examine the motherboard, ram, hard drive, processor for any defects. you can do this by taking a closer look at each part with your naked eyes. If your processor has pins, examin it to make sure all pins are neatly in place. look at your ram chip's metal edges and check for any burnt part. also check your motherboard (both front and back) for any defects. try to smell it as well for any burnt scent. make sure your IDE cables are working! test then on another motherboard.
IF satified that everything is ok. re-assemble the computer taking care to handle each part with great care. One possible problem is the motherboard may have been shorting on the system case. It may have worked for a while but its possible the motherboard and system case were touching. this happens once in a while and can be solved by stripping the computer right down to the last peice!
Try this out and good luck!

When you turn on the computer does anything happen:

Fans spin?

Power supply fans spin?

Any Beeps from the Bios?


Dangles

All the fans spin (cpu and power and graphics). the computer doesnt beep at all. it never beeped from the start.

Im gonna start takin the pc apart in a couple hours, and ill put it back together.

If that doesnt work, i might consider taking out that bios battery as cold canuck recommended.

(that is the ROM battery right?) lol

Yuppers...it looks like a large diameter watch battery.

ok, so i actually just pulled the pc apart now (was bored) took a look at everything, unplugged and un-screwed everything. And put it all back together again... and still nothing, same as before. so i took the ROM out, and put it back in, and still nothing.. i then turned the pc on while the ROM was out (don't know if that woulda helped though) and yet again, nothing. =(