Computer down!

I had a major problem with my computer the other day. It stopped working completely and shut down.

I was unable to get it to boot up and when I turned it on, I noticed that the two LED lights on the motherboard were OFF which means a major problem.

I did some research on the message boards and saw that sometimes that can be caused by a faulty processor.

I bought a motherboard tester and plugged it in and it showed that the processor was not turning on.

At that point, I either had to replace the processor or try to fix it. Replacing the processor would cost about $300 so I took a closer look. The heat sink (the big aluminum piece with the fan attached) didn't look like it had a good layer of thermal compound on it so I bought some more and put it on. It cost me about $20 for the thermal compound.

It worked - saved me $280 by doing it myself!!!

Here's the quiz for this one:

List the steps for installing a CPU and Installing a Heat Sink / Fan assembly.

they are in your "Upgrading and Fixing PC's book"

Here's a hint - fill in the blanks below:

Installing a CPU
1 - The first step is to remove the existing CPU and heatsink/fan assembly. You will probably find that the two are welded together by a thermal paste.
2 -
3 -
4 -
5 -


Installing Heat Sink/Fan
1 - Align the heatsink wiht the retention frame and simply press down; it should snap into place.
2-

This is a very delicate operation and one that you really need to have your static strap for. Making a mistake here could cost you $300.

Ruben