NOVEMBER 2004 MA XIMUMPC 47
Build It!
What to Do If it Doesn’t Work
Even Maximum PC editors occasionally have problems with their newly built PCs. Here are the three
most common PC building problems, and the Maximum PC -approved tips for troubleshooting!DON’T Close the PC case before
your first boot! Doing so will invoke
Murphy’s Law, guaranteeing that
something will go wrong and you’ll
just have to open up the case again.DO Write down the model numbers
and serial numbers of all your internal
hardware in case you need to download
documentation or call technical support
later when the PC case is closed.DON’T Work inside the PC while the
power is on.DO Check your case fans often for
gunk buildup. A fan can’t do its job
if it’s clogged with cat hair!DO Screw in your hard drives and
optical drives on both sides. It helps
stabilize the drives and reduce noise.DO Make sure you have an adequate
power supply for your hardware. A
350W power supply is the bare mini-
mum today. You need 450W or higher
for a fully loaded gaming rig.DON’T Position your hard drives
too close together! If you’re using
more than two drives, allow some
room for airflow between them.
Heat kills!The 7 Dos and Don’ts of PC Building
Q
I turned on my PC for the first
time, and nothing happened. The
monitor didn’t turn on and there
were no tell-tale beeps. The power
light is on, but no one’s home!A
A completely nonresponsive PC
could be the result of any number
of problems. First, ensure that your
case speaker is plugged into the speaker
header on the mobo (if your machine is
having trouble booting, it will beep to let
you know the nature of the problem). If
your machine has both onboard video
and a videocard it could cause a conflict.
Try swapping the monitor to the other
VGA output, at least long enough to dis-
able the onboard video.
If you’re still having trouble booting,
you might have a more serious hardware
problem. There’s a good chance your CPU
isn’t properly seated. You need to remove
it from the socket, clean it off with 99
percent isopropyl rubbing alcohol and a
paper towel, and then reseat it, and rein-
stall the heatsink. Be careful when you
pull the heatsink off of the CPU. You may
need to twist the heatsink slightly to get
it to release from CPU without forcibly
yanking the CPU from its socket.
The last thing to check for is a mis-placed motherboard standoff. If you have
an extra mobo standoff screwed into your
tray, it can short out crucial components
of your mobo and render your system
unbootable. Unfortunately, the only way
to check for extra standoffs is to com-
pletely remove the mobo from the case.Q
I’m having trouble getting the
Windows installation started.
Why won’t it start?A
Most likely, Windows is having
trouble detecting your hard drive.
The first thing you should do is
check your cables. Make sure your cables
are firmly connected at both the drive
and the motherboard end, and that your
power cable is plugged into the drive.
If your cables are in good order, you
should ensure that your hard drive is
plugged into the proper port. Unless
you’re installing Windows on a RAID
array, you should connect your drive
to the ports connected to your chipset’s
native controller. You should also ensure
that the proper ports are enabled in your
BIOS and are set to the correct mode.
Some motherboards allow you to use
Serial ATA ports for either standard drivesor a RAID array. You’ll need to consult
your documentation for the specifics.
If for some reason, Windows still
doesn’t see your hard drive, you may
need to install drivers for your controller.
To install the drivers, you need to tempo-
rarily connect a floppy drive your com-
puter. Connect the floppy, then boot your
computer and start the Windows installer.
Press F6 when prompted to install your
driver. Put the driver floppy that came
with the motherboard in the floppy drive
and follow the onscreen prompts.Q
I powered up my machine and
it’s making all sorts of beeping
noises! What do they mean?A
Beeping noises generally mean
there’s a problem with a crucial
piece of hardware. They can
mean that your memory isn’t properly
inserted, there’s a problem with your
videocard, or even that your keyboard
isn’t properly plugged in. Error codes
vary from mobo to mobo; consult your
motherboard manual to decode the spe-
cific beep code you’re hearing. n