Page 1 of Strange PC startup error, can someone please help asap?

Just reset my PC and upon startup I got the following message...

"HARDWARE MONITOR FOUND AN ERROR"

Upon checking the BIOS I had a look at the hardware monitor and the only thing I could see was the following highlighted in red...

76oC / 168.5of
(the "o" is degrees btw)

Usually my PC is on 24/7, so is it just a simple case of it being too hot? Is there any way to fix it, and will this be a constant problem. Going to turn off my PC now to see if the problem goes away.

Would appreciate any advice, thanks. :)

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"The Internet is a communication device that allows people the world over to bitch about movies and share pornography with one another."

seems like you are overheating - it may just need to cool down, but it could be an early warning that the fan is not working properly - i would keep an eye on it and maybe replace the cooling system othwise your chip could fry. Alternatively, you may be able to increase the temp that the alarm sounds at, overiding the problem, but again if it is overheating you will end up frying the CPU

Thanks buddy. After leaving my PC off for a while it was ok. Still, what kind of cooling system do you suggest? Also, how easy are fans to replace?

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"The Internet is a communication device that allows people the world over to bitch about movies and share pornography with one another."

I would take a look at the CPU heatsink and fan; they are probably caked up with dust. I have to clean my dads machine every 3-4 months because of this and he leaves his machine on all the time.

If the fan is connected to the heatsink with screws if would take the screws out and seperate the fan from the heatsink. Now take a small brush, anything like a small paintbrush will do, and brush out the dust from the heatsink. I would use a hoover just above the heatsink to suck up the dust as to not to spread it around your system. Clean the fan in the same way and re-attach the fan to the heatsink.

While you are at it you may aswell give the whole box a good clean in the same way.

Ben,
If it hasn`t gone noisy or anything then your fan should be OK and maybe just dirty - try taking the fan off (should just be 4 screws) and hoovering out any fluff that may be stopping the air circulating. Failing that take a look here..

Those Zalman ones are meant to be fantastic - esp considering you have yours on 24/7 ;-)
Ste

I have a US friend (Sys Admin) who experienced constant freezing/crashing of her PC, reformatted AV scans etc, wasnt till she opened the case & saw the fan wasnt turning then said to me.........."should that fan be turning" "Hmmm at a wild guess yes".

Replacing the fan solved all the probs & it was a great pleasure to meet her in 2000 with my wife & eldest son present (she spent 2 days driving to meet me in Indiana from Tennesee).

"Great chunks of my past detaching themselves like melting icebergs"

Ok thanks guys. Think I will give it a clean out, haven`t done for a while... btw, anyone know of any good PC deals on at the moment? My brother is looking to buy a PC for around £600-900; should he be going with Dell considering their offers at the minute?

This system admin then Rassilon63, she`s not your bit on the side then? lol!

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"The Internet is a communication device that allows people the world over to bitch about movies and share pornography with one another."

This item was edited on Sunday, 16th November 2003, 22:37

Ben, try Carrera at http://www.carrerassc.co.uk/.
Some very good PCs for the money, good part inside not cheap kak.