Cleaning out my Rig...

Z

Z(+)DIAC

2[H]4U
Joined
Dec 12, 2004
Messages
3,231
I am deciding to do a little spring cleaning on my rig. I plan on cleaning up the cables, dusting, etc. I was curious that if I unplug my IDE devices (HDD, Floppy, DVD drive) to do some cleaning up, when I am finally about to reboot...will I lose all of my information, settings, etc? I guess what I am trying to say is that will the pc not recognized my previous settings?

Need a few quick answers please...
 
Haha alright...anyone else care to put in their 2 cents? Also what tape is most preferred for harnessing wires to my case...electric tape?
 
Z(+)DIAC said:
Haha alright...anyone else care to put in their 2 cents? Also what tape is most preferred for harnessing wires to my case...electric tape?
Click to expand...

Yes, Duct tape works well but leaves goo when you take it off.
 
zip ties are best as they don't gick up the wires, are easier to remove, and won't peel off.
 
Electrical - doesnt hold
Duct - leaves sticky residue, good for back of case
Zip-ties - your best friend
Drill with drill bit - your next best friend if your goin for a [H] cleanup job
 
Alright got another question. I finally cleaned up my rig a bit (used zip ties and electrical tape). However now it seems when I go to power up my system, the fans putter for a few seconds, lights flicker, and everything else seems to start up for a few seconds before shutting down and starting back up again. I assume it's something to do with my power supply, but was just curious what the specific problem maybe...any help will be appreciated.
 
Not to be a jerk, but I really need some help quickly. I am suppose to have this done by tommorrow morning before I head out to a lan party. ANY HELP WOULD BE APPRECIATED!!!
 
I know I shouldn't bump like this, but I am in great need...only a few more hours!
 
you have pretty much all the info you need:
you'll be fine if you unplug the hd's when the computer is off to clean out the rig, then plug them back in
uze zip-ties for cable management

:D
 
Maybe you don't understand or may have not read my recent posts correctly. I ended up using zip ties for some of the cables as well as taping some to the back of my mobo tray. However when I went to startup my machine the system kinda flickers to life. The lights flicker on and off, the fans move on and off, etc. Was just curious what this maybe or what might be wrong? On the first startup I realized I had my DVD Drive, HDD, Floppy, 2 fans, and vid card (6600gt) running one only one cable from the PSU. Would this have been the problem?
 
Your best bet is to step away from the computer and never touch one ever again.. Idiot cant even figure out how to tie up wires or clean dust and fuck your computer in the process :confused:
 
^^^ you really should be banned for comments like that.

As for help, unplug everything, only plug in essentials. See how it goes. Check wires make sure nothing is shorting. If still no dice, take out of case and check for mobo short, maybe something got stuck under it.
 
Haha actually I came by the photo on a website while surfing...I like it :p

I haven't tried this morning...I'm going to go and see what I can do however in the next few minutes. I am going to try and spread the connectors to the devcies (not have so many on one wire). HOpefully that will work. As you can see in my sig, i really don't have that much stuff to power and it's a fairly new system.

I will keep you updated...thanks again!
 
While cleaning your computer you probly got dust in the air holes on the hard drive. I recomend you take it out and run it under warm water to clean any dust particles out. Just make sure you dont use any chemicals on it :)
 
Chickenmon said:
While cleaning your computer you probly got dust in the air holes on the hard drive. I recomend you take it out and run it under warm water to clean any dust particles out. Just make sure you dont use any chemicals on it :)
Click to expand...

Dude, you need to chill out. How is anyone going to learn anything if they don't ask questions? Come on man, don't act like you've never screwed up anything, or that you were just born with "l33t c0mp0t3r skillz." So chill out and stop being such a jerk, you didn't need to comment here in the first place. Are you really the kind of person who would take delight in ruining someone else's hardware? Because if so, maybe you need to find a hobby that gets you outside more.
 
So I unplugged everything and then waited. After awhile I replugged in my PSu fan, Ram, video card, and mobo connector (forget what it's called) and powered her up. After doing so only my PSU powered up, but was running slowly but surely. After this attempt I decided to try adding a fan to the connection and in doing so made the fan run for a few seconds and then would shut off, continued to turn on and off until I shut down the system.

I was wondering if anyone might know what the hell is going on. Again the system has been running fine since January and the only reason I decided to clean it up was for less heat and to remove the dust.

Anyone know if it might be my PSU or Mobo? I might hit up Micro Center tonight if someone replies back in time.

Thank You
 
It's an Antec True Power 380. I have not overclocked any of my hardware either.

Currently I finally got it up and running, it seems the power connector from the PSU to the Mobo was not grounded properly...i think there was some type of build-up in the connector, but not after I cleaned it out.

I am going to rewire and clean up everything once again and will give an update if it works or not. I appreciate THOSE WHO HAVE HELPED ME, and will continue to do so.

This board is absolutely great.
 
Alright a bit of an update:

I ended up finally cleaning it out and getting it to work. However now when I boot my computer I get a message on the screen. Was curious what it may mean:
Message-

For Realtek RTL8110S/81695 Gigabit Ethernet Controller Beta v1.00
PXE - E61: media Test Failure, Check Cable
PXE - M0F: Exiting PXE ROM

I am not sure if it's referring to my ethernet port, but I have a Linksys wireless card and do not use my on-board ethernet port.

Thank You
 
Sounds like onboard ethernet. Perhaps it got shorted or u ESD'd it? Not really sure just throwing out ideas. Doesn't sound too good for mobo, depending at what point the message occurs. Maybe some bios settings will make it stfuuu tho ;)
 
I have been googling it for the past half an hour and it seems it has something to maybe do with the HDD. Some argue that it may be a boot error and that I try setting my pc to boot from the HDD right away. It also suggest that I boot from my Windows cd. If all else fails some say that the HDD might have gone south...even though I don't know how that could have been seeing as I placed it on top of my desk as I cleaned my rig out...
 
Z(+)DIAC said:
For Realtek RTL8110S/81695 Gigabit Ethernet Controller Beta v1.00
PXE - E61: media Test Failure, Check Cable
PXE - M0F: Exiting PXE ROM
Click to expand...

I think your bios settings are messed and that message means your computer is trying to boot off a lan controller or something.

0ldmX
 
That could be a possibility, however when I went into my Standard CMOS BIOS it did not show or listed my HDD (Samsung 120GB) or my DVD drive (Samsung as well). So my guess is that I may have not plugged in my IDE cables completely before booting it up. God I hope I didn't screw up my HDD :(
 
perhaps try flipping the cables? I have some old IDE cables that dont have the "key" on them to show which way to plug it in... my old k6-2 fell victim to that many times.... always knew what it was after i was done cleaning just would flip 'em over start 'er back upa nd away she'd go... maybe try clearning the CMOS by taking the battery out ? im not sure about whats going on with the NIC... doubt this is much help but good luck to ya! :D
 
Do you mean switch the cables between the IDE 1 and 2 slots? or do you mean just reversing the cables in their already plugged in sockets?
 
After countless hours and minutes of troubleshooting this problem, it saddens me to say that the answer was quite simple and I fee like a moron. I discovered that the IDE cables for my hardware were not securely seated into their proper connectors, therefore none of my hardware was being read.

Again I am still a noob and this of course furthers that title :p

I really would like to thank those who have helped me, this truly is one of the best forums around. I am glad to be a poster...thanks
 
I meant the IDE cables actually plugged in upside down but glad to see you got it worked out! only way to learn is to try.. good luck with all ya be doing! :D
 
No big deal. Everyone fucks up a connection at some point. Hell, before the cables had keys, people would constantly plug cables in the wrong way. Nothing n00b about it, just a simple mistake. :) Glad to hear you got it running though. Heh.
 
yea totally, whenever I have to use a non-keyed cable... i double check a keyed one just to make sure ;)
 
Man this thread looked like it was full of flamers. Here are some pointers from me (How i do mine anyway) cleanouts.

Usually I do these when a dusty computer comes through "the shop".

Take everything out and sweep out case all over, clean filters if they haven't been.
Use a brush attachement and gently sweep out the motherboard, I like to get those pesky pci slots very good.
Do the same with all pci/video cards.
Try best to sweep out as much dust out of psu as you can without opening it, make it last. Stuff all the cables behind the motherboard and leave them loose, no need to do anything else when they are back there. Tighten the connections and check all connections. Also a good idea to write down your hookups ESPECIALLY WITH SATA RAID! ALWAYS DO THIS! Otherwise your likely to ruin your array.

That was the most un organized post ever but I hope you got something from it.
 
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