PC Diagnostics, Testing, and Maintenance - Upgrading and Repairing PCs - page 1297

POST card (if you have one) to see whether the board is partially functional and where it
stops. Also, try replacing the video card, RAM, CPU, and then finally the motherboard,
and verify the CPU and (especially) the heatsink installation.

The system beeps when I turn it on, but there is nothing on the screen

The beep indicates a failure detected by the ROM POST routines. Look up the beep code
in the table corresponding to the ROM version in your motherboard. This can typically be
found in the motherboard manual; however, you can also find the beep codes for the most
popular AMI, Award, and PhoenixBIOS earlier in this chapter.

I see a STOP

STOP or STOP ERROR STOP ERROR in Windows

Many things, including corrupted files, viruses, incorrectly configured hardware, and fail-
ing hardware, can cause Windows STOP errors. See the section “ Operating System Dia-
gnostics ” earlier in this chapter for more information on troubleshooting Windows error
messages. One of the most valuable resources for handling any error message displayed
by Windows is the Microsoft Knowledgebase (MSKB), an online compendium of articles
covering all Microsoft products. You can visit the MSKB at http://support.microsoft.com ,
and from there you can use the search tool to retrieve information specific to your prob-
lem.

I see Fatal Exception Fatal Exception errors in Windows 95/98/Me

This is the equivalent of the STOP error in Windows NT or later. As indicated in the pre-
vious answer, this can be caused by both hardware and software problems, and the best
place to check for specific solutions is in the Microsoft Knowledgebase (MSKB) at ht-
tp://support.microsoft.com .

The system won't shut down in Windows

This problem is usually caused by driver problems. (Try installing the latest chipset and
powermanagementdriversforyourmotherboard.)However,itcanalsobecausedbybugs
in motherboard ROM (try upgrading your motherboard ROM to the latest version), bugs
in the various Windows versions (run Windows Update from Control Panel) and install
the latest fixes, patches, and service packs, or in some cases configuration or hardware
problems.

The power button won't turn off the system

Desktop PCs built since 1996 mostly use the ATX form factor power supplies, which in-
corporate a design such that the power switch is connected to the motherboard and not
the power supply directly. This enables the motherboard and operating system to control
system shutdown, preventing an unexpected loss of power that can cause data loss or file