Sorry about this guys .... off topic , but need some PC advise

Hi guys , really sorry about this ( being off topic and all but I need a bit of general advise and didn't know where to turn. Hope your not to pissed at me for this !

My mate has a PC about 4 - 5 weeks old , I put a CD-R in it for him a few weeks ago , this supposdly breaks the warrenty by removing the lid and breaking the seal etc.
Now his PC has completely packed in and won't even boot but instead he just gets a beeping noise when he turns the unit on and the monitor goes straight to standby. I think that there is a hardware issue inside the PC and one of the componenents has failed ( I remember at college if we put an IDE cable in upside down ie not pin one to pin one then the computer would beep in a simalar manner when started up)
Anyhoo.. Has the warrenty really been broken but opening it up previously ? or is this just some bullshit on a bit of paper supplied by the manufacturer in order for them to get more money out of you for upgrades. My mate is a bit worried now that the PC appears scoobyed.

Has anyone else been in this situation ? or do you know the legal whatsits behind this senario ?
Any advise would be great , thanx for listening.

Locutus

Calm down (regarding having the nerve to post here :). First, make sure that all cards, ESPECIALLY the video card, are seated. And check to make sure that all cables are in right. Also, if the burner is an IDE one, try changing to slave, or even putting it on its own channel.

As for voiding the warantee, unfortunately, I think that they can do that. However, if it was from a big company like Dell or Gateway, they may let you get away with it, but don't rely on it.

Hi,
For the symptoms i think that when you mount the CD-R unit probaly you set loose the Memory, what you have to do is open the case again, and carefully push evenly the memory DIMM until the locks get into place, and if this doesn't resolve your problem then check if the video card is in it's place correctly if not push it firmly, because this two problems give the same beeping sound and no video display.

Saludos...;)

Hi,
I am new to VB but hardware I can do :) !!

Have you tried disconnecting the IDE and power cables to the CDR ? If everything worked fine before you intalled the CDR drive then it is best to try and restore the system to it's previous state. When I installed my internal ZIP drive the IDE lead was broken. I didn't know this, however my computer refused to POST. Once disconnected everything was fine. A change of IDE and all was well.

What make is the motherboard and CPU ? I've got a Asus K7V with an Athlon 850 and I have experienced an annoying beeping. This had happened when the CPU had become dislodged.

If the screen remains in standby mode and there is a beeping warning, initially or constant, it normally means that there is a problem with the RAM, CPU or Graphics card. I would get him to check that you have not knocked any of the above when installing the CDR.

Can't be of assistance regarding the warranty, but hope I can help with the Hardware.

Regards
Mike

I cannot offer much help in the VB area at this point in time, since i am new to it, but i may be able to shead some light on this situation. Unfortunatley, i think that your warranty is done for. I have a relativley new gateway pc, and all that i did was format my hard drive, did not break any seals or anything, and that voided the warranty. So at least Gateway is pretty picky about that type of thing...

Hey, those posts weren't there a minutes ago !! :)

Just wanted to clear up that I installed the cd-R about a month ago, and everything has worked fine until last night.
The PC froze and when he tried to switch it off and then on again thats when it died. I don't think that I banged anything a month ago but the first thing I did was take the lid off and check that everything was in place. It appeared to be. I think he wishes he bought a playstation 2 instead ( LOL )
thanks for you feedback guys.

locutus

When I bought my pc and saw that the manufacturer put some seals that would break if I opened the case and that it would "void the warranty"; I called tech support (or customer service) and told them that one of the reasons I bought their product was to be able to upgrade. "Are you telling me that I have to send back my pc to you with peripherals that I want to add (and be inconvenienced) so that I won't void the warranty?"

The representative said I can go ahead and perform my upgrade. Then I said, "Wait a minute, I need some kind of proof that you've given me this authorization". They faxed me an "authorization letter".

Have your friend call customer service or tech support and tell them something like I said above. Mainly the part about choosing a pc for the purpose of upgrade potential and get proof of authorization.

I never needed to use the warranty for the pc case, but my monitor failed and it was replaced.

I'm sure that this argument carries more weight when you present it during the time period that you can still get a full refund. So hurry.