Is the motherboard dead - Page 2

***Mr. Matt*** · November 10th, 2012

I once overheated a CPU. It was an AMD Athlon Xp, so we're going back a while here, but quite simply, after building the computer I forgot to plug the CPU fan in before I turned it on. And AMD processors being as good at they were at thermal management back then, it overheated within minutes.

No damage to the motherboard occurred, thankfully, but the CPU was fried. Until it was replaced, the computer wouldn't even boot to the POST screen.

Unless computer technology has drastically changed since then, I would say that the CPU is still functioning, at least to some degree. Reset the CMOS, either via the jumper or yanking out the battery, and try booting from the Windows disc. See if you can repair or reinstall the OS.

Alternatively I'd try loading up a Live Linux environment, see if that works and if so, see if you can identify the problem from there.

If you can't get that far, as has been suggested, make a note of any out-of-the-ordinary beeps your computer may be making as it boots and cross-reference them with the manufacturer online; the beeps are a basic warning system to try and tell you what may be wrong.