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Voltage Regulator failure?
My computer, running Windows XP Pro, froze, and it will not reboot. The screen comes up, there is some activity, then screen goes black and says Reboot failed, press F1 to try again, press F2 to go to setup. Pressing F1 just brings up the error message over and over again, and pressing F2 does nothing useful.
I tried to restart the computer with a cd in the drive, and got a different error message - PREVIOUS REBOOT WAS DUE TO VOLTAGE REGULATOR FAILURE. Press F1 etc....
Okay - so what is really wrong with my computer?
I will bring it to pc repair place if I have to, but I want to know if this is something I could try to tackle on my own, if it is as simple as replacing the battery or checking cable connections, or do I really need to call in the big guns?
thanks in advance!
4 Answers
- BjornLv 71 decade agoFavorite Answer
Well...
If you want to save yourself the headache, then bring it to the big guns.
If you don't mind the headache, then you can at least try to tackle it yourself.
The first thing I would do is turn the computer on and listen for a high-pitched whine. This indicates an overworking VR. If you can isolate where the sound comes from, you can get a better idea of where to start.
Most of the time, this type of issue is caused by a short somewhere. So double check to see if there are any loose screws or anything contacting the motherboard that could potentially cause a short.
That is probably not the case, as a short will normally cause the computer to not POST (in other words you would get NO video at all).
Just to be safe, I would take the motherboard, processor, video card and memory out of the case, set it on a piece of card board and try booting it up on that. Just to ensure there is no short. If it works fine on the card board, reinstall it in the case being careful to look for possible shorts. This would include the stand-offs contacting the back of the motherboard where a screw-hole is not present.
If you can isolate the trouble VR, you could try putting a small heatsink on it with some thermal adhesive. This might help it work more efficiently and prevent the Voltage errors.
Another option would be to simply try a different power supply. This is probably the first thing you should try, just see if you can borrow a friends.
Good luck.
- 1 decade ago
If you happen to have a motherboard with overclock and over-voltage support then go to the BIOS setup screen that displays this information. Ensure that you have the clock speed and voltage set for default or typical settings. You may see something like CPU voltage typical 1.2V, then notice what your actual setting is should be the same or very close.
If not, then there is a problem with your motherboard that you will not be able to fix on your own.
The fact that you are getting this error message is indication that your system BIOS is monitoring the CPU voltage.
Overclocked CPU can cause an under voltage situation if you are settting it very aggressive.
- CirricLv 71 decade ago
Hi. According to this site http://support.dell.com/support/edocs/systems/ws34... you will need the big guns. Sorry.
