I'm out of ideas (Computer completes POST and reboots)

[SpiffyJr]

I went to bad last night with my computer working perfectly. I woke up this morning after a Windows Update and my computer was crashing programs left and right (Google Chrome and Left 4 Dead mostly) so I assumed that the update had caused an issue. I ran a System Restore to the checkpoint right before the update and now everytime my computer reboots it will complete the POST (speaker beeps single short), reads the CPU, shows Mem and then reboots. Generally, the next line that would show would be Memory: 4xxxxxxxx bytes and the speed but it fails to make it that far. I tried clearing the CMOS (and now I can't see the POST due to the splash screen) but that was a no go. I can NOT enter the BIOS, Flash utility, restore utilty or any other utility as the computer fails to make it that far. I've unhooked all peripherals except for the video card and have removed all memory except for a single 1GB stick. I've tried all the RAM in different slots but the same error occurs which leads me to believe it's not the memory or any peripherals. My guess is the mobo or CPU but generally when a CPU fails you won't even complete POST so I'm leaning towards the mobo.

Any ideas because I'm out of them. The computer has been been running perfectly stable for 2-3 months (new build) and just failed last night. All parts are brand new except for my RAM which is about two years old.

Any help would be appreciated.

SPECS
Motherboard: GA-EP45-DS3R
CPU: Intel E8500 E0 core

[Euler]

you checked the monitor for lag I assume?

[SpiffyJr]

you checked the monitor for lag I assume?

Thank you for wasting bandwidth. Anyone have a serious answer?

[Numbers]

My guess is the mobo as well. It sounds pretty screwed if it can't even reach the BIOS. Do you have a spare motherboard you can plug the hard drive, RAM, and CPU into, just to eliminate those from the equation?

I can't imagine how a Window Update would fuck things up that bad. It may just be a coincidence.

[Bobmuhthol]

Call me crazy, but as far as I know a failing motherboard wouldn't do anything.

<<I can't imagine how a Window Update would fuck things up that bad.>>

That's how I felt until I had catastrophic failures arise from software updates.

[SpiffyJr]

Call me crazy, but as far as I know a failing motherboard wouldn't do anything.

<<I can't imagine how a Window Update would fuck things up that bad.>>

That's how I felt until I had catastrophic failures arise from software updates.

That's generally the case but what the hell else could it be? I can't imagine a Vista update jacking my system up that bad...

[The Ponzzz]

A Windows Update stopped my wireless from working and caused my video card to shit the bed. But I don't know of a way to solve your issue.

[SpiffyJr]

Uh oh: http://forums.tweaktown.com/f69/gigabyte-motherboard-ga-ep45-ds3-reboot-loop-28049/

[SpiffyJr]

I found the answer to my problem and you're going to love it.

Sometime between midnight and 9AM CST something caused part of the boot sector in my BIOS to go bad. The reboot loop is what happens to Gigabyte mobo's whenever this happens. I'm not going to say it was the Windows Update (how the hell would that affect the BIOS?) but whatever it is caused me major heartache.

I had to remove the lithium battery and jumper the CMOS for approximately two hours. After that, I had to go find a PS/2 keyboard because the USB keyboards wouldn't be recognized yet. If you have a PS/2 keyboard then holding insert on power up causes the BIOS to reflash itself back to the factory state. I was able to hold insert, press delete to go to the BIOS settings, and then load the optimized defaults.

How weird is that?

[Drew]

Well at least it's working.

[crazymage]

Jack Bauer wouldve just said BOOT UP!!!! and not only would it bootup, you'd have free porn.