When You Run into Problems Upgrading or Replacing a Motherboard

Replacing a motherboard is no simple task. I tend to think of it as the PC equivalent of heart transplant surgery because there are so many connections into and out of the motherboard, just as there are with a heart. In fact, it may be one of the toughest upgrades or replacements a PC owner can perform.

Part of what makes replacing a motherboard so difficult is that the documentation accompanying a new motherboard is often poorly written or translated. For example, I bought an off-brand motherboard two years ago and got a package that contained only Asian-language instructions. When the company sent a replacement in English, it made almost as little sense to me as the Asian version.

In addition, I’ve found that diagrams of the motherboard represented in the documentation get reversed too often, which makes it no fun trying to orient yourself and the motherboard during the replacement procedure.

While I’m not trying to frighten you away from replacing or upgrading your motherboard, consider the task carefully before you undertake it yourself. Some users find it much easier to pay a decent PC support technician to do the job for them. A PC support technician is more likely to have testing tools that can make evaluating the source of a motherboard problem more scientific than the more hit-or-miss way you can test power and capacity on your own.

Unfortunately, it’s hard to do a proper motherboard installation justice in the space available in this chapter, let alone cover all the troubleshooting necessary if problems occur. Here are the most common problems that can occur during a motherboard upgrade or replacement:

You omitted steps.  Follow the directions with great precision because there are no extra steps.

Bad motherboard installation.  The actual process of seating the motherboard in its frame without shorting or otherwise damaging the motherboard against the sides or stays within the PC case can be very tricky. Go slowly and watch your placement.

Connections are loose or wrong.  This is a very common problem. Even though I’ve done this work for many years, I don’t do enough motherboard installations to always remember each detail. So I often take small strips of masking tape to label each connection. Before I apply the tape, I jot down the identifying connection in shorthand on the small strip of tape. This makes reconnecting everything correctly later much easier.

The BIOS update didn’t take.  Many motherboards either include a BIOS update disk or provide instructions for obtaining an update, since these products may sit on the shelf at the factory or store through a few version updates. Try the motherboard directly after installation before you run this BIOS update. Then follow any advice in the update instructions for rolling your BIOS version back to the original one if you experience significant problems after updating.

You don’t have the right CPU.  CPUs and motherboards must be matched to one another. For example, a CPU made by Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) may not work for a motherboard designed to support an Intel Pentium series CPU because the CPUs are packaged differently for installation into the system. You can’t just assume that the great motherboard you see on sale will work with your existing CPU. For this reason, many people upgrade their CPU at the same time they upgrade their motherboard. Both CPU manufacturers and motherboard manufacturers typically include a list of recommended products on their product web sites, so check there before performing an upgrade or replacement.

It wasn’t (just) the motherboard that was dead.  If you replace the motherboard and still hit the same errors or problems, look at what the errors or problems are telling you. It’s not uncommon to replace a motherboard thinking it’s damaged when it may actually be a dead CPU.

Similarly, you can have a situation where both the CPU and motherboard are damaged and need replacement. Just replacing the motherboard may not fix the entire problem.

Tip 

Replacing or upgrading your motherboard is one of the situations in which reinstalling your operating system after the upgrade is often a good idea, especially if you notice your operating system loads more slowly or behaves as if it is confused.



PC Disaster and Recovery
PC Disaster and Recovery
ISBN: 078214182X
EAN: 2147483647
Year: 2006
Pages: 140
Authors: Kate J. Chase

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