What might be wrong with my son's computer?

Basically, overclocking is when you increase the speeds on your , say, graphics card to increase the performance. This can provide good results but may also cause overheating, causing the computer or omponent to not work properly. What i suggest is next time the computer boots up properly, is to open up the graphics card options; there is usually a little Nvidia or Ati icon on the bottom right of the screen( on the task bar) If you can, try and put the graphics card back to default settings. If this fails, you could try reinstalling windows. If none of this fixes it, then it is probably a fault with the hardware in the computer:, i.e Motherboard or processor

http://www.tigerdirect.com http://www.newegg.com http://www.directron.com they sell motherboard and cpu combos as a set overclocking in simple terms is to increase the preset processor ghz like from 2.0 ghz to 2.4 ghz, overclocking takes experience and knowledge wrong settings cause pc issues especially with the bios

I'd almost be willing to lay money on your motherboard manufacturer being an ASUS. We work quite a bit with them, and very often the error message that they'll give after a series of failed bootups is, "Overclocking failed. Press F1 to enter setup." It's not that the board is overclocked; it's a general error notification (since ASUS caters mostly to people who overclock their systems--and not doing so correctly can often cause the system to not boot at all--I think they've made the assumption that the board not booting is likely from a bad overclocking setting). The most frequent cause of the no-boots? Bad memory. Open your case, and see how many memory modules are installed. If you have at least two, try removing one and boot up. If the system refuses to boot, swap sticks and try with the other one. If it boots, turn off the system and try booting again. If it boots consistantly, you'll know the other memory stick is bad. In that instance, simply replace the bad memory stick (memory--even though the price is coming up--is still cheaper than a new motherboard, processor, ect). If you only have one memory stick to begin with, try moving it into another DIMM slot; sometimes the sockets just refuse to make contact with all the pins on the memory module, and a different slot works just fine. Having said all of this, make sure anytime you pop open your computer case that you observe proper ESD grounding methods. Your body generates static electricity NAKED, let alone the amount that gets created by clothing brushing together... or carpeting will create against your shoes. You can certainly run a browser search on this just to make sure you're prepared, but my usual steps when working on a personal system at home are: 1) Unplug and disconnect all wires on the outside of the computer's tower. Once the tower's free to carry away, take it to a place without carpeting on the floors and a nearby outlet. I take my stuff into the kitchen. 2) Tie back any long hair, and wash your hands to minimize skin oils since you'll be handling electronic parts. 3) Plug in the tower using the power cord that comes with the power supply to your system. Now look at the power supply. There should be a switch that turns it off. Flick that--but remember to turn it back on after you're done. Doing all of this grounds your system to your home's electrical system, so any static you produce gets handled without issue. 3) While working, touch a metal part of your tower frequently to make sure and discharge any static you're building up. It should be remembered that a static "shock" is thousands of times more powerful than it takes to damage a computer--you don't have to feel it to cause trouble. In your case, I'd recommend dragging the monitor with you so that you can restart your system and check that what you've done made any difference. I'm willing to bet you'll find your problem in a memory stick.

Overclocking means to adjust the MHz setting on a chip --usually referring to the main CPU, sometimes the GPU (video card), sometimes the RAM --in order to make it run at higher clock speed than the factory setting. This is done to increase performance. Done properly, overclocking is usually harmless. Many recent CPUs support a moderate 15% or 20% overclock pretty easily, without increasing the voltage, or impacting operating temperatures or reliability too negatively. However, overclocking becomes less safe when one increases the CPU voltage in order to overclock to extreme levels, approaching the design limits of the CPU. At that point, overclocking causes the CPU to run much hotter, which can cause the system to become unstable (causing crashes or reboots). Also, excessively high overclocking can create power-related problems. The overclocked/overvolted CPU draws considerably more power, which puts additional strain on the power supply, or motherboard voltage regulators --even the power connectors. I suspect this is what caused the current problem on your son's computer. Basically, running overclocked settings on the CPU put additional strain on the power supply, which caused it to begin failing. So, it's not overclocking per se that cause the problem, but rather, overclocking on a power supply that was insufficient to the task, which caused it to wear out prematurely, and begin to fail. (Overclocking requires a good power supply, otherwise you're pushing your luck.) Power supplies can wear out at any time, but putting additional strain on one speeds up the process. I would do this. If you can get that far, usually one can enter BIOS setup by hitting F8 (or sometimes <delete>, etc.) right as the computer begins to boot up, right after the first beep at POST. When you get into BIOS setup, look for the option that says "load fail-safe defaults." Select yes to confirm the changes, before exiting. That should put any overclocked components back to more reliable default settings. See how it runs, at the default hardware settings. However, I suspect at this point you'll still need a new power supply,* if the current one has been acting up so badly. Please buy your son a new, high quality power supply for his computer, so he can overclock more effectively and safely in the future. :-) Depending on what the current hardware configuration is, this should be good, CORSAIR CMPSU-550VX 550W, http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/ProductDetail.jsp?ProductCode=10006757&prodlist=froogle (*The problem _could_ be the motherboard, but it's much more likely to be the power supply. All that means is, the power supply is what you need to test first. The test is to plug in another compatible, known-good power supply --possibly borrowed from another computer --and see if that solves the problem. The motherboard is what you test _next_, after you rule out the power supply. On the other hand, it's not even remotely likely to be a bad processor --that almost never happens.) edit -You didn't mention if you hear any beeps (or beep codes), on the occasions the computer completely fails to boot (no video/no startup). -If you're seeing a specific error message on the screen instead, go back and write it down, exactly as it appears. -Power supply is still right at the top of the list.

Overclocking is speeding up the processor. It can damage the motherboard and the processor. This may or may not have occured. If your son overclocked his computer, and cant figure out how to fix it. Its most likely damaged. If your son can't fix it, bring it to a computer repair business and ask whats wrong. Its problably the motherboard/and or processor and they get expensive.

show it to the geek squad