BleepingComputer.com: Heatsink/Thermal Paste Causing Crash

phoenixcrash, on Oct 14 2010, 06:10 PM, said:

it takes 10 to remove a motherboard ,why not just remove and check the backplate and find the missing piece .you might find that it was one of the small brass nuts in the backplate

This post has been edited by caperjac: 14 October 2010 - 07:53 PM

I may be pulling the mobo soon and will attempt to locate the fallen piece. It very well may be one of the brass nuts, because the screw just spins in place (indicating the possible loss of a nut) instead of screwing in partially or crooked (which would probably indicate a stripped screw or nut). One more question while I'm here: If I purchase a new heatsink that attaches to the mobo with the nylon clips, is there a way to swap those nylon tabs out for the spring-loaded screws like the factory heatsink? I hate the nylon tabs because they seem to break at nothing. Or if anyone knows of a decent (low priced upgrade) heatsink with the spring screw setup, post a link on it. Once again, I appreciate all the help guys.

Anyone care to inform me as to how much trouble it's gonna be to find this "brass nut" that's fallen behind the mobo, and replace the damn little thing?

The easiest way I have found to locate\extricate that one nut\bolt\screw that I always manage to drop into the most inaccessible of places is to physically move\lean\rotate the tower. This is of course done with the side panel(s) off and all cables and cords disconnected. With a little luck you should be able to maneuver the offending piece into the open.

Sort of like playing with one of those old marbles in a maze games.

if you haven't already taken the board out , ,you will need to take out the mb to replace it ,and in my opinion when you take the mb out you should find the nut in the tower somewhere ,,and it should be just as simple as just putting it back where it belongs and screw in the screw .

I remember that damn marble game!!! Okay, I figured I was gonna need to remove the mobo to be able to replace the nut. I was just wondering what has to be removed to extract the motherboard. A friend told me that I could remove the right side-panel, loosen a few screws, and then the mobo would drop down (this is after removing the pci cards and SATA plugs). This sounded like total B.S. to me, but I figured I would run it by you guys. The farthest I've gone into tearing one down is replacing heatsink paste, installing PCI cards, dvd drives, memory modules,etc. I have always been under the assumption that nearly EVERYTHING has to be removed and then the mobo can be unscrewed and removed out of the left side panel. Soooo....howz about ya'll drop some knowledge on me. Again, I appreciate all of the help you guys have continued to offer.

It is pretty much as straight forward as your friend stated.

However. bet you knew there was a catch There will also be some small gauge wires attached to at least one if not more connectors on the mobo. They should be toward the front of the case. There may be enough play in them to give the mobo movement once the other items mentioned are removed to accomplish what need`s to be done.
The wires should be color coded in some manner and are probably grouped in two`s or more. Already assembled into female plugs. The plugs may be labeled as well as the positions on the mobo where they plug on to pins. Before removing anything, make a note of the wires and corresponding pin locations. Should one come off or you decide to disconnect them for ease of working it will be much easier to reassemble it.

Wow...Soooo, he was right? Well, that almost makes up for all the crap he's been wrong about. I'm going to pull it all apart this weekend and hopefully everything goes back together with ease. One more question guys, after I get the heatsink nut fixed, I am going to switch over from XP Media Center Edition 2004 to XP Pro. I use the pc as a low-budget home recording studio, and several software and hardware items have known compatibility issues with MCE (the USB audio interface I use actually states on the box that it is "NOT compatible with Windows Media Center Edition"). I have a copy of XP Pro to install, but I'm not sure where to find downloads of my essential factory drivers (chipset, onboard audio, 4-in-1 card reader, video, etc.). I know it's completely off-topic, but would appreciate a link if anyone can find them.

http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/softwareCategory?os=228&lc=en&cc=us&dlc=en&sw_lang=&product=426501#N947