Older Computer Repair

Just got an older computer in for repair, an HP Compaq 8000 Elite Ultra Slim desktop. Around 10-12 years old, Core Duo processor, 4GB of RAM, usual spec for the age. Originally supplied with Windows 7, had been upgraded to Windows 10. Customer tells me it had strange screen corruptions then would power off. Trying to restart it would result in repeated 4 beeps as a POST code.

On these machines, 4 beeps POST code is normally a power supply issue, and HP are funny with their ultra slim desktops. They use a laptop style charger for power and third party chargers don’t work, you need the original. In this case, a swap of charger was needed which gave me a change to further fault find. The screen corruption was random but turned out to be the onboard graphics card had an issue. There’s no expansion on these motherboards, so I ened up sourcing another identical machine, swapping the hard drives over and doing a full clean, service and update. Also took the oppurtunity to increase the RAM which is always advisable on this spec of machine.

Overall, it’s a rather nice little machine, ideal for web browsing, email, office applications or the kids doing their homework. The customer was delighted, a faster running machine, no data loss and a quick turnaround, all for a modest cost. I’ve bought a few of these machines as they are pretty nice. If you have a need, give me a shout..