A computer whodunnitA batch of seriously bad components is disabling computers around the worldRACHEL ROSSTECHNOLOGY REPORTERThomas Geery turned on his computer one morning and heard a small explosion, like the distant sound of a child's cap gun.Pop!But Gerry, a computer technician from Herndon Va., knew it wasn't child's play. With more than 25 years experience on the job, he knew his computer had just blown a capacitor. It's a scenario that has played out frequently over the past year, as a rash of faulty capacitors

I have a dead abit BE6II mobo sitting around here that was notorious for blowing caps. I bought replacements but never put them in(not exactly a electronic tech here, in my attempt to replace I cut a couple of traces :( )

This could be an up-and-coming problem that others who have purchased recent motherboards/systems should be made aware of.:)Mitch R.

Yep. And it's not just motherboards. Gainward has a documented problem with capacitors on the Ti4200's that were shipped last summer (unfortunately I got one of those). And there have been rumors of others. But there's nothing to be done until the device fails. Then just hope that the manufacturer has a speedy RMA process.Trip

Bummer.... :(Mitch

Hi there, Arby.I, too, have the ABIT BE6II motherboard (installed by professional as O.E.M.). I have had it about two+ years, but have never had a problem with it. Does this refer to newer motherboards?Thanks,StanleyABIT motherboard: BE6II - Ultra ATA/66Intel Pentium III @ 700MHz (don't laugh, it was fast back then - lol)256mb RAM (not sure if DDRAM, SRAM, etc.)Prophet II / GTS 64mb GeFOrce2; still works, but the company sucks, where so-called customer support/tech. help is the issue! Maxtor 7200rpm: 40gig (for LinksGolf & FS/CFS add-ons! lol) & 60gigCD-Rom & CD-RW* (waiting for price to come down on DVD-RW) :(* By the way, if anybody would like the "CloneCD" program I have, I can give you the link. It, like so many of my programs, is a demo; however, it will only write @ 2x speed, but it will surpass even the most annoying copy-protection schemes (per Raw data). If anybody knows of another free copy CD program (free demo), please let me know :)

Hi there, Arby.I, too, have the ABIT BE6II motherboard (installed by professional as O.E.M.). I have had it about two+ years, but have never had a problem with it. Does this refer to newer motherboards?Thanks,StanleyABIT motherboard: BE6II - Ultra ATA/66Intel Pentium III @ 700MHz (don't laugh, it was fast back then - lol)256mb RAM (not sure if DDRAM, SRAM, etc.)Prophet II / GTS 64mb GeFOrce2; still works, but the company sucks, where so-called customer support/tech. help is the issue! Maxtor 7200rpm: 40gig (for LinksGolf & FS/CFS add-ons! lol) & 60gigCD-Rom & CD-RW* (waiting for price to come down on DVD-RW) :(* By the way, if anybody would like the "CloneCD" program I have, I can give you the link. It, like so many of my programs, is a demo; however, it will only write @ 2x speed, but it will surpass even the most annoying copy-protection schemes (per Raw data). If anybody knows of another free copy CD program (free demo), please let me know :)

I want to BUMP this up a few months later...At my day job, I am losing computers on the order of 1 or 2 A DAY due to what appear to be faulty capacitors. Most of my mainboards are MSI. Any techs out there who are seeing a sudden spike in failures should look into this as a possibility. -Greg

And just to show that this may indeed have been a bad batch, out of 2000 some odd workstations on my WAN (all Dell), it's been about two years since the last MB failure. The Iwill MB in my own homebuilt system is now 4 years old, and still humming along. They were originally applauded for having an average MB in speed, but very good capacitors. It has been my simming mainstay since FS98...-John

The ONLY software to backup your copy protected collection right now and create an image on your hard drive is right here:http://www.alcohol-soft.comThat program is GREAT. I have made images of all 3 FS2K2 cds on my E: drive and other CD's that I may need the CD for in case of a re-install or needing it to play.Check it out!

I've been making home built' for 10 years, always used Asus mb's have a half dozen still floating around still being used, never had a problem a with a single mbFloyd

> Yep. And it's not just motherboards. Gainward has a>documented problem with capacitors on the Ti4200's that were>shipped last summer (unfortunately I got one of those). And>there have been rumors of others. But there's nothing to be>done until the device fails. Then just hope that the>manufacturer has a speedy RMA process.>>Trip>Argh!!! Maybe this is why my Gainward Geforce 4 Ti 4200 doesn't work with my Epox 8rda+ motherboard.... Bastages!-Max Cowgill

I tried this program and had the same results as I have had with other similar software. The software is not the be-all/end-all to reproducing flawless copyright CD's......the CD-RW is more likely the reason for your success. Some name-brand writers just are not capable of copying protected CD's no matter which program is employed and I believe that's the problem with my attempts to copy Combat FS III. While it appears that copying was conducted successfully, and the directories/folders/files can indeed be loaded to the HD, I can not access the game without utilizing one of the _original_ CD's!Out of curiosity, what make and model is your writer?

No memtion of Epox anywhere. Is Epox affected by this? My Epox boards, 8KHA+ and 8RDA+ are both working fine right now (knocks on wood), as are my older Asus A7V and A7V-133 boards.

I did happen to read this in an issue of the Maximum PC magazine this year, thanks for posting it on here for others to read.