I applied some compond to my athlon 1800+ and now it doesn't boot. I have done it sloppy. by putting all the compound all over the heatsink a bit thick., so now the compond is all around the sides of that little silver thing that says AMD Athlon at the top of the chip. The person suggested that that's the cause of the cpu not booting. i have checked everything else. How bad has the compound damaged the cpu?? If i were to remove the compound that is at the side, will that do the job for me?

i dont think that this is the problem but try removing all the thermal paste and see if it boots then. not sure what your supposed to use but i have always used alcohol and a paper towel or cotton-ball, hasent hurt it yet....

You use iso alcahol to remove thermal paste...BUT judging by your comments "sloppy" (this is not intended to offend you ) you sound like a noob totally unaware of what you are doing (sorry) OK remove all the paste from the HSF and the chip...then get a magnifying glass and examine the 'CORE' ( silver block in the center ) look for chips or small cracks it should be perfectly shaped all round... if it isnt its now dead...throw in bin and purchase a new one.... When re-attaching the HSF keep it dead flat and DO NOT tilt it..( buy a SHIM aswell it helps ) Ta ta for now

you might of short circuited that cpu. no harm in removing it now with alcohol. but use a q tip and not drown the cpu in alcohol when you clean it. If it is fried and you choose to do the install yourself again with a new cpu, put a drop of compound in the center of the cpu and then install the heat sink. The heat sink will spread the compound when you click it in place. No need to spread the compound with fingers.