Computer troubles...

tA-Kane · January 05, 2006, 07:28 AM

Yesterday evening after a short nap, I awoke to find that my computer had apparently frozen. I shut it off and turned it back on, but the screens never activated. I unplugged my extra hard drives, thinking that one of them might have failed, but that did not help. I then proceeded to take out all of my add-in cards except for my graphics card, but that also did not help. Before I turn it in for warranty (eg, processor/memory/motherboard went bad -- glad I got the extended warranty, as the manufacturer's warranty ran out two weeks ago), is there anything I can do to try to get it to work again?

MysT_DooM · January 05, 2006, 04:34 PM

turn ur bright and contrast knobs up

Eric · January 05, 2006, 04:51 PM

This sounds like a power supply problem. Do the leds turn on when your power up the computer? Does it make any beeping sounds?

tA-Kane · January 05, 2006, 05:45 PM

Quote from: Lord[nK] on January 05, 2006, 04:51 PM
This sounds like a power supply problem. Do the leds turn on when your power up the computer? Does it make any beeping sounds?

No beep at all.

Additionally, I swapped the monitor configuration and it still didn't boot. I swappd out the graphics card for an older one and it still didn't boot. The hard drive activity LED never turns off, even after 10 minutes of being on, which should be plenty of time for my copy of Windows XP Pro to boot in "headless" mode (eg, without a monitor).

Eric · January 05, 2006, 06:23 PM

Quote from: tA-Kane on January 05, 2006, 05:45 PM
Quote from: Lord[nK] on January 05, 2006, 04:51 PM
This sounds like a power supply problem. Do the leds turn on when your power up the computer? Does it make any beeping sounds?
No beep at all.

Additionally, I swapped the monitor configuration and it still didn't boot. I swappd out the graphics card for an older one and it still didn't boot. The hard drive activity LED never turns off, even after 10 minutes of being on, which should be plenty of time for my copy of Windows XP Pro to boot in "headless" mode (eg, without a monitor).

If there was a problem with the harddrive, video card or even monitor connection you'd most likely be notified through system beeps after POST failed which leads me to believe that there's a problem with the power supply. If you have a spare power supply lying around, it would be worthwhile to hook it up to see if it works. You may also want to try flushing your CMOS to eliminate the possibility of BIOS corruption.

Joe[x86] · January 05, 2006, 06:42 PM

No beep at all is a failure, but I don't remember of what. It could always be a failure of the system speaker. =p

But yeah, if you pass the POST, you will get a single, short beep.

Augural Sentinel · January 05, 2006, 07:00 PM

I'd have to agree with Lord[nK]. When I had my last computer, I had the same problem. Most of the time, nothing would show up on my monitor. Other times, I would have various components not functioning correctly such as a harddrive not being detected, CD-ROM drives not being detected, CD-RW reading CDs but not burning them, ect. I asked about this on another forum and I was told to get a power supply with a higher watts/hour rating. When I bought one (120 watt increase), all my problems disappeared. I'm not sure if the power supply was failing or if the extra power did anything, but I'd lean more towards the power supply dying. So, I'd suggest you get a new power supply. They're rather inexpensive ($20-$35 depending on who you buy from).