IT help please

Neal · 21 March 2007, 20:17

Evening all got a problem with the desk top PC. The monitor just displays no signal when the machine is turned on. Could it be the graphic card can any one point me in the right direction many thanks.

Biggles · 21 March 2007, 20:28

Neal,

Was it working okay before and if so what happened when it went wrong ?

Neal · 21 March 2007, 20:33

Thanks for the fast responce it was working fine last night turned off OK but then tonight when the machine went on monitor read "no signal" i had spare monitor so swaped it over same message on screen.

codprawn · 21 March 2007, 20:34

Check the very obvious first - unplug the monitor lead and plug it back in.

Does the machine boot up? Can you see flashing lights and hear the hard drive working? If not that is your problem.

Open the case and see if the cooling fan on the CPU is spinning. If yes then your machine should be ok. Your graphics card may have come loose - try pushing it back down or taking it out and then plugging it back in.

If the board is dead then I suspect a power surge - a new power supply should do the trick.

Neal · 21 March 2007, 20:42

Thanks codprawn

"unplug the monitor lead and plug it back in" Done it no joy

"Does the machine boot up? Can you see flashing lights and hear the hard drive working? If not that is your problem". All looks and sounds OK

Open the case and see if the cooling fan on the CPU is spinning. If yes then your machine should be ok. Your graphics card may have come loose - try pushing it back down or taking it out and then plugging it back in.

Will try this later when i get back Edit just done this no joy I assume the graphic card is the one the monitor plugs into

If the board is dead then I suspect a power surge - a new power supply should do the trick. Sorry what board? all power looks ok
Many thanks

codprawn · 21 March 2007, 21:34

I meant the motherboard - some have built in graphics - others have a seperate card. If your on board graphic has died then it is possible to put an external card in but the board may have other problems.

Just an idea - try removing any USB devices - some things like external disk drives can prevent a reboot. Also even a stuck down key can cause problems.

Try removing and replacing your RAM.

If all appears to be fine try resetting the bios - this can either be done with a jumper on the board or by removiong the watch type battery for a few seconds.

Without seeing it things are a bit difficult.

Had one person who's computer wouldn't boot because there was a cd in the drive upside down!!!

Biggles · 21 March 2007, 22:22

Does it make any beeping when you turn it on.

If so what beeping. You'll need to count it a couple of times to get it right.

Then we need to know what BIOS you have.

Might give us a clue as to whats wrong.

Neal · 21 March 2007, 22:47

It sounds more than i am going to be able to deal with. Just picked a spare graphic card from the office and swaped it with mine but still no joy

simmons0 · 21 March 2007, 22:54

Is it an old CRT monitor? Could just be dead.
Have you got another computer or a laptop you could just connect it too and see if it works?

Biggles · 21 March 2007, 22:54

I had a diagnostics check on a PC recently and it cost me £40. Cheaper than buying lots of bits and pieces if you haven't got them handy. Turned out to be my graphics card. Which being PCI express I didn't have anything spare lying around.

I thought it might have been the the PSU due to the smell of burning. The PSU cost £100 so to find out I didn't need one of those was worth the £40. The graphics card was 11 months old so that was done under warranty.

If its an old PC might be time to upgrade. Seems you can buy a complete PC for under £300 nowadays.

codprawn · 21 March 2007, 22:58

Quote:

Originally Posted by Biggles

I had a diagnostics check on a PC recently and it cost me £40. Cheaper than buying lots of bits and pieces if you haven't got them handy. Turned out to be my graphics card. Which being PCI express I didn't have anything spare lying around.

I thought it might have been the the PSU due to the smell of burning. The PSU cost £100 so to find out I didn't need one of those was worth the £40. The graphics card was 11 months old so that was done under warranty.

If its an old PC might be time to upgrade. Seems you can buy a complete PC for under £300 nowadays.

What PSU cost that much - should be about £15 - £30 at most!!!

Biggles · 21 March 2007, 23:08

This one.

http://www.dabs.com/productview.aspx...avigationKey=0

thats not the one I have. Mine is 18 months old now. But it shows how much you can pay for leading edge stuff.

codprawn · 22 March 2007, 00:48

Quote:

Originally Posted by Biggles

This one.

http://www.dabs.com/productview.aspx...avigationKey=0

thats not the one I have. Mine is 18 months old now. But it shows how much you can pay for leading edge stuff.

Ahh I didn't realise you were running that sort of stuff - just thought it was someone like Dell trying to rip you off!!!

Biggles · 22 March 2007, 20:38

No probs.

Haven't done Dell yet and don't intend to. Much more fun building your own and then fine tuning it.

Neal · 22 March 2007, 21:04

Quote:

Originally Posted by Biggles

I had a diagnostics check on a PC recently and it cost me £40. Cheaper than buying lots of bits and pieces if you haven't got them handy.

Did that £30+VAT they found the fault estimated to fixed it £120+VAT less the £30 as work being done with them all working and back same day. Not sure what it was as the other half sorted it out.

Thanks for all your help

Biggles · 22 March 2007, 21:19

Neal,

Once you find out what they repaired let us know. Might help someone else in the future.

Neal · 22 March 2007, 22:14

Just checked it was a PSU problem so there must be more than one it there as there was some power on. There is so much in kit in it hard to see if your not sure what your looking for.

codprawn · 22 March 2007, 22:45

Quote:

Originally Posted by Neal

Just checked it was a PSU problem so there must be more than one it there as there was some power on. There is so much in kit in it hard to see if your not sure what your looking for.

Usually there is only 1 PSU - unless you are running bigger servers. The PSU has multiple connections and multiple voltages to run different things - for example 12V for your drives and 5v for the CPU etc. You can have power to one thing without the other. I discovered on the old AT supplies that if the blue wire was damaged the computer would run perfectly but the serial ports wouldn't work!!!