My mate recently moved his computer to a new location. Now it won't start up when it was working fine before. The hard drive seems to be fine as Ive tested it on my PC and its boots up Windows XP no problem. No signal seems to be getting to the monitor as it remains on standby when the computer starts up. I say starts up but I'm not sure it does, surely if Windows started it would switch on the monitor? Why would Windows start in one PC and not the other? Ive tried another monitor as well. No joy. I'm flummoxed.
Sorry should have mentioned Ive had the graphics card out and put it back in properly. No joy. Im beginning to think that it may be the problem though, its an old one and it may have given up the ghost. Cant think what else it could be.
Have you tried a different power cable from PC to Monitor? It still sounds like graphic card to me tho'.
RE: Does the new location A Pedant is a person who overrates or overuses book learning or pure technical knowledge. Such a person values simple knowledge, (in the form of often obscure facts and rules) over common sense and more general knowledge.</p> Thats you that is.</p>
just a thought i had the same problem, it turned out it was one of those tiny pins on the moniter cable that had pushed into the plastic it was`nt getting a proper conection.... nothing that a pair of tweezers wouldnt fix.
RE: AHHHH YES.... the trusty ole Tweezers..had many a happy hour with tweezers......hmmmmmm i really do hope ya talking about ya sex life again dear boy ?
Thanks for all replies Yes ALL. I had another look at earlier. Tried another graphics card. No luck. The computer has two drives (one with Windows) and they can both be heard to start up as if they are being read, one after the other, then they go silent after about 2 seconds. When placed in my PC the drive with Windows boots up perfectly. I didnt try removing the memory as it seemed secure but will next time.
My troubleshooting tips Check the RAM is secure and the CPU fan connector (ie where the wire from the fan connects to the motherboard) is secure. Try again. I assume BTW that the fans fire up on CPU and PSU when you press the power button. If not, mainboard or PSU are probably fecked. If they fire up but CPU fan and RAM don't help, try this. This does require a fair amount of PC-building knowhow and confidence which it sounds like you have. In any case, have the motherboard manual handy, or if unavailable, quit while you're behind - this manual is your bible. If you can see a model number on the mainboard, you can almost certainly get the manual off the net. But you WILL need this reconnect the case headers for Power and reset buttons, LED's etc. Disconnect EVERYTHING from motherboard - all IDE cables, PCI/AGP cards, anything connected to USB or back panel connectors etc etc. Completely remove CPU+fan assembly and RAM, and carefully replace. Connect PSU to motherboard with ATX connector and connect the POWER BUTTON and internal SPEAKER. Carefully insert the graphics card and connect monitor. Plug in mains power and start up. If these basic components (Case/PSU, mainboard, CPU, RAM, VGA) all work, the monitor WILL fire but it will not get as far as Windows. Hold in the power button to switch off. If this is the case, unplug mains and start reconnecting PCI cards, starting up again after each one. Follow this with keyboard and mouse, then Hard and Optical drives, then floppy and keep doing this either until you have built a working system or you find the component that causes it to fall over. Only problem is if it doesn't fire the monitor at first attempt. Because then one (or God help you, more) of case/PSU/mainboard/CPU/RAM/VGA adapter/monitor are faulty. If this happens, unplug mains (obviously) then remove VGA adapter, RAM and CPU+fan assembly. Unscrew mainboard and remove from case. Place on a piece of cardboard. BE SURE NOTHING CAN CONTACT THE MOTHERBOARD THAT MAY SHORT OUT ANY CITCUITRY! The only connections should be ATX PSU to mainboard, Power button and internal speaker. Power up at mains and attempt to fire up. PSU fans should fire and you should hear a beep or series of beeps from the speaker. If you don't get these, it's PSU or mainboard. If this goes to plan, screw board back into case and reconnect graphics card, try old CPU but use different RAM. If it still fails swap out the CPU. Although TBH, if you don't get a monitor fire from the the basic components, you're as well telling your mate it's fecked and buy a new one!
