| A fully working desktop suddenly stops working and now cannot install operating system..Help please.
Posted: 8/30/2009 6:41:06 AM | Hi all .
My desktop is now quite old it is 61/2 years old...
Xp
service pack 3
All windows updates done automatically.
Fire wall
virus protection all installed ( or it was).
This morning working fine then just closes down. I try to restart it ...nothing..
So I try to do complete retore by reinstalling the operating system and making the machine like it was when I got it then get message no signal and it will not allow me to do anything. Xp disc 1 is in machine and I cannot get it out?
All router lights are on as they should be ...All other electical items in the house are working ( no power cut or failure).
My question is can this be fixed or is it time to send this machine to pc heaven?
Help please. | |
|
| A fully working desktop suddenly stops working and now cannot install operating system..Help please.
Posted: 8/30/2009 7:16:27 AM | | i would have a guess that you have a problem with power supply in the back of your pc, which could have blown something, easy to fix? couldnt tell you as dont know what damage is done, get another? maybe depends on how much it is to fix. i know im not very helpfull but only telling you what my gut instinct is. if you want a way to repair or diagnose cheap, go to your local college as most will have a look and use it to teach studants who will then repair it cheap or sell you a reconditioned one cheap. | |
|
| A fully working desktop suddenly stops working and now cannot install operating system..Help please.
Posted: 8/30/2009 7:54:34 AM | Im guessing the message "no signal" was displayed on the monitor?
Im also guessing that when you first turned on your PC and got nothing you mean there was nothing on the screen at all, but the tower itself made all the noises it normally does when you first turn it on but nothing happened?
If thats the case first question I would ask is do you know if your video card is onboard or an addin card? | |
|
| |
| A fully working desktop suddenly stops working and now cannot install operating system..Help please.
Posted: 8/30/2009 8:22:13 AM |
I got it then get message no signal and it will not allow me to do anything. Xp disc 1 is in machine and I cannot get it out?
No signal could mean that either the graphics card has died or something wrong with the monitor cable .
To do a quick check , un-plug the computer from the power switch , wait 30 seconds or so , and then plug the power back in and hit the start button , AND LISTEN TO THE START UP SEQUENCE , if hear a SINGLE BEEP for the Power On Self Test ( POST) then the system is alright , but if you get a series of beeps or no beeps at all then you will need to either check the power supply unit (PSU) , the graphics card , monitor cable (by wiggling it around).
If you get a series of beeps , post back the number and sequence of them and people may be able to tell you what the problem could be.
To manually open the CD/DVD drive , locate the small on the front of the drive and with a very long thin wire/pin , insert it into the hole and press it in until you hear a click and this will open the tray. | |
|
| |
| |
| |
| A fully working desktop suddenly stops working and now cannot install operating system..Help please.
Posted: 8/30/2009 11:29:12 AM | Do you feel confident enough to open the PC case and look around?
You dont need to touch anything...
You need to see if the fan is working on your video card.
If it works for a while then goes off over heating might be a problem, which might be caused by the cooler not working, or intermitant problem.
The white lines are a sign that the card has failed and dropped out while the PC is running. | |
|
| A fully working desktop suddenly stops working and now cannot install operating system..Help please.
Posted: 8/30/2009 12:15:54 PM | Ok will go and check inside the original ,pc it has been turned off for a while now..will dust it out a little and see what happens
Another problem though.I thought I would use other old desktop and then I find and I find unbelievably that I cannot connect router to the pc via the yellow ethernet cable as there is no place to put connector any where on the pc.. The only thing it has is somewhere for the grey wire (usually connects to filter in phone socket and the router/modem) This pc with the new problem has xp as the os ,so this has flummexed me as why no place for wire ?
Thanks for your help | |
|
| |
| A fully working desktop suddenly stops working and now cannot install operating system..Help please.
Posted: 8/30/2009 4:59:00 PM | My first guess is the power supply. The video is indicating a symptom and not the cause.
The computer should still boot even if the video is screwed up. So turn it on and let it run through the boot up process which should take about 2 minutes. Watch the hard drive light as it should be flashing on and off many times and finally when stable it will give a tiny flicker about every 15 seconds. That means the operating system has booted and that everything else is probably OK. Shut it down.
Does the video cable plug into a 15-pin connector in one of the 6 or 8 vertical slots in the back of the machine? If so, remove the video cable and open the case and remove the screw holding the card in place that the video cable plugged into. Now pull (wriggle) the video card up out of it's slot and then push it firmly all the way back in again. Do this a few times.
Plug the cable in and try it. If not then I would first try a new or different power supply, then try a new or different video card.
To get the XP CD out of the drive look carefully at the front of it and should see a small hole. Use a straightened out paperclip and carefully push the end into that hole and the tray will pop open a half inch. | |
|
| A fully working desktop suddenly stops working and now cannot install operating system..Help please.
Posted: 8/30/2009 5:47:03 PM | You not being able to eject the CD is a very important thing to keep in mind. If the video adapter (onbord or add-in) were bad there would be no reason the CD-ROM wouldn't work properly.
You stated that it did power on but after a few seconds shut down or does it continue to run with the "no signal" on the screen. If it shuts down, it could very well be a power supply issue. If it continues to run, then we'll need to troubleshoot a bit futher as to if the CDROM is even a symptom or a seperate issue. | |
|
| A fully working desktop suddenly stops working and now cannot install operating system..Help please.
Posted: 8/30/2009 6:16:08 PM | Do you get a POST beep on startup? Do any LED's light up on your tower after power-up? Can you hear your HD? If no to all of these, then its probably a power supply issue. Power supplies are about $20-35ish and obtainable from most computer supply stores. If you have a Dell, you'll have to get it from Dell or an authorized Dell service point.
If you do get the POST beep but then no signal, try F8 until you get the option for Safe Mode. If that works, let us know and we can go from there.
One more thing is, if it powers on briefly then components stop working, it could be something wrong with the MoBo like a bad capacitor on it or something.
To enhace what blade runner said a little bit earlier, check all your fans are spinning properly: CPU fan (that is a common culprit), power supply fan, and video card fan. | |
|
| A fully working desktop suddenly stops working and now cannot install operating system..Help please.
Posted: 8/31/2009 3:55:34 AM | Hate to say this....
But you really have to have someone look at that thing if you want it fixed. You're not technically saavy (not intended to be an insult, nor should it be. It just is. You and my mom both, and I love her to death), and us telling you power supply this, nVidia that, POST here, video card there is not going to do you any good, since none of these things I recommend an unsupervised novice mess with, even if she were to be following advice from a fellow caring PoFer :^)
Not only that, we're basing our advice on what you tell us, and what you tell us may not be what's really happening. I see it all the time...talk to a customer on the phone regarding a computer problem....show up at the door and the problem is not what the customer describes. I learn to take everything with a grain of salt and just have to rely on what I see. You're in the UK? Heh...now that's a housecall.
So really....take it in to a shop or have someone who knows what they're doing take a look at it...if you want it fixed. I'd say the odds were good that it was a minor issue and that your data was still intact, but if you attempted to restore Windows you may have screwed yourself, since most Windows Restore Disks just wipe everything clean. Dunno, because it's hard to see what you did based on what you said. We don't even know the make and model of your computer.
At any rate, and on the other hand, putting a whole lot of into a 6 1/2 year old system doesn't make a whole lot of sense, and it just may cost you around $150 US to fix or more. I'd only recommend paying a lot of money if you have a lot of stuff on the hard drive that you want recovered/saved.
FWIW, white lines on the screen usually indicates a bad/overheated video card. Computer shutting down out of nowhere when Windows isn't even up indicates overheated CPU. Damn Global Warming!! CD drive not opening means....it's broke?
Good luck. | |
|
| A fully working desktop suddenly stops working and now cannot install operating system..Help please.
Posted: 8/31/2009 5:01:16 AM | Thanks to all for your input.
I am not a computer tech, never said I was , that is why I asked for help ,as for being savvy with computers ,that does not mean I cannot put it right IF I know what it is that IS wrong?
Update...
The monitor works on another computer--- So not the monitor!
Another pc works in the wall sockets where problematic pc usually plugs into.-So wall sockets are fine
Problematic pc does the same thing with an different monitor connected
The cd/dvd rom WORKS. I just pushed the button as soon as I pushed start button and it opened.
I did open the problematic pc and cleaned inside and it made no difference.
I can put recovery disc in press f10 and the pc will start . It then prompts to press r to continue then starts to recover .. then white IIIIIIIII appear and the computer starts to cover them gets 2 thirds of the way along and then just shuts down... That is what happens... There is no video card added into any ports on the outside of the pc or that goes into the router.
The router has connected 1 dsl cable connected to filter in phone socket,1 rj45 which fits into back of pc and then power cable from router to socket....
The computer worked fine until Saturday , when I got and installed new router from my isp
The pc should still start up without even being connected to a router !
I am using the monitor which does not display on other pc while I am typing this , So I know it works.
Keep your help and suggestions coming , with all your ideas I am sure the solution will be found ...Thanks | |
|
| A fully working desktop suddenly stops working and now cannot install operating system..Help please.
Posted: 8/31/2009 5:54:12 AM | Your problem is hardware related.
The power supply seems to be fine, unless the problem is that the power supply just isnt giving the components enough power when they need them then its not that!
It could be any number of problems for any number of reasons to be honest, without being there and seeing it when it happens I cant really help you, I could make suggestions till the cows come home and none would help fix it for you...
Ive seen a PC die because of a problomatic "CD" drive, a motherboard ATA [E-IDE] connector being faulty, a dying video card, incorrectly seated CPU cooler, dusty dirty inefficient coolers, intermitant fault with onboard sound card...
Best advice would be to take it to a shop and get it looked at, the person will need to see it to be able to fix it, the problems that can cause this kind of thing are so mnay and so varied its hard to say | |
|
| A fully working desktop suddenly stops working and now cannot install operating system..Help please.
Posted: 8/31/2009 7:40:02 AM | I think we are all coming up with different ideas p.w lol
best bet is to take it to tech shop and ask for a quote, or a price first. That way if its way knackered it can be scrapped and save for a new one.
like i said above, find out if your college does hardware courses as they could fix it quite a bit cheaper.
but think of future value to, as when i got a quote for my tv repair it was half as much as a brand new one lol | |
|
| |
| A fully working desktop suddenly stops working and now cannot install operating system..Help please.
Posted: 8/31/2009 10:56:19 AM | Ok...one last suggestion, since you so stubbornly (stubbournely? You are in the UK) insist on doing this yourself (admirable, I must say).
Pop in the Recovery CD and wait for it to ask you to do something. Then do nothing. The fact that you see something says that at the moment the graphic subsystem (monitor, video card, cable) are working at the moment. We want to see the thing fail when nothing is going on, to see if it is the card overheating or something else.
Best thing to do for the stubbourne you: Make yourself a copy of UBCD4Win...look it up and then learn it. You will then be able to boot from the CD and test/do all kinds of things, like stress the CPU ( to see if it fails), stress the hard drive, etc. Dunno about stressing out the video.
Testing a video card is actually easy: take the damn thing out and stick in a new one. If it works, problem solved. A 6 1/2 year old computer is 95% likely to have an AGP slot for a video. Google image that to see what it looks like. Or you can go to a utility on UBCD4W called SIW, which will actually tell you all kinds of hardware/software info, one of which is the graphics card type. You probably could get away with a PCI (NOT PCI Express) card, but it depends on if you have a slot free. It is not optimal, but I do it once in a while when the AGP slot is fried.
So, things to do:
-make yourself a copy of UBCD4W
-get the computer to a state where it just sits there and does nothing. Leaving it in BIOS is good, or hit f2 or f10 or Esc may work, depending on your brand of computer
-for God's sake tell us the make and model of your computer. Always do this from now on
-if it sits there ok for 12 hours, then go test out the CPU using Prime95 on UBCD4W (henceforth referred to as u...)
-look up Memtest'86 and test out memory (u...may have a memory test, but I prefer Memtest)
-lastly, stress out / scan your hard drive
-visually inspect your motherboard, and look to see if any capacitors are bulging (google "bulging capacitor" in images). If one is bulging, you are screwed and go no furthur. Send Christine to PC heaven.
-Bulging caps are usually do to overheating. Find out why (room temp, dust clogged vents, case in direct sunlight, etc...) and correct it.
-see if CPU cooling system is functioning. See if heatsink needs cleaning.
There you are, armed and dangerous.
BTW...the CD drive issue is EXACTLY what I was talking about. You mentioned you couldn't get out the CD...and that caused some people to conjecture in the totally wrong direction (Scotty, I need more power! Ay captain, but that's all I kin do! She canna take no more!). You didn't correct that until now, and it makes one wonder what else was left out, miscontrued, or simply wrong. It's actually very much human nature, and I get it all the time since this is what I do for a living. Not that I'm gonna curse you with a pox or anything, but you can see how frustrating it can be on our end. Notice that I was flippant when I posted about the CD...I didn't trust that you were reporting that issue completely, and it not working seemed more like a PEBCAT issue (google that lol) or a coincidence.
Like I said, I always take a PoS approach when listening to people's computer problems. No, not piece of sh!t or Plenty of Sea Creatures but rather "plenty of salt".
Good luck. I do realize that something that is casually easy and trivial to check for us techs may be difficult for you. I gave you enough info and direction that googling and research could help you get going if not fix the thing outright.
My first guess? If you don't see any raised capacitors, then put in a new video card (presumably AGP). If that doesn't work, then I'd try sticking in a PCI video card (not PCI-e). You may have to disable the onboard video if that's what you were using before.
Ok...kids wanna go to the store to get another Guitar for Rock Band. Going for that Bass Groove. Gonna end my ranting.
Hope this helps.
Don | |
|
| A fully working desktop suddenly stops working and now cannot install operating system..Help please.
Posted: 8/31/2009 2:55:35 PM |
The computer should still boot even if the video is screwed up.
Incorrect. The POST would throw an error and the PC should beep I think it's 3 times...POST beeps depend on the BIOS...however, the thing would diffently be beeping at you.
Xp disc 1 is in machine and I cannot get it out?
If the light on the front of the CD/DVD drive is blinking...it's in an initalization stage and won't allow an eject until the drive itself has finshed it's mini-boot cycle...it's also waiting for the BIOS to probe it. If the light blinks, sometimes holding the eject button as you power up will make it eject...if the light's not blinking...see my response below.
I would use other old desktop and then I find and I find unbelievably that I cannot connect router to the pc via the yellow ethernet cable as there is no place to put connector any where on the pc.
Most PC's older than 7 years do not have an included ethernet port as you found out and others explained to you.
Power supplies are about $20-35ish and obtainable from most computer supply stores.
I don't know about you, but I wouldn't want to run even a $35 power supply in my computer. It likely won't last that long.
I have put the monitor on an old pc and bingo it works perfectly...I put my old monitor on my pc and the same thing happens..It now starts to do white lines and tries to get partition ready and then "no signal" message and then it shuts down.
It sounds like your GPU (graphics processing unit...the video card) has taken a dive. I've seen NVidia cards have all kinds of strange failures from 2d failing to work to video acceleration crashing.
The router has connected 1 dsl cable connected to filter in phone socket
You NEVER run your DSL modem (or in your case, a router/modem combo) through the filter, the filters are only required on your voice telephones. The modem/router is supposed to plug DIRECTLY in to the outlet WITHOUT a filter attached. Doing so will etiher make the DSL not work, or work very slowly. But this isn't your problem
The computer worked fine until Saturday , when I got and installed new router from my isp. The pc should still start up without even being connected to a router !
This had nothing to really do with it either, and yes, the router only supplies your internet connection, which is not required for the OS to boot up.
I had the same problem, it was my memory, well the computers..lol Screen was black, cd/dvd drive worked ok, same as you tried a new screen and put the other on another computer and it worked fine. I put two new sticks in and I was away again.
This would prevent the computer from booting yes...and would cause a black screen..however it shouldn't cause a "no signal" error...the video card would still do basic initalization.
I can put recovery disc in press f10 and the pc will start . It then prompts to press r to continue then starts to recover .. then white IIIIIIIII appear and the computer starts to cover them gets 2 thirds of the way along and then just shuts down
Now, here's something. The PC works to a basic degree...however, it's getting to a point and locking up. This could be indicative of CPU overheating or could STILL be a bad GPU...I don't know what the recovery program does exactly...it might be trying to activate a GUI at that point and with a bad GPU, it'll lock up.
So, things to do:
-make yourself a copy of UBCD4W
Likely not going to help since UBCD4Win has a GUI - if it's not booting recovery, it won't boot UBCD.
-visually inspect your motherboard, and look to see if any capacitors are bulging (google "bulging capacitor" in images). If one is bulging, you are screwed and go no furthur. Send Christine to PC heaven.
-Bulging caps are usually do to overheating. Find out why (room temp, dust clogged vents, case in direct sunlight, etc...) and correct it.
Bulging caps is not caused directly by heat...but it is caused by a batch of bad capicators made by various Chinese manfactuers...they messed up the electrolytic fluid and after a few years it expands..when this happens...you're right....you send the thing to PC heaven. Heat is a factor that causes this to happen...however, the fluid has to be defective to cause the bulge. A major problem on the motherboard that develops a short can cause a cap to overheat and they will "bulge", but that's due to internal pressure due to boiling fluid. (this stuff burns if you get a facefull)
Is anything in your usb port?
If so take it out, and like someone else said, you should be getting a post beep.
Good catch. Some USB devices when plugged in will cause the BIOS to go screwy...I remember when I had my iPod if it was plugged in during boot, my BIOS would POST with nothing but garbage.
If you're getting some signs of life from the thing..like the power LED comes on and you can hear the fans spin up...then it's likely a major hardware malfunction. You keep trying the software and other things...we've established your monitor and sockets are good...your computer has just taken a dive. It's old...if it's been your only computer and a daily user for 6 years...then the hot interior of a computer has taken it's toll and it's time to put it out to pasture and pick up a new one. Seeing as you said the thing was covered in dust...this reduced the ability for the system to keep itself cool. Cleaning out is a start, however, the biggest problem is there is a thermal-transfer compound placed on the CPU to help transfer heat to the heatsink more efficiently...when this stuff gets hot enough..it basically bakes in to a hard crust...this reduces the ability to transfer heat...likeside...if it happens to cook and leaves a small gap of air after shrinking, the CPU is unable to transfer heat.
If the thing ran and then all of a suddently powered off like someone pulled the plug...then it's likely a hardware failure and you'll need to replace the thing. 6 years of use is hard on a PC if you're not anal about keeping everything clean. Since it seems to be coming on to a degree...i can only slightly rule out the power supply.
My bet, based on the fact your recovery disk stops and you recieved a message about Nvidia...is that either the GPU took a dive or the Northbridge of your chipset took a dive.
I think your best bet is to buy another computer. | |
|
| A fully working desktop suddenly stops working and now cannot install operating system..Help please.
Posted: 8/31/2009 3:11:03 PM | yeah it could be a number of things including the power supply. Before I catch some flak for that let me explain that just because a power supply works good enough to allow the system to POST, fans to spin and drives to power up doesn't mean that the power supply is good. Bad capacitors in a power supply will cause voltages to fluctuate and/or jump out of their tolerance range especially under load. The logic circuitry in drives is powered off the +5V rail and the drive motors off the 12V rail. Integrated AGP graphics use 3.3V, 5V and a bit of 12V power and the chips that run off 3.3V current in particular are very susceptible to shoddy power. So while the power may be good enough to make it past POST it may not be good enough to load components and run software without the system crashing. I'm not saying that this is the probable cause but it is a very possible one.
Anyway what I wanted to suggest to the OP is that since you have another working PC there you can use the power supply from it to rule out (or in) that as the culprit without spending any money. Albeit sometimes when a power supply dies it damages other components in the process which means there could be multiple problems but let's hope not.
It's not difficult to remove and replace a power supply...you sound plenty comfortable and capable enough to do it to me. You'll need a phillips head screwdriver for the mounts but you won't need to actually remove the power supply from its mounts in the problematic PC. You will need to do so with the one in the working PC. You can refer to this tutorial here:
http://www.hardwaresecrets.com/article/362
You may want to label the connectors or draw a diagram as you remove them from the working PC to make sure you get it all back together easily. After you get the working power supply removed you can just set it alongside the problem PC and disconnect a cable in the problem PC and find the appropriate connector on the 'known to be good' power supply and replace them one by one. Some will have a retaining clip on them that needs to be squeezed to release it.
I think probably the only possible issue you might run into is that your 6 year old PC will have a 20-pin main power connector (the big one hooked to the motherboard) and the other PC may have a 24-pin there if it's newer. Sorry, it wasn't clear to me if the working system is older or newer. Anyway, a 24-pin connector will work fine in a 20-pin slot but sometimes there will be a component on the motherboard right next to the slot that prevents the extra 4 pins from hanging over the edge and sliding into place. However, most 24-pin connectors are actually a 20+4 connector so look closely at it to see if it's hinged or slotted there which allows the extra 4 pins to come loose so that it will fit in any 20-pin slot. | |
|
| A fully working desktop suddenly stops working and now cannot install operating system..Help please.
Posted: 9/1/2009 8:40:12 AM | | After reading all of the POST on this and not knowing your exact system specs, whats integrated to the motherboard as well as what fans may or may not working, it really does appear to either be a video card or the motherboard if the video is integrated, in which you can by a low end video card and be good. would not surprise me if the error you received was a NV4.dll or something to do with it being outside of its heat range. Long story short, open the case and make sure all of your fans are working, including the power supply fan. If so, buy a low end video card and either install it, go to your local college and have them do it, or go to a geek and have them do it. (the later 2 options may even have one to give you or at least troubleshoot it. I know I personally have about 10 - 12 video cards I am not even using so that would not be uncommon) They will probably even troubleshoot it further if the cheap video card wasn't a fix. If all you do is surf the web, check email and such, the possible 20 - 30 buck video card will help you more than a few hundred dollar system replacement. Just a though.... | |
|
| |
| A fully working desktop suddenly stops working and now cannot install operating system..Help please.
Posted: 9/9/2009 8:03:53 PM | | Since it is an older PC, I would get a newer one. Save this headache, and just transfer the hard drive over to the new/er machine. Since you are not afraid of "playing" with the computer, you can buy bare bones already made towers, just add cd/dvd rom drive,, hard drive and go... usually under $600 (US) , And kits where you plug them in, and install everything, yourself, for cheaper. | |
|
Home
login 
