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Chat Area => General Discussion Area => Topic started by: relluf on 20 February 2012, 19:47:12

Title: PC powering up but no output!! help ?
Post by: relluf on 20 February 2012, 19:47:12
Hi as per the title,
We have an old HP compaq running xp pro and although it powers up and runs , it gives no output, ie nothing on monitor ,no beeps,  fans are running ,web cam via usb is powered on.

And yes i have checked monitor is working , i unplugged everything from said PC and used all same cabling etc to plug into spare one , which is enabling me to use this fantastic forum!
so question is how do I determine how goosed  it is or is it just "stuck" (technical term). I believe that there may be a few pc gurus on here , anyone know how to delve into its depths from a blank screen or any other tricks or procedures to go at.
Thanks in advance
Title: Re: PC powering up but no output!! help ?
Post by: TheBoy on 20 February 2012, 19:53:46
Is the VGA card in PC integrated on main systemboard, or a seperate card.  If latter, is there another VGA port?
Title: Re: PC powering up but no output!! help ?
Post by: TheBoy on 20 February 2012, 19:54:09
Do you get the Windows start-up sounds?
Title: Re: PC powering up but no output!! help ?
Post by: relluf on 20 February 2012, 20:02:34
Is the VGA card in PC integrated on main systemboard, or a seperate card.  If latter, is there another VGA port?
I dont have a seperate vga card as such everything is inside pc case as per manufacturer  and no only one port .
no no windows noises in fact no beeps or anything.
Title: Re: PC powering up but no output!! help ?
Post by: TheBoy on 20 February 2012, 20:04:41
Ah, OK, its probably not even starting the POST then.

How old is it - might not even be worth going through the steps to diagnose it...
Title: Re: PC powering up but no output!! help ?
Post by: relluf on 20 February 2012, 20:08:14
Hi TB
not sure how old probably 7-8 years old but got lots of stuff on that we need to retrieve, photos etc.
Title: Re: PC powering up but no output!! help ?
Post by: TheBoy on 20 February 2012, 20:10:31
Hi TB
not sure how old probably 7-8 years old but got lots of stuff on that we need to retrieve, photos etc.
PM Jimbob in Saltney for recovering data from your old drive. He will know how to do that, and I reckon have a ATA connection needed.  Actually, it may be borderline SATA.


Sorry Jimbob :P
Title: Re: PC powering up but no output!! help ?
Post by: relluf on 20 February 2012, 20:16:02
So in your considered opionion , its goosed or impenetrable so recover data an come into the real world!
Title: Re: PC powering up but no output!! help ?
Post by: Plomien on 20 February 2012, 20:52:01
try re-seating the memory, just pop it out and if you have more than one stick try them one at a time
also try a bios re-set
Title: Re: PC powering up but no output!! help ?
Post by: Plomien on 20 February 2012, 20:54:03
retrieval of the data should be easy though, just pop out the hard drive and pop it into another PC and put what you need onto CD/DVD
Title: Re: PC powering up but no output!! help ?
Post by: relluf on 20 February 2012, 21:09:48
try re-seating the memory, just pop it out and if you have more than one stick try them one at a time
also try a bios re-set
Thanks!  if I knew what I was looking for I may try That!
As for reset it doesnt respond or appear to respond to key board.
Title: Re: PC powering up but no output!! help ?
Post by: cem_devecioglu on 20 February 2012, 21:13:40
try re-seating the memory, just pop it out and if you have more than one stick try them one at a time
also try a bios re-set
Thanks! if I knew what I was looking for I may try That!
As for reset it doesnt respond or appear to respond to key board.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mGTT0Vcy0E4 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mGTT0Vcy0E4)
Title: Re: PC powering up but no output!! help ?
Post by: relluf on 20 February 2012, 21:17:25
Thanks cem :)
Title: Re: PC powering up but no output!! help ?
Post by: relluf on 20 February 2012, 21:43:07
try re-seating the memory, just pop it out and if you have more than one stick try them one at a time
also try a bios re-set
thanks to all for all your guidance , just "grounded myself" as per instructions and pulled memory or something what looked like it  reseated it hooked up to another monitor and hey presto started to boot and load xp! then all stopped again , so is that progress ? i dont know?
Title: Re: PC powering up but no output!! help ?
Post by: cem_devecioglu on 20 February 2012, 21:47:53
try re-seating the memory, just pop it out and if you have more than one stick try them one at a time
also try a bios re-set
thanks to all for all your guidance , just "grounded myself" as per instructions and pulled memory or something what looked like it  reseated it hooked up to another monitor and hey presto started to boot and load xp! then all stopped again , so is that progress ? i dont know?

is the hardware changed in the last days ?
Title: Re: PC powering up but no output!! help ?
Post by: relluf on 20 February 2012, 21:49:23
try re-seating the memory, just pop it out and if you have more than one stick try them one at a time
also try a bios re-set
thanks to all for all your guidance , just "grounded myself" as per instructions and pulled memory or something what looked like it  reseated it hooked up to another monitor and hey presto started to boot and load xp! then all stopped again , so is that progress ? i dont know?

is the hardware changed in the last days ?
No nothing for years !Ha Ha
Title: Re: PC powering up but no output!! help ?
Post by: cem_devecioglu on 20 February 2012, 21:55:07
try re-seating the memory, just pop it out and if you have more than one stick try them one at a time
also try a bios re-set
thanks to all for all your guidance , just "grounded myself" as per instructions and pulled memory or something what looked like it  reseated it hooked up to another monitor and hey presto started to boot and load xp! then all stopped again , so is that progress ? i dont know?

is the hardware changed in the last days ?
No nothing for years !Ha Ha

ok..
 
plug off the pc.. take any add on cards out.. re-seat memory and try getting in bios with F8 or del or f2 whatever..
 
then check system parameters and try to load safe/slow parameters.. if pc can stay in bios without freezing  windows have one problem..
Title: Re: PC powering up but no output!! help ?
Post by: relluf on 20 February 2012, 22:04:12
Ok reseated again and now has booted properly with a message "this system has recovered from a serious error " send message to microsoft etc,
 so at the moment it appears to be running, Am I headed down a slippery slope to pc world here or was it just a glich.?
Title: Re: PC powering up but no output!! help ?
Post by: cem_devecioglu on 20 February 2012, 22:05:26
Ok reseated again and now has booted properly with a message "this system has recovered from a serious error " send message to microsoft etc,
 so at the moment it appears to be running, Am I headed down a slippery slope to pc world here or was it just a glich.?

will do it again.. check event logs, boot logs etc..
 
and change battery just in case..
Title: Re: PC powering up but no output!! help ?
Post by: relluf on 20 February 2012, 22:11:42
just had reply from microsoft- blue screen error caused by device or driver.
with some ideas on how to stop it happening again . will have a read
Title: Re: PC powering up but no output!! help ?
Post by: b4ndit on 20 February 2012, 22:21:46
try this it will log the blue screen fault and at the least give you an idea what may be causing it
www.nirsoft.net blue screen view ;)
Title: Re: PC powering up but no output!! help ?
Post by: relluf on 20 February 2012, 22:24:17
try this it will log the blue screen fault and at the least give you an idea what may be causing it
www.nirsoft.net ;)
Thanks but clicky no worky for me
Title: Re: PC powering up but no output!! help ?
Post by: relluf on 20 February 2012, 22:24:52
AAh now it does !!
Title: Re: PC powering up but no output!! help ?
Post by: TheBoy on 21 February 2012, 19:12:52
just had reply from microsoft- blue screen error caused by device or driver.
with some ideas on how to stop it happening again . will have a read
On a mature OS, such as XP, and running mature drivers (its old ;)), and on a system that has always behaved previously (presumably), the BSOD may be caused by a driver, but invariably because a hardware device hits a problem that driver can't deal with - ie, faulty.

However, in this case, I reckon memory or PSU.

Either way, its knackered, its done its time, copy the data off, then replace - don't waste money on it ;)
Title: Re: PC powering up but no output!! help ?
Post by: cem_devecioglu on 21 February 2012, 19:25:44
just had reply from microsoft- blue screen error caused by device or driver.
with some ideas on how to stop it happening again . will have a read
On a mature OS, such as XP, and running mature drivers (its old ;) ), and on a system that has always behaved previously (presumably), the BSOD may be caused by a driver, but invariably because a hardware device hits a problem that driver can't deal with - ie, faulty.

However, in this case, I reckon memory or PSU.

Either way, its knackered, its done its time, copy the data off, then replace - don't waste money on it ;)

highest possibility.. many times witnessed the capactors in PSU give up within time..
 
and also seen because of dead battery , pc looses its critical parameters and crashes during start up..
Title: Re: PC powering up but no output!! help ?
Post by: TheBoy on 21 February 2012, 19:27:28
and also seen because of dead battery , pc looses its critical parameters and crashes during start up..
Compaq reverts to failsafe defaults if CMOS checksum is invalid...
Title: Re: PC powering up but no output!! help ?
Post by: relluf on 21 February 2012, 21:13:56
Thanks to all for your help and guidance through this .

As of now the machine is up and running and seems OK , but I will heed all advice and while I can recover all relevant data we need before it dies again and look for a replacement, which begs the question.....................





 in essence all we do is surf , buy stuff, bank,communicate and few kids game places , no work stuff as such except emailing invoices etc.

So any ideas anyone or just hit a puter shop and get similar again?
Thanks again for all your inputs.
Title: Re: PC powering up but no output!! help ?
Post by: Plomien on 21 February 2012, 21:50:19
depending on what your budget is buy a new tower plenty of places around to get one.
just post up some links from online sites and we can point in the right direction of what to get for your money :y
look at ebuyer they normally have some good prices and see if you can get one with windows 7
Title: Re: PC powering up but no output!! help ?
Post by: Martian on 22 February 2012, 09:24:50
just had reply from microsoft- blue screen error caused by device or driver.
with some ideas on how to stop it happening again . will have a read
On a mature OS, such as XP, and running mature drivers (its old ;)), and on a system that has always behaved previously (presumably), the BSOD may be caused by a driver, but invariably because a hardware device hits a problem that driver can't deal with - ie, faulty.

However, in this case, I reckon memory or PSU.

Either way, its knackered, its done its time, copy the data off, then replace - don't waste money on it ;)
I've had enough of PSU's this last 2 weeks to last me a f***ing lifetime  >:(