 | PM |  | | Quote | | | Reply | | | Full Topic | |
| Joined: | Tue Apr 28th, 2009 |
| Location: | Decatur, Georgia USA |
| Posts: | 962 |
| Status: |
Offline
|
I have a new problem.
A couple of days ago I found the kids computer with the monitor having a bunch of diagonal green lines on it. They had been trying to load the SIMS game and it went to that screen and quit.
I had to use the off button to shut it down. When I went to restart it I couldn't get any video. I opened the case and checked a bunch of stuff (I went on line and searched for possible help), no joy. I think the video on the mother board has gone bad or the mother board itself.
The computer is a Compaq presario SR2010NX. The things I have tried: Installed the monitor on the other computer (works great); made sure the power supply fan was working; checked the hard drive (I can feel it spinning); disconnected everything but the video cord to the monitor and the hard drive; pulled the memory sticks out and tried starting it with none, and each stick by itself; removed the hard drive and tried another one. The websites I checked said that, while rare, all of these can cause a loss of video.
Came to the conclusion that the built in video is probably bad, or the mother board is shot. Picked up a video card to see if that would fix it PCIE card. Still no joy. One website says that I have to disable the built in card (in the BIOS) to get the plug in one to work. I have NO VIDEO, how am I supposed to do that?? One guy said that I might get it to work by clearing the CMOS, followed those instructions, no joy.
I am not a complete computer illiterate but I am stumped.
Any suggestions???
Beyond using it for a boat anchor and buying another one???
Sorry, but I've been out of town and computer-less for a few days.
So, it seems that you have lost the video completely at the computer end, and this includes the stuff that shows up when the computer is first turned on? There are a couple of things that might be going on.
You might have a burned up video card, and you might have a burned up power supply. It is possible, although not very likely because this is rare, that the software set the video resolution and/or refresh rate to something incompatible to the hardware, and that caused it to burn up. This is what the problem kind of sounds like because of the diagonal lines on the screen. That kind of thing is what the screen can look like when set to an incompatible setting. Sometimes, that will damage the monitor, but very rarely the video card. Since the monitor worked on another computer, and a new video card didn't work (most newer computers auto disable the built in video when an expansion card is added BTW, and since you have PCIe, this one is new enough to probably be in that category), this is not likely.
To me, the only things that make sense are that the motherboard has failed, or the power supply has failed. My guess would be the power supply. Power supply failures are one of the most common things to happen to a computer. Do you get any POST (power on self test) beeps? Do you remember hearing one before? Do you have the ability to try a different power supply with this computer to see if that works? You don't necessarily need to completely remove the power supply to test this. Just unplug everything from the PS that is in there, and if you can, bring another computer over close enough over that its power supply connector will reach. Hopefully, it'll be long enough to reach without having to completely remove the unit. Just the connector(s) (some computers use secondary connectors to the MB) that connects to the MB will be sufficient to see if you can get any POST beeps and/or give you the bios video output.
The power supply puts out several voltages, and many times will have several outputs at one voltage, particularly the +12V one, and if any one of these fail, the computer will not work properly, if at all, even if there are signs of life in there, such as fans and hard drives running. I even have a PS tester that is supposed to tell if there is proper voltage in all the connectors, but one PS I tested said it was "good", but still wouldn't boot the computer. If you get something out with a different PS plugged in, there is your problem. If you don't, the problem is in the MB. Unless you want to replace the MB with a similar one that uses the same CPU and memory, it probably isn't worth fixing. With a new MB, Windows may also give you a hard time about the installation being transferred to a "new" computer and may require you to call Microsoft to get it activated again. It depends on how different the MB is than the old one. You'll also probably have to re-install drivers for a lot of hardware on the MB too.
Power supplies are relatively cheap for most standard computers (not a hard core gamer's machine or a high powered server) and fairly easy to install. Most computers use ATX standard power supplies. IMO, the best PS for the money right now is the Corsair brand. Seasonic is good too... most of Corsair's parts are made be Seasonic.
Some name brand PC's use a non-standard (really a different, less common standard) size. HP, Compaq, Dell, Gateway and some others, all use non standard sizes in some, but not all, of their computers. A standard one will be approximately 5 7/8" (150mm) X 6" (the depth can vary a bit) X 3 3/8" (85mm). If your width and height are about that, but depth is only about 3-4 inches, it is probably a microATX PS. You'll have to look around for one of those and see if it is HP/Compaq replacement compatible. If you have one of those little tiny small footprint towers, it might be an ITX or even TFX.
Newegg.com has all of these PS types. Hopefully, this is what the problem is, and you use a standard ATX PS. If you have a non-ATX, look on the label for the PS. A lot of times it will say on there what type of PS it is. If not, look at the pictures of the PS's on newegg and compare the proportions and relative size to the power cord connector, and the mounting holes, etc. This will help you figure out which one to get.
____________________
Click this link to go to the Table of Contents of the Computer Help thread:
http://goo.gl/5mfAf
| Close Window | |