Hi, I'm looking at a friend's PC that has stopped booting. One key problem is that there's no video output - none whatever, not even at boot - and I've verified this using a different monitor and cable (checked as working via another PC). So at the very least there's a video output problem that could probably be solved by a new video card (it's currently on-board VGA). However, the PC doesn't appear to boot at all, there's no drive activity (although they spin up) and no obvious signs of loading/booting. Would a failed on-board video cause the boot process to fail at start-up? If so, then I'm happy the video is the issue, but in other cases where cards have failed, I've always seen/heard the boot process carry on normally, so I'm not certain. Any help/comments appreciated. Jon
no video output isn't always related to a faulty graphics card/onboard video, it could be a different component causing this problem or a corrupted bios do you hear any beeps when switching the pc? beeps can help determine the problem, if there aren't any beeps, try clearing cmos, by removing the cmos battery in the motherboard, make sure you turn off your pc and unplug the power cord before doing so, put the battery back after 10 minutes if that doesn't solve the problem, unplug extra components like hdd, pci cards (if there is any), just keep it minimum, let the ram and motherboard only, also if there is more than 1 ram, try each one alone
Hi DIGITAL2K, thanks for the reply. I'm now pretty sure it's a serious failure of the motherboard or processor. In brief, a new video card didn't solve the problem and I've been through all the hoops: reset CMOS (both by battery and jumpers), disconnected all drives, removed all memory and tested singly and in differing slots, etc. etc. and nothing makes any change to the condition. There's no beeping and no sign of any kind of POST. Nothing I've done has ever changed the behaviour. The only thing that does happen is that if you press the 'Reset' button, the machine can then no longer be powered off by holding the power button. Not sure if this indicates anything. I'm going to suggest that the best course of action now is a new MB/Processor and, since the machine is quite old and slow anyway, I think this'll be a win/win situation. Thanks again for the response - if you do have any brilliant ideas, please let me know as it'll probably be a day or so before I get the new parts... Jon
I'd suggest that the best course of action is a new computer. If it's old and slow, the HD is probably small and slow. And it probably won't cost much more to replace the computer than to replace the motherboard. An i3 would probably be a major improvement - and desktops with i3 processors are cheap. (Remember, a new MB/CPU would also require new RAM. Add all that up, and you're probably within $100 of a new computer.) Just mount the old drive in the new computer so he can get all his data back. (Or stick it into an external enclosure and make a USB drive out of it for him - the enclosures are about $20.)