My computer won't start...?

Question

I was having trouble starting it up, it would power up but nothing will show on the screen.. i can hear the hd, cpu fan and cd-roms spinning but no screen.. so i went and got a brand new motherboard, cpu, hd and power supply... i made sure i installed everything correct, i checked all the jumpers on da motherboard but everything looks ok, i even tried different ram and video card but nothing... what else can be the problem??

I did try a different monitor..

I TRIED RESEATING THE RAM AND ALSO TRIED A DIFFERENT MONITOR...

I TRIED ALL OF THE SUGGESTIONS AND STILL CAN'T GET IT TO WORK. NOW I BOUGHT ANOTHER HARD DRIVE, I INSTALLED IT... MIRACLOUSLY IT BOOTED, SO I POPPED IN THE RESTORE CD THAT CAME WITH THE COMPUTER.. IT RESTORED EVERYTHING. THE COMPUTER ASKED ME TO RESTART, SO I DID THAT AND NOW ITS BACK TO THE SAME BLACK SCREEN... WHAT THE HELL????

Answer 1

The first thing I would have checked is the monitor (screen). You said that everything on the computer sounded like they were working, except for the fact that there was nothing on the screen.

I assume you didn’t use that particular computer to ask your question… Anyway, as I said, I would have checked the monitor before spending any money on the computer. Check to make sure the monitor is turned on, and is connected properly to the back of the computer. If you can borrow another monitor, try it on your computer. If you still can’t see anything on the screen when using a different monitor, then you can assume the monitor is not the problem.

The next thing I would check is the video adaptor/card, and make sure the RAM is inserted properly.

Good luck!

Answer 2

do you see anything at all when power is applied? eveen without a hard drive or ram connected you should see eihter a screen that displays the board logo or P.O.S.T.info . if you cannot see any type of image on the Verified working monitor at power on/boot, then there is a hardware fault. newer boards have a "HALT ON" feature halts the complete Power Up of the board. if this type of hardware fault is detected, you generally wont see any video whatsoever. check that the proper video hardware is in place

Does your new board have an onboard video chip? if so, remove any video cards that you put in, and connect the monitor to the onboard. Mobos with on board video always have have a init to diplay first option(in bios) that can be set to pci, or onboard. this always set to "onboard" unless set otherwise.

if there is no on board video, and youre using an AGP card, make sure it is compatible. there are 2 or3 diffent slot types for agp cards and they all look simillar.

after checking the video setup. try Clearing the Cmos memory. this is done with a jumper that is usally close to the battry.make sure electricty is disconected from board first!

you can buy a diagnostic card that goes in a pci slot it generates error codes. thes are called post cards and there usually about $20

Also if you used a restore disc that is specific to a computer model BEFORE you swapped all your hardware that could confuse things for you and the machine.

if you can get to the bios screen then youre good to go

Answer 3

hmmm guess i should have read further i didnt realise that you got it fired up and used the restore cd ... ok at this point what youve done is resore the system to the settings that would work with your previous motherboard and processor... if processor was the same that would not be a big deal, but since you changed the board ... unless you bought an identical board and proccesor you have set it up for a different chipset etc and will hang the system . at this point you can try another xp setup disk / if your system was xp home use a home cd xp pro use a pro cd /// you can try to do a "REPAIR" install and that will save your applications that came with your restore cd and it will install the proper chipset drivers etc. for you new board config. you can then use a third party programsuch as from (miscsoftware.com)($20..this prog you have to have all you drivers etc loaded since activation is tied into componant lists) to change your XP product key if the cd doesnt allow you to use your product key during the "repair" install. this should work well for you.

Answer 4

1st try replacing your cables from mother board to hd if that dont work then try to take your motherboard back out off the computer set it on a piece of cardboard try pulling your backup battery out it looks like a watch battery its about the size of a dime make sure you pull it completely out disconnect the mainpower supply from the components in the computer hd, floppy,cd etc then let all these components set what this will do is let all the static electricity disapates for about a week this will do a few things 1st by taking the battery out of your motherboard it will clear you bioese and it restores your computer to its factory settings( hint) you might have to go into your biose set up and change you vidio setting in order for you motherboards to see you video card

Answer 5

Did you try the power supply? Sure, it can cause an issue like this. Other than that you have tried everything. Suggestion, if motherboard has onboard video, make sure you are plugging the video cable into the right connector, this is if you have onboard and are using an adapter card.

Answer 6

Maybe the video card is set to run on a second display. That's why your problem popped up after you did the restore. The restore point was made after the video card was set to use a second display. Try to start in safe mode and uninstall the video card. Then see if it starts and, if yes, reinstall the video card drivers.

Answer 7

Are you sure that the hard drive is working properly? It might be near death, or dead. Does it make any unusual clicking noises? Beyond that I would also check the monitor for problems. Try a different monitor if you can.

Answer 8

The problem could be the volt setings on the motherboard, make sure that the motherboard supports the processor and RAM.

Answer 9

Well since you changed everything on the computer than it's probably just your monitor. Try a different one.

Answer 10

Nothing shows, or there are something there then stop.
if you hear 2 sounds like di di, that means the connection has priblem. if none of this? why bother, a brand new PC, just cost $200.00 around. There are many things to cause this problem, however, it's hard for us to guess the problem.

by: Idearibbon