Hi! I have optiplex gx270 and it turns on but shows nothing on the monitor. Any ideas how to solve the problem

Question

I was asking questions on yahoo previously and people suggested it must be the video card so I purchased another one but still nothing shows on the screen. The computer (dell optiplex gx270) is on and things sound normal. and I tried two working monitors. I'm really scared I've lost any way to get my files back. I would apreciate any help. Thanks so much.

btw.. the monitor(s) work fine..
but thanks

Answer 1

Penelope have you tried going into safe mode?
(pressing the f8 key while booting)
if it comes on then right click on your desktop select properties and set your resolution to 800x600 (last tab settings)

if that does not work and you say everything sounds right do you hear the windows bootup song when it boots?
maybe you have the video shadowed in the bios
after tring above

then try this in the bios - to get into bios when computer is rebooting press down the
f10 or delete key on some machines it maybe f1
once in bios look around for something that says reset to default click ok and reboot

ps looking thru your prev Qs i dont see anything about video cards or problems so dont know if you see a post or not like below kinda rudely states lol

Victor C.

Answer 2

We have an optiplex gx270 as well, and started noticing it would turn off at random. We tried all kinds of things, thinking it was software, or loose connection.
In the end it quit booting all together ... it would turn on, sometimes post, but never get to the XP loading screen - the monitor would go blank, but the computer would still be on with green lights. No beeps.
A couple times an error code with a message about the temp causing it to shutdown - but only saw this message a couple of times.
After doing a bunch of research found another forum where they discussed this problem as badcaps on the motherboard.
Was your gx270 purchased between 04/01/2003 to 03/20/2004?
If so, check out this from dell:
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Recently Dell recently discovered potential problems with a capacitor on the system board of GX270 systems with medium and small form factor motherboards. The problem is isolated to a specific capacitor supplier which was used in system boards manufactured from April 2003 to March 2004. The defective Nichon capacitors were placed on two manufacturers' GX270 motherboards between 04/01/2003 to 03/20/2004.

However we have discovered that the Nichon capacitors were not all produced outside control specifications. Rather the affected capacitors were limited to certain batches made during specific shifts during the manufacturing process. This means that not all GX270 motherboards are affected. Unfortunately, there is not specific way to determine which motherboards are affected and which are not.

Specifically the capacitors were filled with more liquid than required. After an approximate service life of 300 days and when the CPU reaches a core temperature of 64 degrees C they will begin to bulge and eventually overflow onto the motherboard causing a system crash and a "No Post" failure on boot. There is usually no data loss associated with this issue.
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We contacted dell, and had our motherboard replaced for free. Now it's working great!
To see if you have bad capacitors, just open the computer up and look to see if they bulge out at all. Even just a few.
The failed capacitors are noticeable bulging and rounded across the tops unlike new capacitors that are totally flat.

Answer 3

So you never made a backup of your "important files". Hmm.

Well, the first thing you need to do is get someone involved who has a clue about how computers work. You clearly do not. You need an expert involved. The important thing to keep in mind is that your data is on your hard drive. That is the asset you now need to focus on.

There are a number of steps to take to track down what is going wrong. The reason that people pointed you to the video card is that this would explain why you don't see anything during the POST, which occurs before anything else, however, if the motherboard is fried, even the POST won't work.

In that case, the only chance you have to retrieve the data is to remove the drive and put it into a working booting computer with a compatible controller. If you don't know any computer experts, you should find a local computer repair shop that can help you out with this. I've seen people who weren't sure what they were doing wipe their hard drive, losing irreplacable photos, simply because they were out of their element.

Answer 4

pass the water cooler, its for uninteresting communication, and dropping time on the artwork position, you may upload 80mm, 120mm followers direct to the chassis and leap off of optic drives and benefit the same cooling, with out taking a bath, or a swim with unreliable pluming topics. It would not take a mind doctor to parent this out water and electric powered, unlike minded.

Answer 5

Flexing in the motherboard. This would definitely cause your VIDEO card to not have good connection.. Try the on board video if you have it. Look up loop back plugs!

Answer 6

check all connections. If possible, connect a different monitor and see if anything shows up. It could mean the monitor is bad.