Help - computer has gone kaput

Dunstan_2

Just tried to turn on my PC, but something is seriously wrong. The light on the tower comes on, and the fans come on too, but apart from that, it seems completely dead. It doesn't make any of its normal starting up sounds, the monitor doesn't seem to recognise that the pc is on, and there are no lights on the keyboard or optical mouse. The computer is about 4 and a half years old. Is there any easy way of fixing this, or am i looking at the prospect of a new one?

Browntoa

open the case and make sure that none of the cables to the hard disk etc have come loose first, also make sure all the RAM and PCI cards are reseated

does sound like the motherboards died,do you get any beeps when it boots ??

damo24

It could also be the power supply, if it is a replacement one would cost less than £20

macman

What are you getting on the monitor? Blank, 'no signal', any error messages? Swap the monitor and the monitor cable with known good ones, this will establish if they are the problem-if not then it's in the base unit itself-possibly graphics card?
Do you still get the normal single bleep at POST as it boots up, if so that indicates that the hardware is probably OK.
What make and model is it and what OS are you running?-if it's a Dell, the lights serve as a diagnostic function, so by noting the sequence at start up you can detect where the problem is.

Dunstan_2

Many thanks for your replies. There is no beeping sound when i switch it on, although the green light comes on the tower bit (sorry, i'm not very technical). The monitor says 'no signal' when i turn it on. I have taken the case off but can't see any loose cables (there was a disgusting amount of dust though). It is a compaq presario, running windows xp. If the motherboard has died, is it expensive to replace, and am i going to lose everything on there? I hope not, as i've loads of music which i've been meaning to back up and haven't got around to yet!

Browntoa

the hard disk could be plugged into a base new unit to retireve data or placed in a "caddy" so it becomes an external drive

suspect the build up of dust has cooked the motherboard or processor , probably more expensive than its worth to repair

macman

Dunstan wrote: »

Many thanks for your replies. There is no beeping sound when i switch it on, although the green light comes on the tower bit (sorry, i'm not very technical). The monitor says 'no signal' when i turn it on. I have taken the case off but can't see any loose cables (there was a disgusting amount of dust though). It is a compaq presario, running windows xp. If the motherboard has died, is it expensive to replace, and am i going to lose everything on there? I hope not, as i've loads of music which i've been meaning to back up and haven't got around to yet!

I wish I had a pound for every time I've read that...
Since monitor has 'no signal' message it seems that it's not monitor or VGA cable failure. Lack of POST beep indicates a hardware failure. I would start by reseating the RAM chips and graphics cards in their slots one by one and retesting. Could be graphics card failure (if separate card) which could be worth fixing, but could also be mobo or processor, which might not be.
No reason to think you have lost your data, nothing you have posted indicates hard drive failure, just use a USB caddy on another PC to recover it.

totalsolutions

>"I have taken the case off but can't see any loose cables", you won't see a loose cable, what we mean is remove cables and re-fit.
It would help if you brush / clean the insides out somehow.

macman

Get yourself a can of compressed air and blow it all clean, then at least you can see what's what.
Boot up with the case off and see if the fans are running (processor fan and power supply ones). If the power supply one has failed then you probably just need a new PSU, which is a simple repair.