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son broken his new computer!
BARGAINHUNTER!
Posts: 848 Forumite
in Techie Stuff
Hi
My son purchased a PC on ebay which he connected up to the monitor and was working fine. He then decided to change the screen resolution to the highest that it would go to, and unfortunately we cannot get to the screen to change it back!! i have googled the problem and it suggest starting the PC in safe mode, but we cannot get it to do this. When we switch the PC on, the windows XP screen looks like it is starting to load, then a grey screen comes up saying invalid format. we have tried hitting F8 but cannot get it into safe mode. We have also tried connecting it to various monitors and TVs around the house but exactly the same thing is happening!
Is this something I can fix myself or do I have to take it somewhere to be fixed? If someone could tell me what is wrong I can ring round to get some quotes to fix it if i cannot do it myself.
Many Thanks
My son purchased a PC on ebay which he connected up to the monitor and was working fine. He then decided to change the screen resolution to the highest that it would go to, and unfortunately we cannot get to the screen to change it back!! i have googled the problem and it suggest starting the PC in safe mode, but we cannot get it to do this. When we switch the PC on, the windows XP screen looks like it is starting to load, then a grey screen comes up saying invalid format. we have tried hitting F8 but cannot get it into safe mode. We have also tried connecting it to various monitors and TVs around the house but exactly the same thing is happening!
Is this something I can fix myself or do I have to take it somewhere to be fixed? If someone could tell me what is wrong I can ring round to get some quotes to fix it if i cannot do it myself.
Many Thanks
MFW 2011 challenge - Aim: Overpay £414.26 a month/£5,000 a year. Overpayment Total to date: £414.26:jMortgage start 28/9/07 £46,217.00 :TMortgage balance as of 25/05/11 £24,490.58 :T
Interest saved as of 25/05/11: £2,849.84 Projected term reduction as of 25/05/11: 9 years 11 months
Interest saved as of 25/05/11: £2,849.84 Projected term reduction as of 25/05/11: 9 years 11 months
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Comments
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You need to be pressing F8 before the XP screen comes up.BARGAINHUNTER! wrote: »When we switch the PC on, the windows XP screen looks like it is starting to load, then a grey screen comes up saying invalid format. we have tried hitting F8 but cannot get it into safe mode.0 -
I can never catch it. Turn PC on. Wait till the BIOS screen goes then press F8. Keep trying you'll get it.:footie:
Regular savers earn 6% interest (HSBC, First Direct, M&S) Loans cost 2.9% per year (Nationwide) = FREE money. 0 -
mr_fishbulb wrote: »You need to be pressing F8 before the XP screen comes up.
As soon as the PC is powering up im pressing F8 but still cannot get it to loadMFW 2011 challenge - Aim: Overpay £414.26 a month/£5,000 a year. Overpayment Total to date: £414.26:jMortgage start 28/9/07 £46,217.00 :TMortgage balance as of 25/05/11 £24,490.58 :T
Interest saved as of 25/05/11: £2,849.84 Projected term reduction as of 25/05/11: 9 years 11 months0 -
I can never catch it. Turn PC on. Wait till the BIOS screen goes then press F8. Keep trying you'll get it.
Ive tried pressing F8 when the BIOS screen goes but it just brings up a grey screen saying invalid format. we tried for 2 hours last night but still could not get it to start in safe mode!MFW 2011 challenge - Aim: Overpay £414.26 a month/£5,000 a year. Overpayment Total to date: £414.26:jMortgage start 28/9/07 £46,217.00 :TMortgage balance as of 25/05/11 £24,490.58 :T
Interest saved as of 25/05/11: £2,849.84 Projected term reduction as of 25/05/11: 9 years 11 months0 -
That's pretty strange, normally when you change resolution setting windows has a pop up asking if you want to revert to your old settings. If you don't click yes inside 15 seconds it defaults to what it was before in case something like that happens.
Though of course that's not to say errors like you're describing are impossible, but are you sure changing the resolution was the only change made?0 -
My son told me that he changed the resolution to the highest one as he wanted the quality to be the best he could as he wanted to play a game on it. Ill ask him tonight if that is the only change that he made but thats what he told me that he did.MFW 2011 challenge - Aim: Overpay £414.26 a month/£5,000 a year. Overpayment Total to date: £414.26:jMortgage start 28/9/07 £46,217.00 :TMortgage balance as of 25/05/11 £24,490.58 :T
Interest saved as of 25/05/11: £2,849.84 Projected term reduction as of 25/05/11: 9 years 11 months0 -
Maybe in the BIOS it is set to TV output for the monitor.
Change this back.0 -
Was it a private sale or from a reg. company?
Sounds like something not installed correctly software wise. Changing res should not balls things up like that, and it usually always salvagable by rebooting in safe mode. Doesn't sound like a bios setting to me, you'd need to actually alter the bios manually or install some sort of 3rd party windows program (such as overclocking utility etc)
Usually sellers have some sort of clause that their warranty doesn't cover user error or software error (I used to), but in this case I'd try contacting the seller to see if they can do something. Will probably cost you a bit in delivery fees (unless they're a good seller like me
Failing that, do you have the XP disc? Can try a recovery... You in derbyshire / nottinghamshire area?0 -
couple of other things to check, make sure all the cables are connected properly as a lot of graphics cards require an extra power connector this could have come loose.
download and burn of a ubuntu cd and see if you can boot up into LiveCD mode (try ubuntu) if this boots properly you can at least be confident that it isnt a hardware faultDrop a brand challenge
on a £100 shop you might on average get 70 items save
10p per product = £7 a week ~ £28 a month
20p per product = £14 a week ~ £56 a month
30p per product = £21 a week ~ £84 a month (or in other words one weeks shoping at the new price)0 -
Russel245 was right: - there's normally a little box that comes up after a change in screen resolution, allowing you to click "yes" to say that everything is OK. - If you don't press anything for 15 seconds, Windows assumes that your monitor doesn't like it, and that you can't see anything and changes back.
However, if your son accidentally managed to say yes (perhapps by hitting 'y' or clicking the mouse?) then it could be that the computer is now stuck trying to use a resolution the monitor can't display (and a grey 'invalid format' box sounds like your monitor trying to tell you that this is what's happened).
The fix for this is definately to start in safe mode (which comes on at safe, low resolution that just about any old monitor can display) and to change it back. - Your difficulty in getting into safe mode is most likely down to a mis-timed F8 keypress. Think for a second about the sequence of things you see on screen as the computer turns on, the "right" time to hit F8 is 5 or so seconds before the black screen with the windows XP logo fading into view appears. I normally don't hold the F8 key down, but press repeatedly (don't know whether this is important, but it works for me). Once you get it right, a black-and-white text menu will apear, and one of the options will be to start in safe mode.
Best of luck
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