Spring Clean gone wrong

HooCanTellMee

Hi there,
Hope someone has an answer to my problem. I decided to spring clean pc that was donated to my son moons ago. So fairly old Amd but up till now working but slow. All very choked up, fans thick with dust, vanes on cpu cooler the same. Now sparkling clean but it won't display, the monitor gives message PC RGB - NO INPUT. I have disconnected and reconnected the monitor cable and the graphics card seems to be seated properly. Anyone got any ideas please?

Oblivion

Sorry to sound negative (no pun intended) but there is a serious possibility that you've zapped it with static electricity.

HooCanTellMee

Hi Oblivion,
Thanks for the really quick reply, just crossing my fingers you are wrong.

Really hope I haven't killed it with kindness, was very careful, didn't touch components, apart from bristle paint brush and used air blower to clear dust. Is there any way to check for sure if I have fried it? All seem to be working I can see graphics card fan spinning.

earthstorm

Zapping is a possibility, but more likely you've dislodged a cable

Loose or bad Video card - loose or bad cable (both ends) or bent pins on cable - more serious hardware issues
with motherboard. Maybe try removing and re-seating the video card with all Power OFF.

HooCanTellMee

Thanks earthstorm,
The pc was working up until my good deed, wish I had left it alone.
I will sign off and go try your suggestions and come back later on. We do have another similar pc so if I don't get any joy I might try swapping the graphics cards over.
Wish me luck!

NiftyDigits

Remove the RAM, clean the contacts with an eraser and replace.

HooCanTellMee

Thanks for your help guys,
Sorry I took a while to get back to you, had to cook dinner and get hubby to lug the pc downstairs for me.
It is now up and running again, the graphics card seems to be the problem. I removed it and put it back and all seems well, I must have disturbed it, either moving the pc to get into the side panel or taking the cable out of the back. It seems quite heavy to be held by only a backplane and the socket?
So pleased I haven't fried it, usually like to give the computers a good dusting once a year, I will take even more care next time. This is the first time I have had a problem.
Son isn't too pleased, he was hoping I would have to get him a newer machine, but that will have to wait for a little longer, I need to research what he needs, he mainly watches videos online and plays some games. The one he has can is OK, but getting a bit long in the tooth.
Forums are wonderful places, so many people willing to give help whenever asked!
Much appreciated!

closed

reinstall windows or post a hijackthis log if it's slow

paddyrg

Frankly for watching online video, any machine less than 5yo is perfectly capable. Some games look prettier with newer machines, but then you get into a world of costs for gaming systems, upto a couple of grand! Frankly if you can hold out for another year then the worst result will be less time wasted gaming!!

HooCanTellMee

Hi closed,
The pc is slow but working and I am reluctant to mess with it whilst it is still running. My son says the slow start up allows him to get out of uniform, find a snack and make himself a drink! The hard drives are pretty full and cluttered with a lot of games that aren't played any more. I am planning to back up anything we need, delete the rubbish and see how it goes.
It is an old AMD single core machine so not really expecting a lot. It will do for now, but he is hoping to go to Uni next year and I am looking for something a bit more up to date but not all singing all dancing games machine!

HooCanTellMee

Hi paddyrg,
You are so right, the machine he has is doing everything he needs, but it is over five years old and has an old agp graphics card. I know how much gaming machines cost, my eldest son built himself one! His excuse was that he needed it for the Uni course in games technology he took in Dundee. I am not looking to spend anything like that amount, but the slow pc has a single core amd cpu and the older motherboard won't take any of the newer faster ones. My older son donated a newer cpu, motherboard and ram, I already have a hard drive and case so I might just use these and add the rest. It will give me something to do, I did build the amd machine so it shouldn't be much different.
Younger son has no interest in the computer other than turning it on, so long as it will let him watch his videos and play a few games on line he is happy. So no need for fancy graphics card or over the top high end intel cpu.