Reply to: My PC isn't working. How do I find out why?

[xoggoth]

Lots of turn it off, then turn it on again advice on here but actually my PC gets just the same problem if it wakes up after going into power saving mode, no signals on monitors. Turning the whole lot (PC and monitors) off at wall is only thing that works.

[d000hg]

Looks like I can get an external IDE/SATA -> USB adapter including power supply for < £20. I might just do that, rather than mess about with opening up the case, plugging in my disk, accidentally setting it as the boot disk, etc, etc.

Do drives still use jumpers to mark them as master/slave or they gone the way of motherboard jumpers?

[administrator]

I have seen SATA to IDE adapters before. My most recent PC (bought components in Jan) still had an IDE connector as well as SATA so you may be lucky.

[Jaws]

Has Hard-disk interface technology changed the last couple of years? My PC is 5 years old, will the disk likely plug in?

If not, can one buy an adapter that will make a normal internal HDD accessible through USB as an external disk? I assume external USB drives are really normal drives with an adapter built in?

If your HDD is IDE, it is possible the new machine may support it as well, but the last PC I bought only had support for SATA.

A search on Ebay should answer your adapter question.

[BoredBloke]

This might sound stupid, but unplug one of you monitors and boot it. If that doesn't work try with just the other. I was running mine with 2 screens until recently and what you are seeing was exactly what I was getting. For some reason it decided it didn't like one of the screens but set both to standby. It works fine now that I have it back to a single screen!

[d000hg]

Update: bought the cheapest graphics card from a local store for £30, and plugged it in. No change.
I did note my PC's "status light" (a ring around the power button on my Fujitsu AMD3800X2) was glowing yellow for a second when turning on, which I don't recall before - normally blue. If I had the manual maybe it would mean something.

Anyway... working on the laptop until my cheap £309 PC arrives from PCWorld. Then will check if the HDD survived, though not a big deal if it didn't... personal work online in SVN.

Has Hard-disk interface technology changed the last couple of years? My PC is 5 years old, will the disk likely plug in?

If not, can one buy an adapter that will make a normal internal HDD accessible through USB as an external disk? I assume external USB drives are really normal drives with an adapter built in?

[lightng]

If you are not getting any warning beeps - Chances are it's the power supply.

...and you can affirm or rule out whether its a PSU issue with a multimeter.

[wc2]

If you are not getting any warning beeps - Chances are it's the power supply.

Even if you get power LED's etc - Worst Case... Motherboard

[lightng]

Start with the absolute minimum hardware configuration then add one component at a time. If your PC wont even give the correct power on self test beeps after reboot and you don't have any other kit to swap out, you're fooked - sorry. Get another PC.

[pzz76077]

Just a thought, have you tried booting in safe mode (F8 after boot) with default VGA drivers.

Though if you are not seeing the bios message after power on, then it is likely to be either the mother board or graphics card. Do you have a mate that has a spare VGA card from a old PC you could borrow for an hour?? Shove it in your PC and see if you get an image of some kind.

Also another long shot, try swapping the cable between the PC an monitor, and pulling out the connector and putting it in a few times at each end. I had a PC a while back (an ASUS mb) that just had dirty connector contacts and this fixed a similar sounding problem straight away.

PZZ

[suityou01]

I tried that on my machine (just out of interest) and I got nothing.

Of course, not running MS Word might be part of the problem. And not running Windows might be another part of the problem.

Or running Vista or Windows7 is a problem.

[TheFaQQer]

Connect PC to your default printer.

Boot up the PC

When the time is right login.

wait...

use the keys Ctrl + Esc then

R for run

then type winword

type some text, then

alt = f then

P then enter.

It should print, if it does; you know the PC is working and it is a graphics fault.

I tried that on my machine (just out of interest) and I got nothing.

Of course, not running MS Word might be part of the problem. And not running Windows might be another part of the problem.

[Paddy]

Connect PC to your default printer.

Boot up the PC

When the time is right login.

wait...

use the keys Ctrl + Esc then

R for run

then type winword

type some text, then

alt = f then

P then enter.

It should print, if it does; you know the PC is working and it is a graphics fault.

[suityou01]

How would you learn and grow if you just toss kit away? If it is a business critical machine then alternatives should be available, but in terms of wanting to know more, asking questions and finding solutions, well I applaud this.

The next time someone has this problem you can speak knowledgably about this and fix it for them for a modest fee.

[doodab]

Cos it aint gonna fit:

http://www.sony.co.uk/product/vn-z-series