PC been moved, now not working - what could it be?

SG1 2008-03-03 14:47:29 UTC #1

OK, so a lady that I know recently gave her daughter her old computer.

Thing is, when the daughter got it, it wouldn't work. It switched on, fans whirring but no display. So it's gone from being fine, to going in a car, being driven and taken out, and now not working.

They gave it to me to see if I could see what was wrong with it. I've tried it on other monitors and no result - still power but no display. So apart from taking everything out and putting it back together, can anyone think what may be causing this?

I've checked all of the components and they all look solidly in place so something being dislodged seems out, and no loose screws shorting it - can't see what's missing.

eric93se 2008-03-03 16:36:26 UTC #2

Make sure all internal connectors are secure. Also try reseating the video card.

DiiZzY 2008-03-03 22:40:30 UTC #3

You might want to reseat RAM and possibly CPU/CPU-Cooler too.
//Danne

bean55 2008-03-04 05:48:45 UTC #4

Make sure all internal connectors are secure. Also try reseating the [U]video card[/U]
.

Solid advice
bean55

SG1 2008-03-04 06:43:10 UTC #5

Right, so basically reseat everything - may as well take apart and reassemble then?

eric93se 2008-03-04 08:58:18 UTC #6

[QUOTE=groovemeister;2012679]Right, so basically reseat everything - may as well take apart and reassemble then? ;)[/QUOTE]

You should be an expert now at PC repair/diagnositcs, lol.

bean55 2008-03-04 14:07:41 UTC #7

Reseating it all would not hurt, but If in a hurray try the video card first.
Had somewhat the same problem with one of mine. I had to downgrade to a basic video card to get it up and then reinstall the better card afterwards.Never did figure out why , I only moved the computer from upstairs to downstairs.

bean55

SG1 2008-03-05 06:15:38 UTC #8

[QUOTE=eric93se;2012771]You should be an expert now at PC repair/diagnositcs, lol.[/QUOTE]At least it’s not one of mine this time!

Well, I have reseated the CPU, RAM and video card. It still has no display.

My money’s on the video card being bust, as I can hear the HDD getting to work and it sounds like it’s booting up when I switch it on. It’s a PCI card… really basic. The PC is ancient as it is, probably an antique by computer standards. Old socket 7 Pentium CPU with SDRAM, no PS/2 connectors!

eric93se 2008-03-05 13:27:10 UTC #9

Personally I would suspect the monitor before the video card, since its so old and all.

bean55 2008-03-05 14:27:29 UTC #10

I’ve tried it on other monitors and no result - still power but no display

Sounds like the Video card at this point.

bean55

SG1 2008-03-06 02:40:48 UTC #11

It’s not the monitor, I’ve tried the PC on other working monitors.

DiiZzY 2008-03-07 13:02:48 UTC #12

Test everything in a computer that you know works.
//Danne

SG1 2008-03-09 06:57:12 UTC #13

Unfortunately it’s so old that the computers that I have are incompatible with its parts!

It’s not a great loss TBH. For Â£30 I could install a 1GHz processor and 512MB of RAM and it’s be a vast improvement over what they have!

barebear 2008-03-09 09:02:47 UTC #14

Try a new motherboard battery. I had the same thing on a DFI board, tried different video, ram, and cpu, only got display to come on after replacing battery.