Dave the Cardboard Box Posted November 11, 2006 Share Posted November 11, 2006 Help please..... When I start up my computer, the monitor is not firing up, neither it seems is the scanner or perhaps other attachments. Hard to tell without a screen. So what can it be if neither monitor or scanner start up? All connections seem secure, so it must be something inside the heart of the beast Any suggestions? Thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
poppyrose Posted November 11, 2006 Share Posted November 11, 2006 I had this problem too, altho it said no signal on the monitor before it turned itsself off everytime i started pc. Unfortunatly the motherboard had gone........ hope this isnt your problem too!!!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Amadeus Posted November 11, 2006 Share Posted November 11, 2006 Had a similar problem recently - screen wouldn't come up, but box was lit (i.e. lights on keyboard were on, and so were the ones on the actual box + there was some sort of "it's booting up and alive" noise still coming from it). Thought it was a major crash at first, but turned out to be only the power unit - swapped the power supply and all was ok. Seems, they give up at times, especially if the machine has been running for a long time ( as in "nearly always on for months and months")... Hope that helps... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave the Cardboard Box Posted November 11, 2006 Author Share Posted November 11, 2006 I'm no expert but it sounds f*cked to me. Hope this helps. That was enormously helpful. So it just needs a good kicking then? Not to fix it, but just to punish it. Edit: For Amadeus - does that just mean it needs a new battery or something, or just winding up again? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Amadeus Posted November 11, 2006 Share Posted November 11, 2006 Edit: For Amadeus - does that just mean it needs a new battery or something, or just winding up again? I'm assuming you're talking about a desktop machine here, and not a laptop - on mine, it was the power supply unit that was gone - the little box where the mains wire ends up inside your machine - simply swapped that for a spare one I had flying around, and everything was well. As there could be a number of reasons for your problem, I recommend you get the box looked at by a PC Doctor of your choice.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
matty Posted November 11, 2006 Share Posted November 11, 2006 Are you getting any noises from the 'box' - as in can you hear hard drives spinning up when you switch it on, can you hear any fans? If not, check that the mains cable going into the back of the PC is ok (try another if you have one) - it could be the fuse. What's probably more likely as Amadeus has pointed out, is the power supply (PSU), I have replaced a couple of these on PC's at home over the years - they do tend to clog up with dust and suck all sorts of crap & debris into the computer case (epecially if you're a smoker). It may also be a problem with your motherboard, but the only way to really test this is to try it with another PSU. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave the Cardboard Box Posted November 11, 2006 Author Share Posted November 11, 2006 As Amadeus said, the box 'lights up' with lots of satisfying noises, clunks, clicks and whirrs. The clickety click of the scanner coming on line is absent, as is the monitor. Re Power Supply Unit replacement - where can I get one? The machine is about 4 years old and dusting is not one of my hobbies.... Neither is smoking. I hope to live beyond fifty.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mission Posted November 11, 2006 Share Posted November 11, 2006 Waltons Digiworld on Peel Road should have PSU's in stock DTCB - they're about a tenner I think. Probably best to slip the cover off the pc and make a note of the power rating of the PSU - model number of pc too - just incase they need that as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WilDDog Posted November 11, 2006 Share Posted November 11, 2006 It could be the graphic card. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
matty Posted November 12, 2006 Share Posted November 12, 2006 Now we know you're getting some power inside the case, I would try unplugging all of your peripherals (scanner/printers etc). If you still have no joy, - it could be PSU, motherboard, and as Wilddog suggested - the graphics card. Would recommend trying a replacement PSU as the first step - if you still have no joy, it would probably be worth replacing the whole motherboard/graphics card/ram etc. (You're more or less onto buying a new pc then!) Good luck. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stevie 'E' Posted November 14, 2006 Share Posted November 14, 2006 Help please..... When I start up my computer, the monitor is not firing up, neither it seems is the scanner or perhaps other attachments. Hard to tell without a screen. So what can it be if neither monitor or scanner start up? All connections seem secure, so it must be something inside the heart of the beast Any suggestions? Thanks Sounds like a graphics controller has failed.. you have one or two options to check it.. you can unplug the lead into your graphics card and then plug it into a laptop (if available) to see if it receives a signal from the output processor. Switch off the monitor, unplug it from the graphics card.. leave the pc off and then switch on the monitor.. some monitors will tell you what is happening as a self diagnostic. If the pc is booting up and you are hearing a 'distinct' clicking, I would say that your hard drive is likely to be kerry packered.. even so, you should see the initial BIOS bootup screen... (try pressing the delete key to access the BIOS, if you can, the graphics card is ok, it's a software fault, ie your O/S. Hope that helps Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Virginia P Posted November 17, 2006 Share Posted November 17, 2006 Test Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tempus Fugit Posted November 17, 2006 Share Posted November 17, 2006 does it make any beeps when you switch on ? try disconnecting the keyboard and see if it beeps when switched on without it, that may show if it's doing 'anything' or is just dead. do the leds on the keyboard flash as it powers up ? (there's a useful list somewhere for beep codes) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave the Cardboard Box Posted November 17, 2006 Author Share Posted November 17, 2006 No beeps. Lights, but no beeps at all. I have had a delve inside, on advise, removed ram and rebooted etc. The hard drive is spinning, the motherboard lights up, the fans are working. - But tried another monitor, no joy. No peripherals are being fired up - scanner, monitor, printer. So I am about to seek out The Professionals - Anyone ideas who to go to? Thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tempus Fugit Posted November 17, 2006 Share Posted November 17, 2006 was there someone advertising 'no fix - no fee' ? just had a thought, - when was the battery last changed ?, if I remember correctly if the battery is dead or short circuit it will stop it booting, may be worth just removing the battery and see if anything happens then Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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