Attempting to reinstall Windows XP pro, but cannot see anything!

[Jonathan Kersey]

Hello,
My name is Jonathan Kersey, and I am having a problem when
I try to reinstall Windows XP pro edition on my computer.

What happened was that I was on my computer a few days
ago, when my system locked up. I restarted my computer
and it went immediately to safe mode. I restarted a
number of times and then all it would do is lock up before
Windows could even fuuly boot up. So I took a support
person's advice to reinstall Windows because a critical
file was probably corrupted. Everything was going well,
Windows was reinstalling nicely. And then, about 30
minutes into the installation, after the computer has to
reboot, everthing was black.

I had my monitor plugged into my PCI video card, so I
tried to connect it to the on-board video--but there still
was nothing on the screen.

I have tried to restart the machine with and without the
CD in drive a number of times, but there still is no
video.

I have also tried talking to Microsoft support, but they
need the product ID code, which I cannot access because I
cannot see anything.

I have reinstalled Windows XP about 5 times since I have
had it, but I have never had any problems like this
before. If someone has any idea what the problem is, or a
solution to the problem, I would greatly appreciate a
response.

Here are the basic specs of my computer if anyone needs to
know them:

Computer: Compaq presario desktop
Processor: Pentium 3, 733 MHz
RAM: 512 MB
Hard Drive: 120 GB
OS: Windows XP pro
Video Cards:-On-board video, 16MB video memory
-GForce 4 MMX 64 MB PCI card

Thanks for all of your help!
Jonathan Kersey
(e-mail address removed)

 

[Papa]

Hi Jonathon:

Sounds like a hardware failure, and the problem most likely is not related
to your operating system.

My feeling is that you have a defective video card. If you are uncomfortable
working with PCs, take the PC to a computer shop or to a knowledgeable
friend. Otherwise, try the following:

I suggest you first just try a different video card. If that doesn't work,
try to find the fault by the process of elimination. Remove everything from
your system except the motherboard, video card, the CPU, only one RAM chip,
and the power supply. Then try to boot. If it doesn't boot, remove your
video card and install a different one. If that doesn't work, try a
different RAM chip. If that doesn't work, try a different CPU.

By the way, when you tried the onboard video, did you allocate memory for it
in your BIOS?

Good luck.

 

[Jonathan Kersey]

Hi Papa,
Thanks for the reply--I will have to try those things. As
to your question about the BIOS, I haven't been able to
access it because I haven't been able to see anything. It
could be that I am in the BIOS, but i am not sure.

Thanks again!
Jonathan

 

[Papa]

Hi Jonathon:

The only way to get into the BIOS is by hitting the DEL key very early in
the bootup process (some computers use a different key - see your manual or
carefully look at the screen for instructions early during boot up). But as
you said, without anything on the screen - who knows?

Regards.