Computer won't boot up

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Guest

I have a Pentium 4 with 512 megs of ram, 2 internal hard drives and one
external.

Up until about a week ago, I had no problem booting up. It was a slow
process, but I have a lot of stuff on my computer, plus its XP we're talking
about.

At first, the computer would boot up, but the graphics were not right. When
the XP logo screen was running, the little squares that move back and forth
in the bar under the logo would continue moving outside the bar.

When this happened, the computer would reboot. Sometimes the second reboot
worked; others, I had to hit the restart button. At the end, before it
refused to boot at all, I would have to turn off the main power switch, wait
10 seconds or so, turn on the switch on the back of the machine, turn on the
power from the button on the front of the tower and pray that it would boot
up.

This gradually grew worse, until even when I was able to boot up, the
graphics started to deteriorate. Now, no matter what I try, I can't boot up.

I have an nvidia fForce MX ATP 64 meg card. I thought it might have gone
out and replaced it with a 128 meg MX card, but installing that produced a
messed up screen.

My question is: could my original video card have become faulty and would
replacing it with the 64 meg card solve my problem.

If not, does anybody have any ideas as to what is causing my problem.

Thank you.
 
sorry but I'm having trouble following you!!
I have an nvidia fForce MX ATP 64 meg card. I thought it might have gone
out and replaced it with a 128 meg MX card, but installing that produced a
messed up screen.
My question is: could my original video card have become faulty and would
replacing it with the 64 meg card solve my problem.
Click to expand...

you say using 64, and replaced with 128. both don't work!!

Your question: the "original 64 mb card"?

Did you originally have onboard or pci/agp video card?
 
srwences said:
I have a Pentium 4 with 512 megs of ram, 2 internal hard drives and one
external.

Up until about a week ago, I had no problem booting up. It was a slow
process, but I have a lot of stuff on my computer, plus its XP we're
talking
about.

At first, the computer would boot up, but the graphics were not right.
When
the XP logo screen was running, the little squares that move back and
forth
in the bar under the logo would continue moving outside the bar.

When this happened, the computer would reboot. Sometimes the second
reboot
worked; others, I had to hit the restart button. At the end, before it
refused to boot at all, I would have to turn off the main power switch,
wait
10 seconds or so, turn on the switch on the back of the machine, turn on
the
power from the button on the front of the tower and pray that it would
boot
up.

This gradually grew worse, until even when I was able to boot up, the
graphics started to deteriorate. Now, no matter what I try, I can't boot
up.

I have an nvidia fForce MX ATP 64 meg card. I thought it might have gone
out and replaced it with a 128 meg MX card, but installing that produced a
messed up screen.

My question is: could my original video card have become faulty and would
replacing it with the 64 meg card solve my problem.

If not, does anybody have any ideas as to what is causing my problem.

Thank you.
Click to expand...

does it boot into "safe mode" ok ? if so I would then look for updated
video drivers
 
I have a removable MX 64 meg card. When I started having trouble booting up
and then the graphics started becoming corrupted, I thought maybe the MX
video card had something wrong with it. Instead of replacing the 64 meg card
with a new, identical card, I decided to upgrade to an nvidia video card that
has 128 meg and, at least to me, seemed like a newer improved version of the
MX 64 meg card.

When I installed the new 128meg, my computer booted up, but the shortcut
icons on the desktop screen were jumbled and obviously not correct.

What I'm wondering is: a) is it possible that my original video card went
bad; and b) if so, if I buy a new version of the original card and install
it, will that solve my problem?

Thank you for your help in what I know is not a very good description of my
problem.

Sr. Wences
 
Yes, or at least I put the CD in the CD drive when I tried to boot up after
installing the 128 meg. When the graphics appeared in garbled form, I
removed the 128 meg card, reinstalled the old 64 meg card and tried to boot
up with that. As it had done before, my computer wouldn't boot up.

I have the CD with the drivers from the original 64 meg card. Would it be
worth a try to put them in the CD drive and try to boot up with the original
64 meg card?

Or would buying a new 64 meg card, which has updated drivers solve my
problem? Or is there a solution, other than replacing some other element of
my computer?

Thanks again for all your time and trouble.

sr wences
 
Thank you for the suggestion. I've been out of town, so haven't been near
the computer. I tried booting up in Safe Mode, but wasn't successful. I can
hear the drives clicking and clanking and the green and red light blinking as
they do when there's activity, but ultimately, I simply can't boot up.

My original thought was that the video card had somehow gone bad and needed
replacing. Instead of buying the original card, I bought a more powerful
one, and while I was able to boot up, the graphics were so distorted that I
returned it to the store.

I guess my question is whether or not replacing the old card with a new one
would possibly solve my problem.

Thanks for your help,
sr wences
 
Sorry I took so long to reply, but I had to go out of town.

I tried Safe mode, but still can't boot up. Is it possible that the
original video card itself has gone bad and needs replacing? I think I
mentioned that the graphics gradually became more corrupted as it became
harder to boot up, until I finally got to the state I'm now in: I can't boot
up at all.

Thank you again for you help
 
you tried 2 video cards. neither fixed your computer.

it's time to look elsewhere.

try a repair install. If the graphics are good here, then it's not your video.

If graphics are good, I would proceed with the repair install.
If graphics are bad, have you tried a different monitor?

does it sound like booting up but just can't get graphics display?
 
--
wences
As it turned out, my trouble was due to a blown out video card. I replaced
the nvidia with an ATI Radeon 9250. This response is being written thanks to
trying one more video card before using your suggestion to do a repair
install.

Again, I thank you for all the time and effort you put into helping me solve
my problem.

Computers are wonderful when they work.

Sr. Wences
 
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