Is this a mothercard/bios problem?

[Dave Neve]

Hi

I have come onto this group for a friend whose computer has crashed.

He left it on to go shopping and when he came back, the screen had frozen.

He could do nothing except reboot it using the power button but on
rebooting, there was a 'no signal' message on a black screen.

We have checked the monitor connections (the monitor works when connected to
his second computer) and even replaced the video card but of course this
made no difference (no signal)

We've taken out the HD and installed it on his second system.

As it is Millenium with FAT files, the XP HD doesn't appear but using a file
recovery software, we can see the XP HD drive and have even managed to
recuperate some important data.

So we are ruling out a HD crash.

Does this mean that the most likely cause now is the motherboard/bios or is
there something wrong in our approach/deductions.

Is there anything else we can do (besides praying for divine intervention)
before taking the whole computer back to the shop?

Thanks in advance

Dave Neve (and Gareth Wilson)

 

[neil]

You could try the memory if you can swap it out. Failing that its the
processor then the motherboard. I would disconnect all peripherals and the
hard drive and when the pc starts the bios should emit a beep after POST and
you should see the bios load, if not try the memory. The processor and
motherboard are next depending on what you have available to you. Just one
thought is the processor fan OK.

best of luck
Neil

 

[Dave Neve]

Hi

What do you mean by 'swap the memory out' and how do I do this?

As for the fan, I didn't pay special attention to the processor fan but I
did notice that the fans were working so it wasn't a power block failure.

Thanks

 

[Yves Leclerc]

There should also be at least a second fan, installed on top of the
processor. Ever since 486 processors, they are generating a lot of heat and
needs a fan to cool it down to "safe" operating temps.

 

[Ron Martell]

Hi

I have come onto this group for a friend whose computer has crashed.

He left it on to go shopping and when he came back, the screen had frozen.

He could do nothing except reboot it using the power button but on
rebooting, there was a 'no signal' message on a black screen.

We have checked the monitor connections (the monitor works when connected to
his second computer) and even replaced the video card but of course this
made no difference (no signal)

We've taken out the HD and installed it on his second system.

As it is Millenium with FAT files, the XP HD doesn't appear but using a file
recovery software, we can see the XP HD drive and have even managed to
recuperate some important data.

So we are ruling out a HD crash.

Does this mean that the most likely cause now is the motherboard/bios or is
there something wrong in our approach/deductions.

Is there anything else we can do (besides praying for divine intervention)
before taking the whole computer back to the shop?

It sounds like a fairly major failure.

The most likely culprits are:

1. Power Supply
2. Motherboard
3. CPU chip

Any other hardware failure (RAM, video card, disk drives, etc.) will
produce at least some sort of an output signal, at least a few beeps
from the motherboard.

At this point a repair shop is probably your best option, unless you
have a spare power supply that is compatible with the problem machine
and feel confident about doing a temporary change to test the machine.

Good luck


Ron Martell Duncan B.C. Canada
--
Microsoft MVP
On-Line Help Computer Service
http://onlinehelp.bc.ca

In memory of a dear friend Alex Nichol MVP
http://aumha.org/alex.htm

 

[neil]

You should be able to see memory modules (long & narrow circuit boards)
plugged into the motherboard vertically, I thought if there is more than one
you could try one at a time but it sounds like you are not familiar with
this.
As mentioned by Ron you should get a beep from the motherboard this is when
the bios finished its Power On Self Test. There should also be some power
lights on (main power/CD drives) if there are none of these then its down to
power supply, motherboard or processor.

best of luck
Neil