Question

hardware or bios prob

Asked by: CaperEscort

Hi I have a computer here that I am trying to fix and it is acting quite strange. Computer is about five years old or so I think. has 128mb ram, 15gig hard drive, intel agp graphic card, modem, sound card. computer has windows xp on it.

From what I hear they thought that if they put the xp cd in it would install the printer (for some reason someone told them this) anyway when I received the computer it started up and went into the windows install screen (they must have click on upgrade the computer). Anyway I let it go and when it would get to registering components the monitor would turn off(not receive a signal the light indicates) tried turning off the computer (hard restart) when i turned it back on I got nothing no beeps monitor wasn't receiving a signal could hear the hard drive spin up and the processor make it's normal noise. Turned the computer back off (hard restart) changed video card it went to just to start windows (white line went across the screen) and video cut out again. Tried both pci and agp video card and same result. I replaced the memory for a shot in the dark and it installed windows and when windows booted up it loaded in to the desktop and like it was loading everything in and about 2 mins with the desktop showing the video went again now the comp won't start up again till I clear the bios or let the comp sit for a while. I was thinking maybe something was overheating but everything is cool to the touch. The hard drive was pulled from another computer that I had and formated and windows installed and put in that system when the origional quit working that was only 4-7 days ago.

This Question has been solved and asker verified All Experts Exchange premium technology solutions are available to subscription members.

Subscribe now for full access to Experts Exchange and get

Instant Access to this Solution

  • Plus...
  • 30 Day FREE access, no risk, no obligation
  • Collaborate with the world's top tech experts
  • Unlimited access to our exclusive solution database
  • Never be left without tech help again

Subscribe Now

Asked On
2003-12-17 at 18:48:31ID20828965
Tags

bios

,

windows

,

monitor

Topics

Miscellaneous Hardware

,

Hardware Components

Participating Experts
8
Points
100
Comments
11

Trusted by hundreds of thousands everyday for fast, accurate and reliable tech support.

  • "The time we save is the biggest benefit of Experts Exchange to Warner Bros. What could take multiple guys 2 hours or more each to find is accessed in around 15 minutes on Experts Exchange." Mike Kapnisakis, Warner Bros.
  • "Our team likes having a resource that is more secure than just using Google and most experts using this service really know their stuff. It's nice to look here first versus using Google." Dayna Sellner, Lockheed Martin
  • "Anytime that I've been stumped with a problem, 9 out of 10 times Experts Exchange has either the accepted solution or an open discussion of the potential solution to the problem." Kenny Red, eBay Inc.

See what Experts Exchange can do for you.

Got a question?

We've got the answer.

Experts Exchange has been collecting answers to technology questions since 1996…3 million and counting! If you have a question, chances are we already have your answer.

Screenshot of Experts Exchange Knowledgebase

Need individual assistance?

Our experts are ready to help.

If you can't find the exact answer you're looking for, ask our exclusive community of 50,000 experts. You’ll get a personalized answer from a trusted professional.

Screenshot of Experts Exchange Knowledgebase

Want to learn from the best?

Read articles from industry experts.

Thousands of free tech tips, tricks, how-to’s and tutorials are available in our peer reviewed articles section. See for yourself how smart our experts are, no login required.

Screenshot of an Article

Working on a long term project?

Store your work and research.

Save solutions to your questions, answers you’ve discovered through searching plus helpful articles in your personal knowledgebase for easy future access.

Screenshot of Experts Exchange Knowledgebase

Access the answers to your technology questions today.

Subscribe Now

30-day free trial. Register in 60 seconds.

What Makes Experts Exchange Unique?

Members of the expert community talk about why the experience at Experts Exchange is different than what you will find anywhere else.

Trusted by the world's most respected brands.

image of each brand's logo

Faithfully serving IT professionals since 1996.

Experts Exchange Logo

Try it out and discover for yourself.

Subscribe Now

30-day free trial. Register in 60 seconds.

Related Solutions

  1. Computer Overheating
    I've had a computer with mostly new components (I borrowed the video card from my old computer) for several months and it has run fine. The temperature has stayed at a relatively cool level (for an Athlon) as expected. However, about a week and half ago, the computer sudden...
  2. AGP Probs
    I just bought two barebone PCs and tried to install an AGP vid card in one(yes, everything meets sys requirements). The mobo is a Syntax SV266A I tried a total of 3 AGP cards and 2 monitors, but the monitor light just stays amber. I replaced the RAM with no luck, and I even...
  3. CPU to AGP driver
    Hi I have a gigabyte 7vt600 1 gb of RAM gigabyte Radeon 9700 Pro etc the problem that I have is that all of a sudden all my games (opengl and direct 3d) stopped working. there were triangular atrefacts in games (Unreal tournament 2004 and Quake 3 was tested) and after 5 t...
  4. Overheating
    I recently bought new computer parts. They are: Intel D955XBK Motherboard 2 1GB Crucial DDR2 RAM Intel Pentium 4 CPU (640) ATI Radeon X800 256MB QuietPC 300W PSU Connected it all together, Powered it on, Shortly after the BIOS the computer powers off. Tried to power it on a...

Free Tech Articles

  1. WARNING: 5 Reasons why you should NEVER fix a computer for free.
    It is in our nature to love the puzzle. We are obsessed. The lot of us. We love puzzles. We love the challenge. We thrive on finding the answer. We hate disarray. It bothers us deep in our soul. W...
  2. SCCM OSD Basic troubleshooting
    SCCM 2007 OSD is a fantastic way to deploy operating systems, however, like most things SCCM issues can sometimes be difficult to resolve due to the sheer volume of logs to sift through and the dispe...
  3. Migrate Small Business Server 2003 to Exchange 2010 and Windows 2008 R2
    This guide is intended to provide step by step instructions on how to migrate from Small Business Server 2003 to Windows 2008 R2 with Exchange 2010. For this migration to work you will need the fo...
  4. Create a Win7 Gadget
    This article shows you how to create a simple "Gadget" -- a sort of mini-application supported by Windows 7 and Vista. Gadgets can be dropped anywhere on the desktop to provide instant information, ...
  5. Outlook continually prompting for username and password
    There have been a lot of questions recently regarding Outlook prompting for a username and password whilst using Exchange 2007. There are a few reasons why this would happen and I will try to cover t...
  6. Backup Exchange 2010 Information Store using Windows Backup
    There seems to be quite a lot of confusion around the ability to backup Exchange 2010 using the built in Windows Backup feature. This stems from the omission of this feature prior to Exchange 2007 s...

Cloud Class Webinars

  1. Avoiding Bugs in Microsoft Access
    Alison Balter takes and in-depth look at avoiding bugs in Access. In this webinar you will learn about using the immediate window to debug your applications, invoking the debugger, using breakpoints to troubleshoot, stepping through code, setting the next statement to execute, ...
  2. Top 10 Best New Features in Visio 2010
    Scott Helmers gives live demonstrations of the top 10 new features in Visio 2010. This webinar will teach you how to create compelling diagrams by adding shapes to the page with a single click, linking the shapes in a diagram to data in Excel (or SQL Server, or SharePoint), ...
  3. IT Consultant Business Secrets Revealed
    Michael Munger, Experts Exchange tech pro and IT consultant, pulls back the curtain on his very successful businesses and answers question on every IT consultant and business owner should know about. He shares secrets on what he did to solve the 5 most common problems in IT, ...
  4. Disaster Recovery and Business Continuity
    Quest CTO, Mike Billon, gives an overview of the steps involved in building a dunamic disaster recovery plan. Through case studies and an examination of software/hardware tooles for monitoring and testing, you'll gain a better understandin of where you are, where you want ...
  5. Organize Your Visio Diagrams with Containers and Lists
    Scott Helmers uses cross functional flowcharts, wireframe diagrams, data graphic legends and seating charts to teach you: how to ustilize all three new structured diagram components in Visio 2010, the best practices for organizeing shapes in previous version of Visio, how to organize ...
  6. How to Us Objects, Properties, Events and Methods in Microsoft Access
    Alison Dalter gives an in-depbth look at objects, properties, events and methods in Microsoft Access. In this webinar you will learn about using the object browser, referring to objects, working with properties and methods, working with object variables, understanding the ...

Join the Community

Give a Little. Get a Lot.

Join the community of experts here and help other tech pros by answering question in your area of expertise. You can earn FREE access to all Experts Exchange's premium features and resources.

Join the Community

Answers

 

by: asurada2003Posted on 2003-12-17 at 19:05:04ID: 9961540

Is u mainbaord running on intel 810 or 815 chipset??
Try to check if there got any burn component on the board.
When u flash the bios, did it half way stop??
What is the speed of the cpu u currently using??

 

by: CaperEscortPosted on 2003-12-17 at 19:14:31ID: 9961591

1  it is a gigabyte board ga-6bxc
2  never tried to flash the bois
3  not sure the speed of the processor

 

by: MostlyHarmlessPosted on 2003-12-17 at 20:49:13ID: 9962043

Just a shot in the dark here, but does that mobo you have use ONBOARD video.  
If so try to find it's manual online, I have experienced problems like yours with
HP machines with the video kicking out and the line across the screen.
Sometimes even if you set it to AGP video in the BIOS and try to use a
normal card, rather than the ONBOARD they will fight, and the simple
solution is a stupid jumper on the board that you just have to pull off.
just a thought hope I am right :)

MH

 

by: danperPosted on 2003-12-17 at 21:24:05ID: 9962239

Please check the power supply voltage +12v and +5v in the bios under 'hardware monitor'. If it does not have hardware monitor check with a multimeter. Replace the power supply as necessary.

 

by: lanman2Posted on 2003-12-18 at 00:25:44ID: 9962779

Another shot in the dark... have you tried another monitor?  TV sets do this when the vertical oscillator goes bad, you may just need a new monitor.

 

by: Huseyin1Posted on 2003-12-18 at 01:04:38ID: 9962894

Hi

Thinking about this I have come up with two suggestions
1). Not enough power

2). Over heating

It's intresting because when the PC boot and then gets ready to install the drivers needwed for everything, and it's at the stage to install the graphics drivers that when your PC shuts off.

Now this can over work the CPU, but as you said everything is ok to touch!

........and also at this stage more power is needed!

try another monitor on this PC, whats the results?
try ther card on another PC, whats the results?
what is your PSU watts?

H

 

by: TheBrothaULuv2H8Posted on 2003-12-18 at 05:53:32ID: 9964015

Have you tried replacing or at least swapping the video card for test purposes at the least?  Give it a shot.  

 

by: KenO1964Posted on 2003-12-19 at 08:01:24ID: 9972918

I'm leaning more towards a bad motherboard on this one.  It's just to freaky the way things have happened with it.

That,  or a power supply...  PSU is easier to test too.  I'd do that.

Replace the PSU, and failing that,  try another mobo...


Best of Luck!

 

by: CaperEscortPosted on 2003-12-19 at 13:40:22ID: 9975263

well I tried another piece of memory and this time it has stayed on all day but I am still interested in checking the power supply (computer don't have a hardware monitor). I'll let you know how it goes

 

by: kiranghagPosted on 2003-12-19 at 20:17:27ID: 9976493

try to load system setup defaults in bios and rerun the setup...

 

by: CaperEscortPosted on 2004-08-17 at 16:08:26ID: 11826299

sorry about not finishing up on this question but after trying changing all the parts in the computer i wsa down to the cpu or mobo so I still don't know what the prob was but i am going to give ken the points cause it is a good chance it was that.

20120131-EE-VQP-002

3 Ways to Join

30-Day Free Trial

The Experts

98% positive feedback on 31,087 answers since March 2000. angeliii is a Microsoft Most Valuable Professional for his work with MS SQL Server & Develoment.

He has also proven his knowledge of Visual Basic Programming, PHP Scripting and Oracle Databases.

The Experts

97% positive feedback on 10,752 answers since July 2000. lrmoore has more than 18 years experience in the networking industry.

The six-time Mircosoft MVPs specialties include firewalls, virtual private networking, and network management.

Testimonials

"...and excellent source for support... Kind of like having your very own IT dept." Electriciansnet

Testimonials

"I was apprehensive at signing up at first. However... it has already made my life as an IT administrator much easier." JaCrews

Testimonials

"WOW! You guys have great, active, and knowledgeable people on here." moore50

Business Clients

Business Clients

In the Press

"If you’ve got a question... Experts Exchange can supply an answer.”

In the Press

"...an invaluable aid for both IT professionals and those who require tech support."

In the Press

"where IT professionals provide quick answers on just about any topic"

Business Account Plans

Loading Advertisement...