Curse

moriz · Sep 02, 2006, 08:36 PM // 20:36

i turned off my computer, and it won't turn back on.

it just stops at the "loading windows" part, with the windows xp logo and the blue bar that slides from left to right. it won't even load safe mode. so i did the only thing i could: i did a system restore to reset it to factory conditions.

now, it moves past that screen. it shows up a screen with the windows logo, and a "please wait" message. after that, the screen goes blank. in fact, my monitor says "no signal", and goes into power saving mode.

what the hell's wrong with it? i doubt it is a hardware problem, because then it shouldn't even start. the system is only 1 year old (exactly 1 year old), and it shouldn't be breaking down already.

now, i know this has nothing to do with guild wars per say, but i'm kinda desperate... is this a software issue, or hardware? software i can fix easily enough (reformat ftw), but if it is hardware, i might have to start looking at replacements with the "back to school" electronic sales.

awesome sauce · Sep 02, 2006, 09:23 PM // 21:23

Open the box and check to make sure all your fans are working when you start it up. One of them could have broken and it might be overheating. The fact that it says "no signal" means that theres no response from the vid card i, i think, so that might be where your problem lies.

Also, did you install any new hardware recently? My friend had an almost identical sounding issue with a networking card he installed, but HP support was able to sort it out with him.

Those are my only ideas. Maybe someone more computer savvy can give their opinion. I would resort to reformatting only if nothing else works, as it could be caused by corrupt software or a virus.

Tachyon · Sep 03, 2006, 01:52 AM // 01:52

Do you get any POST beeps?

moriz · Sep 03, 2006, 02:56 AM // 02:56

i've resolved the issue. it had something to do with my graphics card. i took it out, and it ran. i put it back in, it hangs. although i am not completely sure, i believe the card simply burned out on me. it's strange though. before i turned off the computer, it was running fine.

strangely enough, i now have HIGHER maximum fps with my integrated graphics... go figure. my graphics card is a geforce fx5500 PCI with 256 mb of ram.

Mushroom · Sep 04, 2006, 05:10 AM // 05:10

Also look on the motherboard for blown capacitors. Those are the little things that look like cans. If any of the tops are puffed out or leaking, you need a new motherboard.

It could also be a sign of either hard drive failure, or OS corruption. If possible, try to reload your operating system. If you want to save your data, you can also simply buy a second hard drive and reload onto that one. Then when you are done, attach your old drive and pull your data from it.

moriz · Sep 05, 2006, 03:12 PM // 15:12

it runs fine without the graphics card, which suggests that my components are fine. i don't think i burned the card though, since it looks and smell just fine (a burned out card should well, smell slightly burned). i'll try to clean the socket and plug it into a different PCI slot to be sure.

anyways, my integrated graphics is kinda strange. its fps can change between 9 and 75, depending on what i'm doing.

mrgoat · Sep 05, 2006, 10:30 PM // 22:30

It's a PCI graphics card? Like, regular PCI, not the newfangled PCI-E or PCI-X? The regular PCI bus doesn't have the bandwidth to handle the newer cards.

Regardless, if you can boot and run with out the card, on only integrated graphics, it's probably either the graphics card, the bus (which is also integrated on the motherboard) or possibly the ram, though that's unlikely unless you also see seemingly random crashes elsewhere.

Try putting the card in a different slot, try a known good card in the regular slot (if you have access to one) and maybe test the RAM, after trying those other things.

Also, a "Fried" or "blown" graphics card wouldn't necessarily smell like charred plastic and ozone, it could be a tiny fault caused by lots of things.

moriz · Sep 06, 2006, 02:41 AM // 02:41

yes, it's a PCI card. i can achieve a maximum of 35 fps at 1280x1024 resolution, with everything turned to low except textures at high.

anyways, i wiped down the card (or at least the part that connects into the PC, and changed it to a different PCI slot. it works fine now.

thanks everyone.