Black and White Squares

[jgarland]

I was asked by a friend to take a look at his computer, as his monitor was displaying black and white flashing squares whenever he booted. It looked to me like the tower wasn't even connected, and the monitor was just in standby mode. After fiddling around a bit, I've had no luck.

I thought it may have been his video card, but after swapping it out with another cheap one, it turns out not to be the case.

I can't give any specifics in terms of his current hardware at the moment, as I don't have access to the computer. I'll post them the next chance I get.

Does anybody have any ideas?

Edit: I've confirmed that the monitor is in standby mode, by switching his monitor out with one of my own. Upon startup this time, I noticed that there was no POST, so I'm assuming there's something wrong with his mobo or CPU.

Any help is still much appreciated.

 

[jnex26]

have you tried resetting the BIOS