Problem with dads PC (Advice needed)

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deadman_uk

[H]ard|Gawd
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Jun 30, 2003
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My dads PC was built by me a little under a year ago from parts bought over the internet. A few months ago, you use to press the power button on the computer and nothing use to happen, if you keep pressing it over and over, it would eventually power up. My dad sent the PSU back and they sent a new one to him. (made by Alaska).

The PC had been working fine for a few more weeks but then the monitor wouldnt work. Its a sort of monitor where the light doesnt come on unless the PC is powered up. The monitor refused to work so my dad rang me up and I suggested a few things. Nothing I suggested worked so he sent the monitor back to Hyundai and they sent him a new one. When the new monitor arrived, that too didnt work. My dad changed the fuse in the plug and the monitor worked.....

The PC has been working fine for the last few weeks but it froze one day whilst I was at my dads house (while loading a game) When I attempted to reboot, the PC didnt beep, and there was nothing on the monitor. Further more, the USB keyboard and mouse doesnt light up either, however if you unplug the mouse and then plug it back in, the red light underneath lights up. Unplugging the monitor and keyboard and then replugging them does nothing. I gave my dad a new power lead and the PC still doesnt work.

Any ideas?
 
Ok well I did some research and it seems it can either be...

- Bad motherboard
- Bad ram
- Broken CPU

May also be PSU but I doubt that. My dad is bringing his PC to me tomorrow so I will try running the PC with no RAM, if it beeps then I know that one (or both) of the RAM sticks are faulty.
 
you can test the ram with memtest, should it post with one stick.
 
deadman_uk said:
How can I use memtest when the monitor doesnt display a picture?
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I said if it posts. So, if it posts, you should be able to see something on-screen unless its a monitor/cable issue. I also assumed you would be testing the system with your monitor, instead of making him bring his.
 
enginurd said:
I said if it posts. So, if it posts, you should be able to see something on-screen unless its a monitor/cable issue. I also assumed you would be testing the system with your monitor, instead of making him bring his.
Click to expand...
Oh, sorry didnt notice you said if it posts. Yeah of course, we have the same monitor anyway, I will be testing his PC on my monitor.. thats the first thing I will do. Then I will experiment with RAM and go from there.
 
Ok well I looked at my dads PC today and its very strange. When I plugged his PC into my monitor, it came on first time, picture was on, I heard a beep and windows loaded. I tried again and it worked so I packed his PC away and I went with the conclusion that his monitor connector pins must be bent.

He came round today to collect the PC and I set up the PC to show him it works. But when I turned it on, it didnt work and there was no beep. I took both RAM sticks out and still no beeps, I reseated the graphics card and ram and turned the PC on and it worked again.

Any ideas whats going on?
 
enginurd said:
maybe something in the case is shorting out the mobo?
Click to expand...
Maybe, can you give me some examples of what could cause out the motherboard?
 
Well some cases can produce a small amount of ESD over time. Poorly made case fans with three pin connectors can also short the mobo.

So what you could try right now is to assemble the computer sans case. If the computer still refuses to boot even when it is outside the case, then something could be wrong with the mobo itself.
 
try what danny said. other examples would be unused mobo standoffs, loose bare wires, loose screws, faulty psu, faulty power cable, etc.
 
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