Computer Help

[bradsbrew]

Ok so after shutting down the computer last weekend I turned it off at the wall, usual practise. Hit the on switch the next morning and it wont turn on, nothing the moniter reads no signal and turns itself off. The little green light on the back where the power cord goes in is on. Its a HP media centre if that helps. Anyone got any ideas. SWMBO is unhappy using the slow laptop all week whilst Ive been away and I have told her i'll have a look tommorrow arv but I have no idea apart from taking the case off and wiggling shit.

Any help would be appreciated

Cheers Brad

 

[cliffo]

Possibly the on/off switch, start with "wiggling" that.

 

[DangerousDave]

dude my laptop copt the virus from this sit a coupla weeks ago started doing exactly what you describe power lights and all come on but screen just stayed black ended up having to wipe the bloody thing :angry:

hope this isnt what has happened to you

now i use ubuntu

linux FTW B)

 

[Airgead]

Ok so after shutting down the computer last weekend I turned it off at the wall, usual practise. Hit the on switch the next morning and it wont turn on, nothing the moniter reads no signal and turns itself off. The little green light on the back where the power cord goes in is on. Its a HP media centre if that helps. Anyone got any ideas. SWMBO is unhappy using the slow laptop all week whilst Ive been away and I have told her i'll have a look tommorrow arv but I have no idea apart from taking the case off and wiggling shit.

Any help would be appreciated

Cheers Brad

Could be any number of things, from a virus (re-install might fix) to a hardware failure of some kind. Without seeing it, it is hard to say. Where are you?

 

[newguy]

As someone else said, check the power switch itself first, and the cord that connects it to the motherboard. You can always remove the end that connects to the motherboard and try touching the two exposed contacts with a piece of aluminum foil to short them together. If it boots, then the switch is to blame. If not, it could be the motherboard itself. If it is, it's definitely fixable but only if you're comfortable doing that sort of thing. If not, take it to a repair shop.

I do recommend getting two quotes - one to fix it and another to transfer your files to a replacement computer. The cost of a new computer + transfer fee might be less than the cost to fix the old one.

 

[jonocarroll]

Ok so after shutting down the computer last weekend I turned it off at the wall, usual practise. Hit the on switch the next morning and it wont turn on, nothing the moniter reads no signal and turns itself off. The little green light on the back where the power cord goes in is on.

I do recommend getting two quotes

I recommend figuring out some more stuff before paying anyone money.

Does the computer make any noise when you try to turn it on? Like the fan noise? Does it beep once when you turn it on? If you have a wired optical mouse, does the light come on? I may sound silly for asking, but my wife once thought my desktop was broken... turned out the monitor died (mere months after the warranty ran out, of course). Easy enough to diagnose with a second computer & monitor by swapping the two.

If that's not it, have you tried a different power point? Tried plugging something else in there?

It's a good idea to go through every possibility before paying money for it - my keg fridge recently started tripping the breaker for the entire house... sounds like a good reason to throw it, yeah? A little investigation uncovered the internal thermostat was grounding out. Bypassed it, used the TempMate I was using anyway, and I have my keg fridge back.

Good luck.

 

[newguy]

I recommend figuring out some more stuff before paying anyone money.

Excellent advice, but he himself said that they've tried all the logical stuff and beyond that, he's not too...."techie". Thus my suggestion that if it is the mobo, a new computer may be more cost effective when labour is taken into consideration. :icon_cheers:

 

[jonocarroll]

Excellent advice, but he himself said that they've tried all the logical stuff and beyond that, he's not too...."techie".

Where did it say that? Where did it say anything other than 'the monitor didn't turn on'?

Thus my suggestion that if it is the mobo, a new computer may be more cost effective when labour is taken into consideration. :icon_cheers:

Perhaps, but it may be the PSU, the HDD not being detected, fried CPU (he didn't say if it got to POST or not), or a bunch of other problems. If it does end up being the motherboard, surely a new board ($150 for a pretty-darn-decent board) plus labour (my local big computer store would install one for free, assuming everything else still fit) is cheaper than an entire new system and the hassle of selling off the working parts (presumably you don't recommend throwing an entire system if the mobo stuffs up), transferring data, re-installing the whole shebang, etc...

I'm just bustin' chops over poor advice and people misdiagnosing problems these days.

My favourite was in one of the few episodes of House I've seen...

Patient: "My inhaler doesn't work - I've still got asthma!"
House: "Are you using it correctly?"
Patient: "Of course, I'm not an idiot! It must be broken"
House: "Humor me..."

Patient:



"see, nothing!"

@Brad - sorry if I'm derailing. More info will help us get to the bottom of the issue.

 

[Dave70]

Have you tried flicking the off / on switch back and fourth violently several times then smacking the box with an open palm so hard it hurts your hand?


Last time mine had the symptoms you describe the HD was kaput. Still managed to save most of the porn data though.

 

[Banshee]

I agree with quantumbrewer. I see you have a slow laptop but you do not mention a second PC. Do you have a friend or someone nearby you can take the tower to and plug their mouse, keyboard and monitor in and troubleshoot that way.
Obviously if it gives you you same result it is within your tower.
This happened to one of my computers and it ended up being the graphic card digital output to LCD. Switched cable and pluged into the graphic card analogue port and all was good.
Good luck.

 

[Murcluf]

you mention a green light where the power cord goes, which gives me the impression you are talking about an external power supply? that if it is true, then you might have a faulty power supply rather then a faulty computer. Also how old is it and is it still under warranty, if so don't open it and log a warranty call with HP.

 

[bradsbrew]

You can always remove the end that connects to the motherboard and try touching the two exposed contacts with a piece of aluminum foil to short them together. If it boots, then the switch is to blame.

Is this safe to do while power is on? I have five almost full kegs and a couple of young kids I dont want to fry myself.

I recommend figuring out some more stuff before paying anyone money.

Does the computer make any noise when you try to turn it on? Like the fan noise? Does it beep once when you turn it on? If you have a wired optical mouse, does the light come on? I may sound silly for asking, but my wife once thought my desktop was broken... turned out the monitor died (mere months after the warranty ran out, of course). Easy enough to diagnose with a second computer & monitor by swapping the two.

If that's not it, have you tried a different power point? Tried plugging something else in there?

It's a good idea to go through every possibility before paying money for it - my keg fridge recently started tripping the breaker for the entire house... sounds like a good reason to throw it, yeah? A little investigation uncovered the internal thermostat was grounding out. Bypassed it, used the TempMate I was using anyway, and I have my keg fridge back.

Good luck.

No noise when I turn power on at point and only the sound of the on/off switch clicking.
No mouse light.
Just put the moniter VGA cable into my laptop and also the mouse and they both work.

Have you tried flicking the off / on switch back and fourth violently several times then smacking the box with an open palm so hard it hurts your hand?

That was my first step .


Thanks for the help guys. Main concern is dont want to lose the the family pics and my recipes, my diploma units that are not submitted or saved anywhere else.

Will give the foil trick a go if its safe.

Thanks again
Brad

 

[Banshee]

Ok. My suggestion if your monitor and mouse work.
Open the case after removing power cord.
Remove the IDE or SATA cables from hard drive, DVD rom and all other read devices.
Do you have onboard VGA. Use it.
And if you have a graphics card remove it
Also remove LAN card and any other PCI / AGP / PCIE card.
The only thing you want is to have the mouse keyboard and monitor pluged in.
Remove all LAN cables and other hardware.
The only devices you want is the motherboard with its RAM, CPU in operation.

If it boots to the cant detect boot device message then you know your motherboard system is ok, then you will be looking at your hard drive or one of the other devices you unpluged.

 

[Airgead]

Thanks for the help guys. Main concern is dont want to lose the the family pics and my recipes, my diploma units that are not submitted or saved anywhere else.

I need to give you the backups talk...

If your hard drive is OK (and it should be... if the drive was fried I would expect a POST and then a no boot image or similar message on the screen) your data should be fine. However, your drive will fry some day so you need a backup of your important stuff. A cheap USB external drive is a good way to go for personal stuff. I have seen them for less than $100 for a 1TB drive and most come with backup software that will handle everything for you.

Cheers
Dave

 

[Banshee]

@Echo off
:: variables
Set drive=d:\Backup %computername% %username%
Set BackUpCmd=xcopy /s /e /h /c /d /i /r /k /y
Echo 1. Backing up My Documents...
%BackUpCmd% "%USERPROFILE%\My Documents" "%drive%\My Documents"
Echo 2. Backing up Favorites...
%BackUpCmd% "%USERPROFILE%\Favorites" "%drive%\Favorites"
Echo 3. Backing up email and address book (Outlook Express)...
%BackUpCmd% "%USERPROFILE%\Application Data\Microsoft\Address Book" "%drive%\Address Book"
%BackUpCmd% "%USERPROFILE%\Local Settings\Application Data\Identities" "%drive%\Outlook Express"
Echo 4. Backing up the Windows Registry...
If not exist ";%drive%\Registry" mkdir "%drive%\Registry"
If exist "%drive%\Registry\regbackup.reg" del "%drive%\Registry\regbackup.reg"
Regedit /e "%drive%\Registry\regbackup.reg"
Echo Backup Complete! ... Hit any key ...
@Pause


Here is a backup script for XP.
Save it to a notepad and then save as "backup.cmd"

You shouls put ALL of your data files into My Documents. Make this a habit. Only place shortcuts on desktop.
Where it says set drive=(place the drive path here eg: C,D,E,F) this is the drive you want to backup to.
This script backup My Documents, Favorites, Outlook express addresses and emails and your windows regestry.
Every time you double click the "backup.cmd" file it will only save the changes you have made since the last backup. So it does not rewrite previously saved material.

You can find this script and others on Google under backup script programs etc.

 

[newguy]

Where did it say that? Where did it say anything other than 'the monitor didn't turn on'?

From what the behaviour he described and what he said he did. [He did actually say more that just that.]

Perhaps, but it may be the PSU, the HDD not being detected, fried CPU (he didn't say if it got to POST or not), or a bunch of other problems. If it does end up being the motherboard, surely a new board ($150 for a pretty-darn-decent board) plus labour (my local big computer store would install one for free, assuming everything else still fit) is cheaper than an entire new system and the hassle of selling off the working parts (presumably you don't recommend throwing an entire system if the mobo stuffs up), transferring data, re-installing the whole shebang, etc...

I'm recommending that he get someone qualified to look at it because he said that he wasn't knowledgeable of the inner workings of computers. I am, and I just replaced the mobo, processor, RAM, and video card in my desktop at home a month ago. Even though I know what I'm doing, it was still a 5 hour job and I didn't have to transfer anything. Little things like the Windows hey-the-MAC-address-changed-this-must-be-an-illegal-installation issue, setting BIOS properly, etc etc etc. If you don't know what you're doing, you're well & truly screwed.

Is this safe to do while power is on? I have five almost full kegs and a couple of young kids I dont want to fry myself.

Absolutely. I wouldn't recommend anything unsafe. You're looking at 5V max. Very safe. Just trace the power switch back to the header it plugs into on the mobo and short those two pins together only (which is what the switch does). That will tell you right away if it's the switch or not.

 

[keifer33]

Just going to throw this out there as for some weird reason its happened in the past. The actual 'kettle cord' that goes into the power supply might not be up to the job anymore and might need replacing. Have you got one lying around to try with?

 

[mwd]

Also if it is more than a couple of years old it could be the Cmos motherboard battery. Usually a CR2032 about the size of a 10cent piece.

I know after buying a new motherboard and then discovering it was just the CMOS battery dead=dead computer.

 

[bradsbrew]

Also if it is more than a couple of years old it could be the Cmos motherboard battery. Usually a CR2032 about the size of a 10cent piece.

I know after buying a new motherboard and then discovering it was just the CMOS battery dead=dead computer.

I found this little lithium battery this morning and took it out and looked at wondering if it could be the culprit? Might just grab a new one and replace it.
edit= Yes it is 4-5 years old.
Cheers

 

[bradsbrew]

Had my nephew come over and have a look. 2 minutes later computer was running. There was a dry connection from the main power cable going into the mother board which was telling the switch it was broken. All he done was take the cable off and put it back on. When he tested it by turning it off at the wall it done the same thing again so he thinks the board may be on its way out. So I will be getting an external storage and do the back ups as suggested by most.

thanks againfor the suggestions and the help :icon_chickcheers:

Brad