pc problem

stishdr

New Member
alright, i'm having an issue with my pc that i hope someone can help me with. One day, all of a sudden i walk away from my pc with it working fine, then the next minute i come back, i have a black screen on my monitor!?! i couldn't see anything. so i shut it down, turned it back on and i still got a black screen, no boot screen at all, nothing. the monitor is working, i've checked with other sources, so i know that is not the problem. the indicator on my case says that my hdd is not spinning when i turn the pc on...possible problem. I can turn on the pc, all the lights light up, fans are all spinning, but i get nothing on my screen, not even from my mobo. i think it's either the motherboard gone bad, bad hdd...maybe something else if someone knows something, but any help would be appreciated, thanks.
 
If the system shut itself off by itself in just a few seconds the board would be suspect. A bad drive wouldn't end up seeing a black screen with no post information displayed until seeing the boot device failure, boot device not found type of error come up.

A board problem however is still most likely since it seems the system is failing to post while power is still being distributed for fans. If the bios eprom chip went on you that would explain the lack of any startup processes even with power present. A bad cap in the supply would see some indication of a post test before wimping out.

One way to check to see if a failed supply not supplying enough power would be using a substitute if you lack a multimeter to check voltages on the power connector. A cpu or video card fail generallly sounds off an audio alert. Are you hearing the single default beep or nothing at all?
 
You should hear a single short beep at post if all is well. It suggests the board is the problem.

On the current build the first board quit right after the first 3 days and you would hear fans spin and lights blink for a few seconds. No post beep!

That pointed at either a bad cap with the bios eprom being suspect there. It sounds like you are running into the same thing only much later along. Your first thoughts about the board were on the mark.

I have seen where one failed cpu took the board along with it. When the cpu was tried on another build it also took that board as well. Hopefully only a bad cap or eprom will be the problem there.
 
Some have had good results running Biostar. Asrock is the actual bottom of the bargain basement when looking for boards. :P
 
For 939s Gigabyte had a micro that was a butt kicker at one point. It depends mainly on the manufacturer's own standard. EVGA has come along with their boards in competition with Asus, Gigabyte, MSI, DFI, Abit, and others.
 
i am looking to get a different mobo than the one i had, would that cause any issues with my equimpent, especially since i don't have the OS cd, and i have to try and load it from my hdd?
 
With an identical replacement board Windows would either have to be reactivated by calling the MS line or performing a repair install with XP. For swapping for another model or make and model you'll need a clean install of Windows to see the new drivers for the new board installed.

The problem you have there is not having a full install disk onhand. The current installation is loaded with all the drivers for the present board and other devices. Those plus the major change in the hardware profile is seen when swapping boards out.

With Vista there's no option for a repair install in the new version. Besides the swap of boards you will also have to look now for a good upgrade seeing a new cpu, memory, video card anyways unless you stay with and can find a good deal on a Socket 478 board. But it looks like it's time to upgrade there.
 
you will need your cd

if the disk is OEM, technically replacing the board invalidates your licence, but ms dont really seem to care so long as you ring them up to activate and tell them the old one was faulty
 
It's not so much with the licensing as with the drastic change of hardware seen with a board being swapped out. The preinstall is loaded with all of the original drivers for the first board and other devices essentially bound to those. With a new board you simply need a clean install for both the new hardware profile and fresh registry following the proper hardware detection by Windows.
 
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