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One of my computers doesn't boot up or at least nothing appears on my screen (not even the BIOS). It still makes some noise and the lights stay on, but not any beeping like I have heard computer make when start up fails.

Before this happened my screen would occasionally have a strange image appear then crash (usually around startup). It would also sometimes just freeze without the image appearing.

Any suggestions for how I can attempt to identify the problem?

My screen

3 Answers 3

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Assuming that you've checked all the connections and have made sure that the graphics card (if you have one) is seated properly, this looks like your graphics card is broken.

Do you have a separate graphics card or are you using the graphics chip on the motherboard?

If it's the former, then either remove the graphics card and use the onboard graphics or replace the graphics card with another one. This should cure the problem.

If it's the latter, then if you can't add a graphics card you'll have to replace the motherboard.

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  • Thanks for the advice. I don't actually have a graphics card in this computer
    – Casebash
    Apr 12, 2010 at 23:14
  • @Casebash - then it looks like the onboard graphics chip is dead. See if you can get hold of a PCI Express or PCI graphics card - it doesn't have to be an expensive one. Install it and see if you get some output.
    – ChrisF
    Apr 13, 2010 at 13:25
  • Yes, it was a motherboard problem
    – Casebash
    Apr 20, 2010 at 10:10
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If there is noise, usually it's beeping codes. The meaning of the codes is usually given in your mainboard manual. Like: 2 beeps = CPU is dead. 3 beeps = OnBoard Graphic Card is dead. (those are examples!).

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  • Its only actually the fan/hard disk noise
    – Casebash
    Apr 14, 2010 at 10:27
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I had a similar problem once with one of my PCs. I tried replacing the graphics card and memory, reseating the CPU, unplugging disks - nothing worked. What eventually fixed it was replacing the little circular battery on the motherboard.

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