Computer not working :o(

[annie0000]

My son's computer seems to have developed what I think must be a major problem overnight. It was working fine yesterday and when he switched it on this morning, although it has power and the light and fan come on, the monitor/keyboard/mouse are receiving no signal. The usb plug in wireless thingy lights up so it is obviously receiving power, but there are no lights on the keyboard or mouse and no signal to the screen.

Obviously difficult to know what is wrong as there are no error messages to check.

Anyone have any clues????

Thanks :o)

[albaqwerty]

Cats are generous:)

Do you have a spare monitor/screen?

I had to plug in an old usb keyboard to get my screen to co-operate which then led to the disk-drive to work to re-load the windows. What a palaver.

[Old_Geezer]

Well, look on the bright side. At least there's venison in the freezer.

[ichkeria]

It sounds to me as though your motherboard may have died.
Either that or it's the brushes :-)

[Davethedog]

Sounds like a hard disk fail. You have a black screen, the monitor works. Its not booting is it?

[annie0000]

venison not edible if it's road kill og - needs to be hung and blood drained straight away or the meat is tainted - apart form that it was a big red deer and I don't think they could have fitted in the boot - even though we have an estate.

Motherboard or hard disk - how much are we looking at do you think?

[Old_Geezer]

Hard disks are not that expensive. You need to match the interface you already use though. If it is a motherboard I suspect you may be better considering a new PC, especially if your existing one is a few years old.

http://www.google.co....rd+drives&safe=active

[Davethedog]

If you can fit the hard disk yourself £40 approx You run in your OS and restore your back up. If you don't have a back up and you wish to get your data back £2/300.

Motherboard cost plus labour same as above.

[ladybirder]

Computer Say No:-(

[albaqwerty]

..Have a shifty at Bigpockets (dot co dot uk?)

Bought a pc from them some years back, very good, 6 month guarantee, I think they also do/did mother boards as well as printers. I ain't advertising, but the guy at t'other end of the phone was extremely helpful and not pushy. I don't even know if they are still in business.

[annie0000]

we bought the PC 2nd hand so looks like that'll be it gone then :o(

[owdhamer]

I used to have a nerdy neighbour forklift truck driver by day computer genius by night , do you somebody similar

[Old_Geezer]

Let someone knowledgeable have a prod around in the PC before you write anything off. It may prove to be something simple.

[vulcan]

Agree with Old Geezer, get it checked first. Same with the washing machine, motor brushes are only a few pounds, new machine few hundred.

[annie0000]

'fraid not owdhamer - I don't know anyone useful ;o) - apart from all you guys that is...

I'll try taking it into the local PC repair shop and see what they say. Washing machine will have to wait to as we are away for a few days from Wednesday. Rapidly running out of savings at moment!! Central heating just needed to be powerflushed as well - this is not shaping up to be a good month!!

[Old_Geezer]

Thought: can you boot the PC from a bootable CD, DVD, or floppy disk ? It might allow you to locate the problem as being a drive problem.

[annie0000]

How would I do that OG?

Drive seems to be working in that it will open and close.

[Old_Geezer]

You need to get hold of a bootable disk. With any luck someone will have created recovery disks and stored them away safely. And then you put it in the CD/DVD or floppy drive and simply power up.

(Then is a possibility you may need to change the CMOS settings to ensure the PC looks for a bootable drive, but normally it will already be set up to check this.)

Worst comes to worst, a Windows installation disk may suffice.

[annie0000]

The disk was supplied with the PC - I'll try that in the morning - the PC is in my son's bedroom and he is fast asleep now. Also contacting the seller - he did offer a 40 day warranty and I believe that I am inside that - more than 40 days since order, but not since delivery.

[annie0000]

Sorry dave - only just spotted your post there. I would be happy to do it myself as long as i knew which bit was the problem - I fitted a new dvd -rw in this PC and a ethernet thingy too. I'll see if I get any response from the seller.