General Computer Problem

[baggio248]

I have no idea what is wrong. I thought it was a virus, but no scans detect anything. This has been happening alot. My monitor will tell me to "check the signal", or it just won't come on. Cntrl, ALt, Delete does nothing I have to push restart. I just now got my system started after restarting 4 times. It also has shut itself off by itself the other night. Anyone have any ideas as to what I should do?

[Cantacuzene]

Sounds like your power supply is dying. Try another power supply and see if thats it.

[mcs328]

...or the button battery on the motherboard is dying also?

[baggio248]

As of now, it really won't start at all. If it manages to load Windows the farthest it gets is to the backgroud and then the screen goes black. Or it won't even get to Windows and it will restart itself over and over. I don't know if this is possible with the things you've been saying, but it's a pain. Thanks for your help.

[Cantacuzene]

Its either the mobo battery, the psu, or the video card. Test those three and get back to us.

[Joshua]

Well the video card wouldn't make the machine reboot... I'd put my money on the power supply...

[Golfing Dude]

I had this problem before. If you PC reboots itself over and over again after it reaches the windows screen then you have a register problem. The only way that I got it to work was to reload the operating system.

If you can get a hold of a volt meter the voltages should read 12 or 5 on the power supply connector. If it is 10% lower(10v or 4v) then you need a new power supply.

[Cantacuzene]

Originally posted by SnotRocket
Well the video card wouldn't make the machine reboot... I'd put my money on the power supply...

The video card definitly could make it reboot. There are tons of people who have system hangs and reboots due to video cards but it usually has to do with switching from ati to nvidia or vice versa and not uninstalling the old drivers properly.

[GilbertsGrape]

Originally posted by Golfing Dude
I had this problem before. If you PC reboots itself over and over again after it reaches the windows screen then you have a register problem. The only way that I got it to work was to reload the operating system.

If you can get a hold of a volt meter the voltages should read 12 or 5 on the power supply connector. If it is 10% lower(10v or 4v) then you need a new power supply.

Details please Dealing with DV volts so which lead goes to witch plug on the PS

[modena]

When i had this problem before, i tested a new vid card and different ram, and it ended up being that the mobo was partially fried.

[baggio248]

Originally posted by Cantacuzene
Its either the mobo battery, the psu, or the video card. Test those three and get back to us.

I haven't really spent that much time dealing with the whole thing. It's been a pain. My computer is fairly old. On top of those things I heard that I might want to try reloading the OS (which I can't get to since the computer won't start) or that my hard drive is possibly failing. The only good thing out of this is that now I have a legit reason to get a new computer. If someone wants to fill me on how to check those things listed above I will try and do them.

[ceeka]

You say your computer is old. If it's 500Mhz or slower it's probably not worth fixing. Just get one of those Dell deals. If it's 1Ghz or faster it may be worth fixing plus it's a good learning exp.

[baggio248]

It is a very old system. I've been planning on getting a new and much more updated one anyway. But until I can get it i'm stuck with this wonderful piece of machinery, which chooses when it works and doesn't.