Is my computer fried?

kevs · 04-25-2003, 07:09 AM

So I'm checking my email or whatever on my computer this morning, and it's freezes on me. This happened last night and I had to reboot many times. When rebooting, the first screen shows the info of my chipset and whatever (startup screen), but then it just stops.

If it passes that screen(when it's supposed to show the Windows XP loading sign), I just get a cursor on the upper left hand corner and nothing happens.

I rebooted many more times, and, when it worked, my mouse froze on my desktop. I'm now writing on a computer from work.

So maybe it isn't just my video card messing up my monitor.

Help, please!

Joshua · 04-25-2003, 09:26 AM

It actually could be your video card wigging out and taking your system with it.

Why don't you "borrow" a video card from work, or buy a $20 card from crapusa just for testing purposes.

Bring that ugly bad boy home and pop it in and see if it doesn't solve your issue.

ray · 04-25-2003, 09:40 AM

Did you update your system files or install any new programs before this started occuring?

Fas-ligand · 04-25-2003, 10:11 AM

If it is hardware, you can try re-seating each card (if case you don't know what this is, it's when you simply take the card out and put it back in, no turning on computer required). This method works more than I ever expected.

Any other helpful deatils? Like, have you noticed that everything is getting power? All fans are turning on, etc?

kevs · 04-25-2003, 10:53 AM

I have a suspicion that it really could by my video card, but I was just freaking out b/c my picture was fine, my optical mouse (the hardware, not working on my desktop) was fine, but nothing else worked.

I borrowed an old-school PCI Video Card from a friend just to test it, and if that's it, I'll be relieved.

I'll keep ya'll posted.

Any other suggestions would be welcomed. Thanks.

TERRIBLETOM · 04-25-2003, 04:06 PM

When building my first PC with windows XP I had similar problems after trying to install my video card drivers, the problem turned out to me my system memory.

kevs · 04-26-2003, 10:40 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by SnotRocket
It actually could be your video card wigging out and taking your system with it....

Snot, I think you hit it right on the head. I had a sneaking suspicion this was the entire reason for my monitor fiasco and then my computer freezing up.

Right now, I'm running on a friend's OLD-SCHOOL card that can't handle a higher resolution than 600x800. Ha ha. Everything is SO BIG.

Anyway, I ordered a VisionTek Geforce4 MMX-440 AGP graphics card and it should be here hopefully by Friday.

But for now, my computer's working again. I hope that I caught it in time and my motherboard didn't feel like joining the bandwagon with my Ge3 card.

I'll ya'll posted. Thanks again for all the help and support. You guys are the best.

kevs · 05-06-2003, 09:19 PM

Okay, so I got my GE4 card today, took out the old-school video card in my PCI slot and stuck in the new card in my AGP slot.

And.......no picture. I took out the new card and put back in the old-school card and....picture.

So, is it possible that the AGP slot on my motherboard is messed up? If so, crap. I don't feel like buying another motherboard.

I'm getting sick of only being able to run on 800x600...I feel like I'm reading Reader's Digest Jumbo Font Edition.

It might be time to turn this computer into a server and buy a laptop.

Where are those Inspiron 8200 deals?!

Anyway, any input would be appreciated.

coleslaw · 05-06-2003, 10:04 PM

As only using a PCI video card previously, you might need to set the primary display to be the AGP card in the BIOS.

~~Cantacuzene~~ · 05-07-2003, 09:05 AM

so you had a gf3 but you bought a gf4 mx? Thats a heck of a downgrade.

Joshua · 05-09-2003, 09:24 AM

Yeah, see if there is a setting in your bios to turn on AGP or something. If not, try removing all video cards, turn on your machine till you hear the beep codes, turn it back off and put in the AGP.

The beep codes will essentially tell you that no video is available and will reset the setting in some bios'.

Then it might actively search for a card on the next boot up (as has happened to me before).

kevs · 05-11-2003, 07:38 AM

Thanks for all the advice! This is really helpful.

But, I think my motherboard is on its way down, though. Even with this old school video card in my computer, I now get a monitor signal, but it stops booting up before reading all my drives (system check).

I think I'm giving up and waiting for a new 8200 Inspiron deal. I can't believe I waited out on that past deal a few weeks ago on this site. Argh!

Anyway, I'll try the pulling out of the card and see what happens.

Thanks again!

kevs · 05-12-2003, 11:14 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Cantacuzene
so you had a gf3 but you bought a gf4 mx? Thats a heck of a downgrade.

Really? If it's totally a sucky video card, then I guess that shows how much I know.

I'm gonna go with the deal on today's page (5.12.03) and get the Dimension 2350 Desktop and just migrate my stuff over to that computer and then I will burn my motherboard.

Does anyone want to buy that 17" monitor off of me that it comes with? I have absolutely no need for that.

Anyway, I think I'm also going to buy an Inspiron Notebook once a good deal comes out here.

kevs · 05-13-2003, 08:40 PM

Anybody have an opinion about that Ge4 card I bought compared against my Ge3 card? Thanks.

ceeka · 05-14-2003, 05:36 AM

The GF4 MX 440 is fine if you don't plan on playing any 3D games that came out in the last 2 years. It's just a suped up GF2 card. That's why it's considered a downgrade from a GF3.

Joshua · 05-14-2003, 09:00 AM

Kevs, did you end up ordering the 2350? If not, PM me.. I have a %10 off coupon I'll spot ya..

kevs · 05-18-2003, 10:02 PM

Okay, so I went ahead and got in on that Dell 2350 deal last week. I ordered it on Monday and got it Wednesday! Good gracious! Any way, my MIR's going out tomorrow...

I put in my 60gig HD from my last comp and partitioned it to be my master drive, put in my own sound card, network card (even though this Dell has an internal one or something), and put in an extra Crucial DDR 256 stick of RAM.

My computer is running great! Check the ForSale threads in the next couple of days. I'm parting out my Plextor drive, Pioneer DVD, 256 RAM stick (crucial), Nvidia Ge3 card, MX-440 Ge4 card, 300-watt Tower, shady motherboard (Epox? I forgot),etc.

I'm even gonna sell the monitor it came with and the Harmon-Kardon speakers. I didn't even open those boxes. I'm just gonna ship it out.

Next comes a Dell Laptop (8500 Inspiron if a sweet deal comes along) and then I'm going wireless in the house.

Thanks for all the help with my ex-computer. May it rest in peace.

04-25-2003, 07:09 AM	#1
kevs Lieutenant Commander Join Date: Jun 2000 Location: Maryland Posts: 626	Is my computer fried? So I'm checking my email or whatever on my computer this morning, and it's freezes on me. This happened last night and I had to reboot many times. When rebooting, the first screen shows the info of my chipset and whatever (startup screen), but then it just stops. If it passes that screen(when it's supposed to show the Windows XP loading sign), I just get a cursor on the upper left hand corner and nothing happens. I rebooted many more times, and, when it worked, my mouse froze on my desktop. I'm now writing on a computer from work. So maybe it isn't just my video card messing up my monitor. Help, please! __________________ kevs

04-25-2003, 09:26 AM	#2
Joshua Rear Admiral Upper Half Join Date: Jan 2001 Location: Long Island, NY Posts: 3,390	It actually could be your video card wigging out and taking your system with it. Why don't you "borrow" a video card from work, or buy a $20 card from crapusa just for testing purposes. Bring that ugly bad boy home and pop it in and see if it doesn't solve your issue. __________________ The Apexer formerly known as SnotRocket. "Like I **ing said, "Ok, so I hear it may be a repost. Blah But I had never seen it, so..." ** you Canta." -Jenny 12/4/2003

05-06-2003, 10:04 PM	#9
coleslaw Arrrhh! Join Date: May 2000 Location: LI NY Posts: 6,807	As only using a PCI video card previously, you might need to set the primary display to be the AGP card in the BIOS. __________________ A priest, a paladin and Varimathras walk into a bar...

05-18-2003, 10:02 PM	#17
kevs Lieutenant Commander Join Date: Jun 2000 Location: Maryland Posts: 626	Ahhhh so much better Okay, so I went ahead and got in on that Dell 2350 deal last week. I ordered it on Monday and got it Wednesday! Good gracious! Any way, my MIR's going out tomorrow... I put in my 60gig HD from my last comp and partitioned it to be my master drive, put in my own sound card, network card (even though this Dell has an internal one or something), and put in an extra Crucial DDR 256 stick of RAM. My computer is running great! Check the ForSale threads in the next couple of days. I'm parting out my Plextor drive, Pioneer DVD, 256 RAM stick (crucial), Nvidia Ge3 card, MX-440 Ge4 card, 300-watt Tower, shady motherboard (Epox? I forgot),etc. I'm even gonna sell the monitor it came with and the Harmon-Kardon speakers. I didn't even open those boxes. I'm just gonna ship it out. Next comes a Dell Laptop (8500 Inspiron if a sweet deal comes along) and then I'm going wireless in the house. Thanks for all the help with my ex-computer. May it rest in peace.

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04-25-2003, 09:40 AM	#3
ray captain awesome Join Date: Jan 2003 Posts: 7,054	Did you update your system files or install any new programs before this started occuring?

04-25-2003, 10:11 AM	#4
Fas-ligand Lieutenant Commander Join Date: May 2002 Location: Oregon Posts: 581	If it is hardware, you can try re-seating each card (if case you don't know what this is, it's when you simply take the card out and put it back in, no turning on computer required). This method works more than I ever expected. Any other helpful deatils? Like, have you noticed that everything is getting power? All fans are turning on, etc?

04-25-2003, 10:53 AM	#5
kevs Lieutenant Commander Join Date: Jun 2000 Location: Maryland Posts: 626	I have a suspicion that it really could by my video card, but I was just freaking out b/c my picture was fine, my optical mouse (the hardware, not working on my desktop) was fine, but nothing else worked. I borrowed an old-school PCI Video Card from a friend just to test it, and if that's it, I'll be relieved. I'll keep ya'll posted. Any other suggestions would be welcomed. Thanks.

04-25-2003, 04:06 PM	#6
TERRIBLETOM Commander Join Date: Dec 2002 Location: Boston, MA Posts: 1,261	When building my first PC with windows XP I had similar problems after trying to install my video card drivers, the problem turned out to me my system memory.

05-06-2003, 09:19 PM	#8
kevs Lieutenant Commander Join Date: Jun 2000 Location: Maryland Posts: 626	Okay, so I got my GE4 card today, took out the old-school video card in my PCI slot and stuck in the new card in my AGP slot. And.......no picture. I took out the new card and put back in the old-school card and....picture. So, is it possible that the AGP slot on my motherboard is messed up? If so, crap. I don't feel like buying another motherboard. I'm getting sick of only being able to run on 800x600...I feel like I'm reading Reader's Digest Jumbo Font Edition. It might be time to turn this computer into a server and buy a laptop. Where are those Inspiron 8200 deals?! Anyway, any input would be appreciated.

05-07-2003, 09:05 AM	#10
~~Cantacuzene~~ Banned Join Date: Jan 2002 Location: Atlanta, Georgia, USA Posts: 8,700	so you had a gf3 but you bought a gf4 mx? Thats a heck of a downgrade.

05-09-2003, 09:24 AM	#11
Joshua Rear Admiral Upper Half Join Date: Jan 2001 Location: Long Island, NY Posts: 3,390	Yeah, see if there is a setting in your bios to turn on AGP or something. If not, try removing all video cards, turn on your machine till you hear the beep codes, turn it back off and put in the AGP. The beep codes will essentially tell you that no video is available and will reset the setting in some bios'. Then it might actively search for a card on the next boot up (as has happened to me before).

05-11-2003, 07:38 AM	#12
kevs Lieutenant Commander Join Date: Jun 2000 Location: Maryland Posts: 626	Thanks for all the advice! This is really helpful. But, I think my motherboard is on its way down, though. Even with this old school video card in my computer, I now get a monitor signal, but it stops booting up before reading all my drives (system check). I think I'm giving up and waiting for a new 8200 Inspiron deal. I can't believe I waited out on that past deal a few weeks ago on this site. Argh! Anyway, I'll try the pulling out of the card and see what happens. Thanks again!

05-13-2003, 08:40 PM	#14
kevs Lieutenant Commander Join Date: Jun 2000 Location: Maryland Posts: 626	Anybody have an opinion about that Ge4 card I bought compared against my Ge3 card? Thanks.

05-14-2003, 05:36 AM	#15
ceeka Lieutenant Join Date: Nov 2002 Location: SoCal Posts: 348	The GF4 MX 440 is fine if you don't plan on playing any 3D games that came out in the last 2 years. It's just a suped up GF2 card. That's why it's considered a downgrade from a GF3.

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05-14-2003, 09:00 AM	#16
Joshua Rear Admiral Upper Half Join Date: Jan 2001 Location: Long Island, NY Posts: 3,390	Kevs, did you end up ordering the 2350? If not, PM me.. I have a %10 off coupon I'll spot ya..