Thread: Help me - my computer is dead

Calling all you experts.

Last night while i was at the driving range (i just add that in for CMNs benefit) my kids were playing something on the computer when it just froze up and stopped responding - couldnt shut it down or anything.
So my wife switched the power off.

I came home, switched on the PC and when I came back I saw there was just a black screen with a couple of error messages - something about no floppy drive connected (thats true - there isnt one) and no keyboard connected (unfortunately i had had a few beers whilst playing golf so didnt think to write down what the messages said exactly).

So I switched the power off and on again.

This time nothing appears on the screen - the monitor stays in standby mode. The CD drive seems to have power (LED flashes) and I can see the HDD LED flickering as per normal too. The fan is also running.

The mouse lights up too, but there is no light on the keyboard.

Please help me diagnose my problem.

I have another old PC which I guess I can use to swap bits around to check what isnt working but I just dont know where to start.

Ofcourse all my important data is on the HDD and the only backup I have is a Norton Ghost image. If the HDD is fcuked will I be able to retrieve the data from that somehow on another computer?


Thanks in advance.

i guess u could start by swapping the hard drive to ur other computer

see if it starts then. if it does not prolly a hard drive problem

also quite often just by unplugging ur ram and hard drives and replugging them you'll fix problems of loose conenctions

you could piggyback ur hard drive to the old hard drive ( that is use the old hard drive but u can connect the 'broken hard' drive to the old hard drive to read the files on it ) similar to an electrical parallel curcuit

your find a small black switch on the hard drive to switch it from main drive to a piggy backed drive... ie it will then become a D or E or F labelled drive

this will tell u if the drive is only stuffed for start up ops or completely fucked for reading at all

other than that i cant help much more.... u may need to visit a technician.

or get more expert advice than mine from this board...

Heve someone check your mother board, might be a 2k job.

i should also add that over the past few weeks there have been occasions where the computer just completely resets itself after i exit a game. Not every time though......and it happened for different games

Originally Posted by slimboyfat

i should also add that over the past few weeks there have been occasions where the computer just completely resets itself after i exit a game.

That has happened to me 5 or 6 times in TD's arcade.

first things first, check the cables from the monitor and the keyboard are soundly plugged into thier right places.

Disconnect the power lead for a few seconds completely and then try and boot up.

Report back after this!

Originally Posted by Helicopter

first things first, check the cables from the monitor and the keyboard are soundly plugged into thier right places.

Disconnect the power lead for a few seconds completely and then try and boot up.

Report back after this!

no joy

i have to take the dog for a walk now. back in 30 mins

Originally Posted by slimboyfat

I have another old PC which I guess I can use to swap bits around to check what isnt working but I just dont know where to start.

First step is to make sure your keyboard and monitor are ok - by testing them on your old pc.

Originally Posted by slimboyfat

i should also add that over the past few weeks there have been occasions where the computer just completely resets itself after i exit a game. Not every time though......and it happened for different games

I had all of your symptoms a couple of years back, including false freezes where all looks frozen but it comes back after a few secs, and no specific action causes any specific response, twas the mother board.

Another symptom I had, was a blank screen but the entire system sounding as though it's on permanent boot mode (no beep), which may be what you say about the fan running because that's the only sound.

the monitor and keyboard work fine on my old computer

i have same problem with my computers from time to time, i found that its the ram module or, the grafic card that have collected some dirt/dust, open the computer take out the ram module, and any other cards, give the computer a light cleaning inside, use a brush to clean all fans and prints, and then put it back together again, that have worked for me 6 time out the 6 times it happend...

good luck !!

ups.... can add that if the poles on the cards seams matt or not shiny you can use a eraser to clean then, works very good, without putting any harm to the parts.... just remember its fine elektronicks, so be gentel...

SRY for my spelling

ok i will try the Kaisers advice. this may take some time

ok so i just took out the RAM and put it back again.

Now i got that black screen again with the error message and a continuous beep.

i will type out the whole thing

Award Bootblock Bios v1.0 copyright (c) 2000 Award software inc

BIOS ROM Checksum error
Keyboard error or no keyboard present

Detecting floppy drive A media
Drive A error. System halt.

The beep was continuous until i switched off the power....

then when i powered up again then same as before - monitor not getting any signal, no beep, fans running, CD drive and HDD seem to have power judging by their LEDs.

As i mentioned before the keyboard works fine on my old computer and there is no floppy drive on my PC

Your keyboard connection on Motheboard is dead, happened to me a few times. That's bad news because it can't be replaced. Only solution, setup a USB keyboard instead

Also, you seem to have a BIOS problem. Go to SETUP and remove the halt on error for Keyboard and Floppy. Better remove ALL halt error signal in the first menu of the BIOS

Clean up the inside of the PC with air pressure bomb, it's probaby very dirty inside

the HDD is ok though......it works fine on my old PC - thank goodness

im out of ideas..

but please whatever you doo, dont trow it out the window, maybe it will be more then the hotel i CXM

Explanation: The read-only memory (ROM) containing the BIOS program is protected by a checksum value as a double-check that the ROM code is correct. This checksum is compared against the values in the ROM each time the PC is booted and if there is a mismatch, this code is generated.


Diagnosis: The BIOS ROM chip on the motherboard is probably faulty. It could also be another component on the motherboard.

^as part of your "explanation", can you include an explanation of wtf a "motherboard" is? It sounds like you lot are talking about spaceships