Member Avatar for pangloss

Hi there,

My computer has been working fine until this morning when it froze shortly after logging into Windows (mouse/keyboard unresponsive and frozen display etc). I switched the computer off and on again, and from this point my monitor has been displaying a 'no signal' message when the machine is powered on. I've tried running it without external/usb devices and the same thing happens. All lights inside and outside the machine are behaving normally as are fans. All cables are in properly (cable into back of monitor was loose but the problem persisted after tightening it). The computer doesnt beep when turned on, but as far as I recall it never did anyway. My graphics card (gts250) is only a year old and never overheats, and has plenty of power. Unfortunately I have no spare components to swap in to test.

Any suggestions? I've just started a new uni course so this couldn't have come at a worse time. Any advice extremely gratefully received,

Steve

  • 4 Contributors
  • 14 Replies
  • 270 Views
  • 5 Days Discussion Span
  • Latest Post Latest Post by pangloss

Dani AI

Generated

Quick expert addendum tied to what and others found.

The symptom sequence — initial "no signal" at power-on, a temporary recovery after reseating RAM, then Windows behaving like a different install — hints at two overlapping issues: an intermittent POST/hardware initialisation problem (explains the monitor message) and a firmware/boot-order change that let the old drive take over (explains missing icons and drivers). Because reseating RAM helped briefly, a thorough boot-time memory check is the next practical step: create a MemTest86 USB and run multiple passes (overnight if necessary) to rule out flaky DIMMs or slots. (memtest86.com)

A common, easily overlooked cause for suddenly booting from the "wrong" drive is loss of saved BIOS/UEFI settings — often due to a weak/dead CMOS battery. Check the BIOS date/time and whether your boot priority sticks after a cold-power cycle; if the clock resets or settings vanish, replace the coin cell (CR2032) and re-save your preferred boot order. That change alone often prevents repeat surprises. (lifewire.com)

A quick clarification on ’s point: cable-select/master-slave only applies to old PATA/IDE drives. SATA uses independent, point‑to‑point channels, so jumpering/cable position won’t change which SATA drive the firmware selects — BIOS/UEFI order is what matters. To verify the correct OS drive, temporarily disconnect the other drive and boot with only the intended system disk, then set and save the boot device explicitly in firmware (or use the motherboard’s Boot Manager). (en.wikipedia.org)

Finally, before you finish: back up important data now; run a SMART/diagnostic pass on both disks (Seagate SeaTools or the drive-maker’s tool will do non‑destructive checks); if SMART shows problems, replace the failing drive. If problems persist after MemTest, CMOS battery replacement and drive checks, suspect a flaky motherboard slot or PSU instability and pursue component‑swap testing. (seagate.com)

Recommended Answers

All 14 Replies

Member Avatar for caperjack

Hi,year old video card ,has it ever been cleaned of dust ,they do get really dirty and start over heating and shutting down

Member Avatar for rubberman

As per caperjack, blow (or preferably vacuum) the dust out of the system, let it cool down, and try again. If you still get the "no signal" message, then your video card may be fubar.

Member Avatar for jingda

Besides the video card check the motherboard for any bloated capacitors.

Member Avatar for pangloss

Thanks for the replies. I frequently clean out the inside of the machine and keep an eye on the temps (graphics card has always been very cool). I also had a look at the Mobo and there are no busted capacitors =[

Member Avatar for jingda

Not busted but bloated. But never mind, did you test out using a spare monitor. Try to find spare parts or ask your friend to lend you. Is anything thing loose inside your computer?

Member Avatar for pangloss

Update: I fiddled around inside the machine and after I took out and put back in the RAM, theproblem stopped. However, after a few hours it suddenly started having new problems. When I logged in, my background had disappeared, half the icons on my desktop had disappeared, loads of drivers appeared to have gone, programmes that usually load on startup didn't load, other programmes didn't load at all (itunes for example tried to install itself and then started throwing out errors). it behaves like this every time I turn it on now.=[

Thanks again

Member Avatar for caperjack

thats weird ,are you sure you are opening in the same user as before the problem

Member Avatar for pangloss

Yeah, I just have the one account =\

Member Avatar for rubberman

Since resetting the RAM sticks solved the problem for awhile, I would suspect that your system RAM is overheating. I had a similar problem on my system last year. Fortunately, I only had 1/2 of the available sockets populated, and changing the simms to use every other slot (leaving a slot between each) allowed the heat to dissipate better, solving the overheating problem without replacing the simms.

Member Avatar for pangloss

Thanks for the advice again. I tried reseating the RAM again which had no effect. My next step was going to be one stick of RAM at a time, but then I noticed the problem. There were loads of old files on my computer that I hadn't seen for a year, when I'd used my other hard drive as the system drive. It still has Windows on it (and same accounts, similar programmes), and I realised it was booting from the wrong drive! Absolutely bizarre. Hopefully this is problem fixed, but I can't understand why it suddenly started booting from the other drive; I've not been in my BIOS for ages. I'll run memtest to make sure. Have you ever heard of hardware problems causing the boot drive to randomly switch?

Thanks so much for all your help, hopefully it's all fixed now :)

Member Avatar for caperjack

maybe the newer drive stopped working ,and if the 2 drives were jumper set to cable select ,then the old drive would still be-able to be the boot drive ,unhook older drive/with just the newer drive attached and see what happens on boot-up

Edited by caperjack because: n/a
Member Avatar for pangloss

Well it works now (I switched them back in BIOS) so the newer drive definitely still works. The old drive was set as the main drive in the BIOS which is what's so odd. They're SATA btw.

Member Avatar for caperjack

They're SATA btw.

yeah ,i thought that after i posted .
anyway ,great you got it working .

Member Avatar for pangloss

Thank you!

Be a part of the DaniWeb community

We're a friendly, industry-focused community of developers, IT pros, digital marketers, and technology enthusiasts meeting, networking, learning, and sharing knowledge.