Member Avatar for esh.ketchem.7

When I was playing Warcraft 3 (a little dated but still a good game) my computer blue screened. The physical memory dump got to 95% when it stalled for a few minutes. I decided to restart the computer. After I did this the computer did not recognise my keyboard, mouse of screen. My screen was blank and my monitor started shuffling between HDMI and the other connection types (as it does when nothing is plugged in). I restarted my computer multiple times and the same happened. It registers the keyboard mouse and screen for a second and then it drops out (the lights flicker on my keyboard and mouse then go off, the screen locks onto a connection and then starts to shuffle). So it's as if these devices aren't plugged into my pc or not registering as being plugged in when I start the computer. I haver tried connecting another monitor but the same happens. Does anyone know what's going on with my pc?
And the most important question: is this an issue to do with my hard-drive?
Little facts that could be helpful: The cd-rom drive opens and closes when the pc is on. Recently the desktop (windows explorer) has not been responding when I log into windows. I am running windows 7.
Thanks in advance for any help you can give.

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The symptoms described (game crash with a memory dump that stalled at 95%, then after restart the keyboard, mouse and monitor are detected briefly and immediately lose power/signal) point to a hardware-initialisation or power-distribution problem more than a plain hard‑drive fault. Hard disks can cause crashes once the OS is running, but they rarely make USB ports and the GPU lose power/signal during the early boot sequence. The behaviour is consistent with a failing power supply, a motherboard short/fault, or a discrete GPU/hardware fault that fails under initial device handoff.

A practical diagnostic sequence (in order of easiest/safer checks):

  • Fully remove mains power, press and hold the case power button for ~10–15 seconds to discharge capacitors, then reconnect and try a cold boot.
  • Strip to a minimum: one RAM stick, CPU, PSU, and video (use onboard output if available or a single known-good GPU). Leave all drives, opticals and non-essential cards disconnected. Boot and observe stability.
  • Swap or test the PSU (use a known-good PSU or a PSU tester) — simultaneous loss of USB power and video strongly implicates PSU or power-rail problems.
  • Reseat RAM, PCIe card(s) and all power connectors; inspect the board and caps for bulging, leakage or burn marks; verify GPU fan(s) spin.
  • Boot from external media (a Linux live USB or Windows installer) with drives disconnected to isolate hardware vs OS/driver failure and to allow safe data backup.
  • If the system only fails when the discrete GPU is present, the GPU is suspect; if it fails with the minimum configuration, the motherboard or CPU is likely at fault.

Interpret results stepwise: if the minimal build stays up, add one component at a time to find the culprit; if swapping the PSU cures it, replace the old PSU; if a different GPU restores video, replace the card. Take ESD precautions and do not work on the PSU while it’s connected to mains. This complements points raised by and by giving an ordered, data‑preserving way to isolate PSU vs GPU vs motherboard and to protect important data before repair or replacement.

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Member Avatar for rubberman

When you first start the computer (power on from a cold shutdown), hold down either the F2 or Esc key and keep it held down until you get the BIOS screen. If that doesn't work, then it is likely a hardware problem - most likely not the disc itself.

Member Avatar for NicAx64

If you are using windows, windows does have a system log.
That log may provide more information to you.

I think this is a Nvida Re-balling issue. So it does have a short
circuit then power chip could not power on the Nvidia chip.So it
powers on and then flickers and system will be halted.
So if that did not make into the bios screen you could use a debug
card and read it's log messages.

This is a common issue, most of the HP laptops does have this issue.

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