Computer died!

SideshowBob

Well, not really but somethings wrong with it.

Its a P4, windows xp pro machine from MCS (I wasn't around when it was purchased or we wouldn't have it). We've had a few problems like harddrive corrupting itself somehow and that kind of thing, all of which were solved by reinstalling windows.

Earlier today the screen simply went blank whilst someone was working on it. I changed the monitor but there was no change with the new monitor. I tried the reliable turn-it-off, turn-it-back on again a couple of times and, on the third attempt, it booted back up normally. On the previous attempts, all that came on was the fan, I didn't hear any of the expected noises (and it's quite a noisy computer so they'd be hard to miss). Since then it seems to be functioning ok.

Has anyone come across this before? I'd prefer to fix this rather than replace the computer, if possible. Is it worth the risk of it happening again?

Thanks

unkel

Could be a lot of things, but try this: open the box and re-seat all the core components except cpu (memory, graphics card, other cards, power and datacables for floppy / hdd / cdrom) and check again. Likely candidate is the graphics card not seated properly

SideshowBob

Thanks for the reply. I'd opened the machine up but this is the strange bit: the graphics card seems to be integrated into the mobo. There's no cards in the machine other than a network card - which is why I think it's part of the mobo... Hadn't seen this kinda setup before, thought it strange.

It seems to be working fine now.

Sir Random

It could be overheating, check the fans are all working.

joePC

With these type of problems, it could be your power supply is giving up, if a power supply starts to go it can cause alot of strange problems....

Thanks joePC