winEXP

[Dr. Hugh Jeffreys]

my win wxp will not come on; the monitar remains black. I have the instilation disk, but there is no responce. this pc is the one I use for composition and arranging and is not connected to the INET. PLEASE give me some feed back. JK

[Wiz Feinberg]

• Power supply failure One or more voltages or current feeds)
• leaking electrolytic capacitors shorted out solder traces on motherboard, or just gave out electronically.
• CPU heatsink has lifted from mount on mother board.
• RAM has failed or come loose in sockets.
• Video card has come loose in socket (if any).
• Power connector plugs have worked loose.
• Dust in fans caused overheating of critical components.
• Video socket came unsoldered inside.
• Video plug is loose.
• Monitor is dead.
• BIOS battery died and forgot which video output was active.

Check these things with the side of the case off. Carefully vacuum out the dust, especially from fan blades and heatsink fins. Test every plug for firmness of connection. Make sure the CPU heatsink is not loose. Push in the video cable and wiggle it a bit, on both ends. Try another monitor if you have or can borrow one.

[Robert Leaman]

I have an elderly friend who has a HP computer that has never been connected to the internet. His experience with computers is limited and he dislikes when the computer takes some time to boot. Therefore, he never shuts down completely. This habit causes the computer to sleep after about an hour of inactivity. Any activity, such as a key press, wakes the unit and he likes the almost instantaneous recovery. He used this procedure for years and never shut down or turned power off to the computer. One day there was a violent thunder storm and the local power utility went down for about an hour. Whe he tried to use his computer, it did not turn on and it only exhibited a black screen.

All this has nothing to do with the elderly. I am 82 and I have no problem with computers.

During all the time and years, the computer battery went dead either from disuse or it reached the end of its shelf life. When he tried to start, nothing happened since the CMOS was not read. I replaced the battery, reset the time and date, and everything came back as normal. I believe that he still does not understand why there is a battery in the computer and/or why it is even necessary for proper operation. Anyway, he's happy he has his play toy again so all's right in his world.

[Dr. Hugh Jeffreys]

thanks for your input. I'm checking various conditions or paths that might give some answers. I installed a new monitor 10 months ago; It has been working fine, but I can't reinstal because the screen is black.

[Jack Stoner]

Given the age of a Win XP machine, I would more suspect a power supply or motherboard (hardware) problem.

You will have to pay to have it checked out by a computer tech, but the best option. Remote troubleshooting, over a forum with a problem like this, can be iffy at best