[Roogle]

A few days ago, I awoke to see that my computer had frozen up. I thought nothing about it and decided to go ahead and restart, but quickly noticed that the computer would not boot up at all. It managed to access the Windows XP loading with a single bar, but there was no further activity. After performing an additional restart, nothing would happen — the power is functioning correctly, or so it seems, but the monitor remained blank and there was no further activity.

I noticed that the light often found below or near the power switch which blinks when the PC is in activity didn't light up or blink at all, either. I'm at a loss of what to do. I suspected the power supply unit ceased to function correctly and had replaced that with a brand new one which is an exact replica of the old one. The computer is fairly old, but it has proven dependable with the exception of this incident.

Here are the specs:

I'm running Windows XP.

HP Pavilion 7950
AMD Athlon 1.2 GHz
60 GB Hard Drive
ASUS A7V-VM Motherboard
GeForce4 MX 440-8X 64 MB DDR
1024 GB RAM


Again, I cannot even access a BIOS setup screen since there is no display. Simply starting the computer yields nothing, but it is being powered correctly. I can hear the fans turning as if it were normally on, and the power supply was even just recently replaced.

I have heard that resetting the CMOS settings might help me access BIOS, but I don't know how to do that.

[bigbear]

Look for the bios battery on the mobo (about 20mm dia), nearby are three pins with a jumper on pins 1 & 2, remove the jumper and place on pins 2 & 3 for about 30 seconds.
Replace jumper back on pins 1 &2, this will reset bios to system defaults

[Derrick]

I would replace the battery,might as well your in there anyway.

I wonder when that was replaced?? they have a life of two or three years' tops. Could possibly be low on voltage and unable to keep the bios settings.

[Roogle]

Originally Posted by bigbear

Look for the bios battery on the mobo (about 20mm dia), nearby are three pins with a jumper on pins 1 & 2, remove the jumper and place on pins 2 & 3 for about 30 seconds.
Replace jumper back on pins 1 &2, this will reset bios to system defaults

I see the BIOS battery, but I don't see any pins or anything like that. It doesn't seem like it's the typical set up, or maybe I'm just not seeing it. Anyone know a place with like a diagram or something?

And BIOS batteries have a life of only two to three years, really? This computer was purchased in 2001. I think that could be it. Would it really stop the computer from displaying anything or loading, though? Is that the symptom of a dead battery?

[Derrick]

Originally Posted by Roogle

I see the BIOS battery, but I don't see any pins or anything like that. It doesn't seem like it's the typical set up, or maybe I'm just not seeing it. Anyone know a place with like a diagram or something?

And BIOS batteries have a life of only two to three years, really? This computer was purchased in 2001. I think that could be it. Would it really stop the computer from displaying anything or loading, though? Is that the symptom of a dead battery?

When you replace the battery the bios will reset itself. don't worry about the jumper.

the battery's are like 5 buck's and you can find them at like a Future shop or a watch repair place, I use the energizer 3v. Just take the one that's in there and bring it with you to match up with. Give it a try .

[frankjohn]

I had same pblm & ended up as hard drive took a dump. Could be same in your case?

[Roogle]

I replaced the battery and no luck.

I'm not sure if a dead hard drive would be the cause of the computer not even being able to access BIOS. Any other ideas?

[MetalRooster]

Originally Posted by frankjohn

I had same pblm & ended up as hard drive took a dump. Could be same in your case?

Hey, Frank What do u mean by "hard drive took a dump". I have the same exact problem and still going on these days, it's been on and off and I haven't used my PC for nearly a week already.

Could it be the PC was built incorrectly or sth? I built my PC myself and not sure if at the time i did sth wrong, here's the spec:

Pentium 4 3.2 GHz HyperThreading
Asus mobo PC480 Delux with free WI-FI antenna edition
HDD 200GB serial seagate
1024MB DDR RAM
128MB Graphic card,WinFast A350XT
Monitor Samsung 173V

Windows XP Professional
Note: If you need more info about my PC please ask

So far, i can only think it's because of my power supply but the problem i don't know where the problem really is with the thing and don't know how to fix it YET. What's i find really wierd is (dunno if anyone has ever encountered), when i start up my PC there's no nothing on the MONITOR, no harddisk signal, AND there's some strange noice comes from the SPEAKER, sort of chinese saying or sth, i can't figure out what's telling me.

CAN anyone Please please tell us the solution.

[Roogle]

I don't get any weird signals, but I don't get anything on the monitor or any sign of the PC actually doing anything after it receives power.

[happyrck]

if you have access to another computer that you can download ultimatebootcd

http://www.ultimatebootcd.com/

this boots from your cd drive and is independent of any OS..its all on the cd and you can test all your hardware and memory

if you cant boot ultimate boot cd its your power supply

[frankjohn]

rooster I was able to load to windows, could not get into bios. I shorted my jumper on the mobo but this didnt help, upon reading up in trouble shooting it stated pblm would either be mobo od hard drive. B for changing anything i checked all power connections,ribbon hook ups <making secure> only used 1 stick 512 of memory, v card, only hooked up the necessary hardware.Took a guess and replaced the hard drive with new and found this was the PBLM.IM not telling you this is you PBLM but it is possible. GOOD LUCK & let know

[Roogle]

Originally Posted by happyrck

if you have access to another computer that you can download ultimatebootcd

http://www.ultimatebootcd.com/

this boots from your cd drive and is independent of any OS..its all on the cd and you can test all your hardware and memory

if you cant boot ultimate boot cd its your power supply

I made an ultimatebootcd, but it doesn't load on that computer since it probably isn't set to boot from the CD drive first. I can't access BIOS to change that...

It's a frustrating problem. I'm really at a loss of what to do. I'm getting the feeling that the hard drive just died, but why would that prevent me from accessing BIOS?

[Derrick]

Try a different vid card.

[Roogle]

Well, the most notable thing is that, while everything sounds and looks like it boots correctly, the hard drive light doesn't blink. It's like there is no activity after everything powers on.

I'll try switching the video card out, but I don't think that's the problem.

[Derrick]

Is the fan spinning on that Athalon?

Those particular Athalon's ran hot if I recall, and if it's been running hot for year's it may have given up the ghost too.

Here's what I would do.

1. Clean and inspect the mainboard carefully for buldging capasitors and or leaking one's.

2. If you have more than one stick of ram in there, try each one by itself.

3. Replace all cables with new one's.

4. See if you can find a replacement processor that's known to work.

5. Try and find a replacement mainboard.

Usually for somthing that old I wouldn't get past #3,