Computer powers up, MONITOR says no signal

SOURCE: Computer Won't Boot (Anything?)

ok sounds like a bad power supply , i would get a new one

Tim Babcock

• 2794 Answers
• Posted on Jul 27, 2008

SOURCE: amber light on power button

Check to see if there are any loose connections to the memory cards on the memory board. Make sure the data cable to the drives are connected properly. Is the fan in the power supply on?

SOURCE: No video signal to Monitor.

Lack of video signal is usually 1 of 3 things, Power supply (PSU), Video card or Motherboard (mobo).
Situation #1: If you get a blank screen and no sounds or movement it either indicates that the power supply unit (PSU) has failed or something on the motherboard has failed, preventing normal startup.
Situation #1A: You might get some power lights coming on and some fans spinning but the video output does not happen, usually indicates that motherboard is going out or has gone out. Ocasionally it will be due to a weak (damaged) PSU.
Situation #2: If you get sounds and lights but nothing on the screen then it indicates a failed or loose video card.
Always try a different power outlet that you know is working. (Eliminate the easy stuff first!)
If it is out of warranty, try opening up the case, with the power off, of course. If you have Sit #2 and have a video card that you can reseat (take out and then put back in) try that. If it is onboard video then you may have to buy a video card for it.
Also take this time to inspect the capacitors on the motherboard (they look like tiny soda cans) and check for tops that are bulging, swelling or leaking anything. Capacitors should be perfectly flat on top. If you find these then your motherboard is bad (well technically the capacitors on your motherboard are bad). The bad caps will need replacing to fix (not a job for an amateur). If it passes the visual inspection then it may just be your power supply is bad. Notice that a bad PSU does not mean you are getting no power, just not enough to start and run the computer.
A few years ago a company stole the recipe for making capacitors and started making their own capacitors at really cheap prices. The stolen "recipe" was not complete and not correct so these caps started failing after about 2-3 years of use. Emachines, DELL and Gateway were the computer companies most affected by the bad capacitor issues, although any of the big companies could have the same problem. Power supply maker were also affected by these bad caps.
Do you hear anything during startup, beeps, fans or drives spinning, lights on the front or back of computer flashing or lit up? Do you hear the Windows starting sound?
Let us know more then we can troubleshoot better.

SOURCE: My HP Pavilion a6300f powers up but no signal to the monitor

It could be the motherboard, try resetting the the bios first by either taking the lithium cmos battery out and then replacing after 30 secs or finding the the cmos jumber and unshort it for 30 secs, and reboot the mechine.

If the same and no monitor responce then the onboard graphic electronics may have failed, the motherboard does have a AGP expansion slot which you may want to test with a graphics card to see if that will work.

If you find that you do have to replace the motherboard, try to find one that uses the same processor and memory that you already have, that way you will keep expence down to a minimal.

Replacing the motherboard will mean you will have to contact microsoft to give you the installation codes for the operating system to work with the new motherboard, when you boot for the first time with the new motherboard fitted you will have to phone the number on the screen to reregister the system just follow the instructions, it is quite self explanetry.

Once all booted up and drivers installed the computer should run as normal, as for the hp recovery disks it should still work as all the information on the disk is on the harddrive any way, the only thing you would need to do is keep the motherboard installation disk with all the drivers on.
hope this helps.

Testimonial: "Thank you for taking the time to reply and for your suggestions."

SOURCE: I got a dell optiplex

I recently worked with a couple of used Dell desktops that someone got from work. Sound familiar? I couldn't get them to come on because the plastic bracket that holds down the CPU heatsink was broken. The heatsink was also covered with a carpet of dust. The new owner could've bought a new heatsink/bracket online, but they declined to spend money. Open it up, make sure everything is in order to diagnose the problem.