I'm sooooo looking forward to getting my computer fixed!!! It's at the fix-it guy's, and he's supposed to call me tonight with a diagnosis and prognosis. I like our library, but I'm tired of not being able to compute on MY schedule! If he tells me it can't be fixed, I'm going to the pawn shop tomorrow and get one I saw the other day (we got DGS a great bike for $40 there) if it's still there.
Ok, that was many days ago. He was supposed to get into it on Tuesday and call me. Didn't call Tuesday or Wednesday, but called on Thursday to ask me what the password was, so that tells me he didn't even look at it until Thursday. Ok, so he's going to call me later Thursday, didn't, or Friday, so I texted him Friday late, and again on Saturday when I didn't get an answer. Finally Saturday he calls and says he'll bring it about 5pm. Showed up at 3 pm, said he "fixed a few things" but couldn't really find a real problem, and it worked just fine at his house. Hmm. Plugged it all in, turned it on, and it started beeping just like it had before I called him in the first place. Changed the monitor, same thing, changed the cables, same thing, changed the power strip, same thing. FINALLY he heard me tell him (for the fourth time) about what had happened in the first place when it first went out. Then he said, "oh, classic symptom of vid card." But then he decided it was either the vid card OR the electricity's wonky at my house because it worked just fine at his house....! Uh, WHAT? So today we went to the pawn shop where we got my grandson a really good bike the other day, but the computer I'd seen there was gone. So I just paraded myself down a few blocks to Walmart and got the cheapest one I could find! Acer with a terabyte on the hard drive, and 8g memory... Now I can lose all KINDS of stuff when this one goes out with no backup...! So now I'm going to have him get all my precious pictures and files off the old hard drive, so I can put them on here... But ... for now, anyway, I'M BAAAAAAAAAck!
Was your old computer a laptop or a desktop? In the mean time, can you get it up in safemode. If so, you can do your file copy from save mode and then move the pics to the new computer. YOu get into save mode by pressing F8 intermittently from the time you power on the computer. F8 123 F8 123 F8 123 ( 123 being a count not actually typing) The video card comes up in a failsafe one size fits all mode during safemode so it might work. Never mind on this part, on re read, I see you tried another monitor, but it might help someone else trouble shoot.......... (Also check this if you have a desktop with monitor plug, make sure that they little needle like pins in the monitor cable connector are all nice and straight. It it worked on his monitor but freaks on yours this might be the problem. If it is the type that can take either VGA type connector, with three rows of pins and a beveled shape to the housing around them, or the DIV connector, which has a rectangle with little slanted pins and a separate little square area with a large pin at a slant all forming a single rectangle divided by a wall, then try using the opposite kind of cable than the one you are using. ) Some video cards will pop out of place during travel. They can move the slightest bit and not work properly. Taking the side off of the case (after unplug the power) and pressing the top edge of the card into the slot will solve sometimes. Other times you have to take the little screw that ancors it and possible a plactic anchor clip and remount it. If it beeps a lot on bootup, that could be a loose memory card also. but since he didn ot encounter trouble, I doubt that . Bad pins on mice and keyboards can also cause such beep fests on post as well. If its new enough to have USB, this should not happen but......if you have those little round connectors instead of the rectangle usb connectors on the mouse and keyboard, look at the pins and make sure they are not bent over. He would not have plugged in everything. Just a mouse, keyboard power and monitor. If you plugged everything in every time, I would wonder about the NETWORK card, or the printer perhaps, or some other USB device. Perhaps there is an usb extender cable that has the pieces mated backwards causing a short to the board on bootup. Or a bad USB device that is caput and shorted. If you have not, try with the minimum amount of stuff connected then add items on at a time. If you have USB mouse and Keyboard, try bringing up the computer with them plugged into different USB slots than normal like the ones on the front then add back other items if that works until you find the culprit. Is there a long network cable that a dog or cat might have chewed in another room? He likely would not have used your keyboard and mouse at first, if they are PS2 style and his were USB this could be a clue also. I am making assumptions that what he told you is true bbw LOL
I sure wish you were here! Carl's started a computer repair business, and he'd take GOOD care of you!
The old computer wouldn't even turn on but started beeping immediately. The first symptom was, it was on, I was on facebook, and in going from one page on FB to another, and instead of a nice clear page I got the page with "bar code" type black spaces on it. I fiddled with a couple things, tried to go to another page, and the whole thing went black and the computer started beeping. I turned it off. When I "let it cool" and turned it back on, it came up fine as usual, but after about five minutes, it went black and started beeping. Tried again, and it wouldn't come up at all and started beeping immediately. He took it to his house to work on and brought it back a week later. He took only the tower to his house. When I say hooked it all up here, I mean tower, keyboard, monitor and mouse. I had him take it back with him, and went out and bought a new computer. I hate Windows 8. I hate this keyboard, because it's smaller and flat, not full-size with regular typing keys that are sort of cupped at the top so my fingers don't slip off. BUT the old ones can't be plugged into the new computer, because they have round connectors and the new one has usb. He's supposed to be trying to get all my old files and pictures off the computer, but it's a week now and I haven't heard from him. He's not a bad person, and everybody in town says he's "da man" for fixing computers.
A common problem on some old desktops, with integrated video on the mother board, especially HP and Compaq was for the heat sink over the video chip to come off. There is a springy wire that has hooks in the ends. These in turn hook onto two little loops on the mother board beside diagonal corners the video chip. After awhile one pops off and the heat sink over the chip comes loose. Depending on whether it is attached somewhat or just dangling there it might let the computer run a while before getting two hot. When dangling, the computer may not even be able to start up at all. It might short the board due to the wire touching where it should not. I have many times used fishing line to fix these on the spot when I did not have a soldering iron with me. IF the loop has come off with both legs, you can "sew" the line through the board and tie it off. ( no I never fixed a computer with duct tape)
You'd think he would see that, if he'd been looking, wouldn't ya? He told me Saturday that he should have all my files off and back to me yesterday. Yeah, right.
