i think my home computer crapped out

[1LtCAP 4,264]

i was out working in the yard yesterday, came inside for a break, and the 'puter was off. tried to boot it up, and i could hear everything doing all of the normal boot noises and lights....but black screen. i know the monitor works cause it shows the splash screen that says "powerspec" when i fire it up. it did this a couple months ago, and i hit the "F2" to get into bios....clicked ok without touching anything else in there, and it rebooted perfectly fine. that's not working this time. i tried moving the monitor connector to the onboard video, rather than the gforce card, and still nada. it'll reboot if i "ctrl/alt/delete", but no screen.

 the computer's about 5 years old.........powerspec g500 bought from microcenter in st. davids pa. it's seeming to me that about 5 years is the lifespan of them anymore. my last 2 laptops seemed to only last about that long.....and this computer i'm typing on now has been acting funky.....and it's also about 5......maybe 6 years old.

[JohnnyB 4,325]

Try physically removing the G-force card and power back up. Could just be a bad card and it will always default to it if it's plugged into the slot.

 

[MartyZ 693]

Do you have a code readout or debug lights on the MB? 

[JackDaWack 2,895]

I'm going on 10 years now with my current computer. Still running pretty damn good, although I had to reinstall windows last year due to a power outtage that flickered the shit out of the power and corrupted the boot drivers. 

If you can't get the BIOS to show up, try removing the graphics card, if you still don't get bios, your probably looking at a new computer. 

If you get the bios to show, it's probably not a hardware issue. 

[MartyZ 693]

removing the GPU won't help him if he does not have on board video. If it's an intel CPU then most likely it will have on board video. If it's an AMD then most likely there is no on board video.

It's also possible that there is no discrete GPU and he is only using on board video

[1LtCAP 4,264]

10 minutes ago, MartyZ said:

removing the GPU won't help him if he does not have on board video. If it's an intel CPU then most likely it will have on board video. If it's an AMD then most likely there is no on board video.

It's also possible that there is no discrete GPU and he is only using on board video

amd ryzen. there is i think onboard video, cause there's another video plug.......

[MartyZ 693]

Can you tell if it's boot looping? like others have mentioned try getting into your bios. Another option you can try is resetting your cmos. If the PC is 5 years old think about changing your cmos battery.

Just now, 1LtCAP said:

amd ryzen. there is i think onboard video, cause there's another video plug.......

do you know which specific CPU? just because the MB supports on board video doesn't mean the CPU has it.

[1LtCAP 4,264]

1 hour ago, MartyZ said:

Can you tell if it's boot looping? like others have mentioned try getting into your bios. Another option you can try is resetting your cmos. If the PC is 5 years old think about changing your cmos battery.

do you know which specific CPU? just because the MB supports on board video doesn't mean the CPU has it.

hadn't thought about changing that battery. i'd seen somewhere that someone was told to pull that battery and let it set for an hour, which i did with nojoy.

 i dunno what boot looping is? i can't get into the bios. it gives me the splash screen that says powerspec, at the bottom it says to hit f2 or del to get into bios, but neither of those are working this time. i'll look at cpu tonight when i get home.

[1LtCAP 4,264]

although i can't remember my password for here, so i can't get on here from my laptop.......

[MartyZ 693]

a boot loop is when your PC tries to restart over and over, You can usually tell by the behavior of your fans and LEDs, if you have any. They will keep turning on and off.

Also, if you are getting a splash screen then your GPU is working. The main job of your GPU is to send a signal to your monitor. The fact that you are seeing a splash screen means that signal is coming through.

If you can't get into your bios then the bios could be corrupt. Do you have a bios flashback capability or a dual bios on your MB?

[BigGuns 262]

Is hitting F8 during startup, and starting in Safe mode still a thing? This bypasses a lot of drivers that could be an issue.

[Scorpio64 5,156]

1 hour ago, 1LtCAP said:

amd ryzen. there is i think onboard video, cause there's another video plug.......

On board video is usually disabled by the installer when a video card is installed into an expansion slot.  It's not an automatic thing, it has to be disabled in the BIOS.  OB video and an expansion video card can be active at the same time, it's very common on dual monitor systems.

1 hour ago, MartyZ said:

If the PC is 5 years old think about changing your cmos battery.

A dead CMOS battery will not crash a machine or prevent booting up.  The time may be off, the system may not recognize the add-ons, but every machine with properly functioning hardware WILL boot up to the extent that it can regardless of CMOS battery.

3 hours ago, 1LtCAP said:

came inside for a break, and the 'puter was off.

A dead CMOS battery will not cause this.

It sounds to me like you have a hardware issue.  If you are able to power up and access the BIOS, then the PC spontaneously power cycles, it's likely an overheating problem, a bad power supply, or possibly a bad HDD controller.  Check the CPU and GPU fans and heat sinks for dust buildup and that the fans are turning freely.

There is only one way to diagnose "mystery problems", and that is to disconnect components one at a time.  I'd start with the video card.  Pull that (with the power off of course), power up, go into BIOS and set to OB video.  Remember to power down EVERY TIME you do anything.

[MartyZ 693]

1 minute ago, BigGuns said:

Is hitting F8 during startup, and starting in Safe mode still a thing? This bypasses a lot of drivers that could be an issue.

that works if the issue is software related, but not if it's bios or hardware

[CMJeepster 2,778]

Trump's fault.

[MartyZ 693]

18 minutes ago, Scorpio64 said:

On board video is usually disabled by the installer when a video card is installed into an expansion slot.  It's not an automatic thing, it has to be disabled in the BIOS.  OB video and an expansion video card can be active at the same time, it's very common on dual monitor systems.

A dead CMOS battery will not crash a machine or prevent booting up.  The time may be off, the system may not recognize the add-ons, but every machine with properly functioning hardware WILL boot up to the extent that it can regardless of CMOS battery.

A dead CMOS battery will not cause this.

It sounds to me like you have a hardware issue.  If you are able to power up and access the BIOS, then the PC spontaneously power cycles, it's likely an overheating problem, a bad power supply, or possibly a bad HDD controller.  Check the CPU and GPU fans and heat sinks for dust buildup and that the fans are turning freely.

There is only one way to diagnose "mystery problems", and that is to disconnect components one at a time.  I'd start with the video card.  Pull that (with the power off of course), power up, go into BIOS and set to OB video.  Remember to power down EVERY TIME you do anything.

A dead cmos battery could cause boot issues and sometimes bios corruption. and it's the cheapest thing to fix.

[Scorpio64 5,156]

Just now, MartyZ said:

A dead cmos battery could cause boot issues and sometimes bios corruption

In my 12 years as a PC tech, I never once ran into a machine that could not be booted up when a CMOS battery was popped out, ie, not installed, or dead.  Sans button cell battery, after date and time are set, and HW options configured, the PC will run just fine.  However, after a power down, all CMOS settings will be lost.

The sole purpose of a CMOS battery is to keep alive the custom setting in the BIOS.  If all the hardware is healthy, default BIOS settings will still be there. 

BIOS corruption does occasionally happen, but it is relatively rare and usually related to a botched BIOS upgrade or a power surge that has partially fried a mobo.

 

[1LtCAP 4,264]

i should clarify.....i think the electric popped breifly  while i was working in the yard yesterday.......

[MartyZ 693]

2 minutes ago, 1LtCAP said:

i should clarify.....i think the electric popped breifly  while i was working in the yard yesterday.......

That could have fried something

[Scorpio64 5,156]

14 minutes ago, 1LtCAP said:

.i think the electric popped breifly

Bad power supply.  If you have an old computer laying around, and your PCs are not weird proprietary form factors, you can probably swap out the PSU.  I'd unplug everything and test with a different PSU on a bench first.

It's too bad you are far from me.  I could probably diagnose the problem in about 15 minutes.

[M1152 713]

48 minutes ago, 1LtCAP said:

i should clarify.....i think the electric popped breifly  while i was working in the yard yesterday......

At the very least you should have Type 3 surge protectors for your sensitive electronics if not a UPS (uninterruptible power supply). If you have a power outage the UPS allows for a graceful shutdown. We have a couple UPS units for our home network and I installed a Type 2 surge protector in my panel

[ltcap 0]

ok. i'm in on the laptop. still nojoy on the tower. I tried the f8 like someone above mentiobed, I got this screen.......shiit...it's not letting me upload. it says windows boot manager with a bunch of numbers. says to use up/down arrows to select then hit enter. screen never stays for more than a few seconds. if I click anything it's gone, if I just look at it's gone. this thing's coming closer and closer to being hung out on the -100 yard lanes to meet some 30-06......

[Scorpio64 5,156]

5 minutes ago, ltcap said:

if I click anything it's gone,

Are you saying you can get to boot manager, but you cant select anything, or are you saying the power cycles before you can do anything?

[ltcap 0]

3 minutes ago, Scorpio64 said:

Are you saying you can get to boot manager, but you cant select anything, or are you saying the power cycles before you can do anything?

when the screen I mentioned comes up, it only shows for a couple seconds, regardless of what I do. then it simply goes black, but the puter stays turned on. no power cycle. also, I forgot to mention.....it won't let me to that screen if I turn it on by the button....only if I ctrl/alt/delete to get it to reboot.

 

 i'm thinking something's cooked.....

 

side question.........why's the system showing me as forum dabbler when I simply reset my password so I could log on on nthis machine?

[Scorpio64 5,156]

Just now, ltcap said:

side question.........why's the system showing me as forum dabbler when I simply reset my password so I could log on on nthis machine?

You are logged on as baby cap, not logged on with your usual account.  You must have set up an alternate account on the laptop.

I still suspect the PSU.  If it's just a power supply, then fix it.  They are not costly.  Get one off Amazon, and if it turns out it wasn't the PSU, just return it.  Amazon is petty good about returns.

 

[ltcap 0]

7 minutes ago, Scorpio64 said:

You are logged on as baby cap, not logged on with your usual account.  You must have set up an alternate account on the laptop.

I still suspect the PSU.  If it's just a power supply, then fix it.  They are not costly.  Get one off Amazon, and if it turns out it wasn't the PSU, just return it.  Amazon is petty good about returns.

 

hhmm....I did use my aohell email to get the reset link........I usually am linked to a gmail account.....

also.......psu=power supply?  if that were bad, wouldn't I be getting nothing...not even the lights and fans?

[ltcap 0]

also also.....if I do end up having to grab a new machine.......what's opinions on windoze 11? seems they all come with thagt now.....

[Scorpio64 5,156]

6 minutes ago, ltcap said:

what's opinions on windoze 11

No opinion.  After XP, I transitioned to Ubuntu Linux.  It's free and far more efficient than winderz.

[ltcap 0]

thanks

so on ther power supply..........are they all the same? connectivity-wise? or do I need to find one with specific connectors?

[JohnnyB 4,325]

Pretty much all the same connectors.  The good thing is, your hard drive with all your files is still intact.

[Scorpio64 5,156]

They are pretty standard, ATX PSUs all have the same connectors and are a universal size.  They vary by output measured in Watts, some have built in power filtering.  Important machines like servers get the good stuff, regular PCs get whatever is the least expensive PSU matching the power requirements.