Sibling Support Problem.

[andrewc]

My Sister's desktop PC is a 2007 vintage Dell Inspiron 531,  I think it runs Windows 8? 


Something she was browsing caused the PC to lock up.  She powered it off, then on and now the display won't work.



She powers the tower & monitor on,  there is the sound of fans & drive whizzing from the tower but the screen stays blank & the light on the monitor changes from green to yellow (lights on the PC itself remain green).  Pressing another button & she gets text saying it's in power save mode. 


Looking on Google I'm seeing lots of people with similar reports, fixes include reseating ram, replacing CMOS battery etc.


Should I give up my day off tomorrow & try to get it working , or should I just tell her to buy an iMac ?   


Of course, she's not got anything backed up.... 

[Snakehips]

..... or should I just tell her to buy an iMac ?   

What kind of heartless """"""" are you?

[aidan.f]

New(er) PC from here?:

https://www.stonerefurb.co.uk/desktops/windows

If sister is using Windows 8 Linux mint? could be a useful (and more secure) upgrade

HDD caddy - adapter to have a look-see if important files can be pulled off the old HDD

[andrewc]

She’s got an iPad & iPhone, she may as well complete the set.  Plus I’m a bit more familiar with Mac stuff than I am with current flavours of Windows.  My expertise with that product peaked at XP.


I’m going to pick the box up tomorrow. At the least I’ll rip the hard drive out & make a backup for her.

[aidan.f]

If you want a mac maybe these are a good price? - I really have no idea...
https://www.stonerefurb.co.uk/desktops/all-in-one

[Kim]

Sounds like a hardware fault.  Whatever she was doing at the time was probably coincidental.

Which means you're left arsing about with the holy trinity of CPU, RAM and motherboard to try to get it to show you a BIOS screen.

Clearing the CMOS memory can sometimes help (there's often a jumper to reset it).

Percussive maintnenace of the power supply.

That sort of thing.


ETA:  Oh, check the monitor cable hasn't become unplugged.  Sometimes it's like looking for an elephant with a microscope.

[perpetual dan]

If you want a mac maybe these are a good price? - I really have no idea...
https://www.stonerefurb.co.uk/desktops/all-in-one

I parsed that as stoner E furb

Kim’s comment about the site being a coincidence seems entirely plausible. I once had a popular video site crash my Mac. It was the overheating graphics really, of course.

 I’d start with the monitor cable.
Then, can it be persuaded to give the bios menu?
That might save mucking about getting the disc out.

[tom_e]

It makes starting up noises; the only symptom is the monitor not showing content?

I'd start by cross-testing the monitor.  Either connect the same computer to a different monitor (if available), or a different computer (or laptop, or set-top-box, etc) to the same monitor.

[Cudzoziemiec]

My Sister's desktop PC is a 2007 vintage Dell Inspiron 531,  I think it runs Windows 8? 

A Dell-Reynolds special!

[andrewc]

It's actually a 531C... 

[andrewc]

Well it won't talk to my monitor using a VGA connection.  The original monitor is DVI-D.   


Monitor just says check cable connection.


Reseating the 2 x 1G memory sticks had no effect.

[Tigerbiten]

Pull the memory and turn it on.
If you get beeps for bad memory you know that part of the bios work, maybe think about trying a different vid card.
If no beeps then it's more serious.

Luck ........ 

[andrewc]

Memory removed & reset.  CMOS jumper reset.  Battery removed & put back. 


It could be the video card, but I'm not scouring Ebay for a 16 year old machine to cannibalise!   I've been telling her to replace it for ages.   


Hard drive is currently in a caddy while I copy her personal stuff onto one of my spare drives.    I'm not anticipating bringing this back to life.....  the first aid trainers told me that CPR has a very low success rate!

[Morat]

If you can get the data off then I think your sister is coming out of this very well.  Plus, you're rescuing her from Windows 8.