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I have a computer that does not work and I am interested in possibly restoring it so another family member can use it.The problem is that I cannot access anything, windows doesn't load, I can't access the screen to select safe mode, nothing comes up on the screen, booting just gives me a blank screen.
I believe the hard drive is still ok but I have problems with the opeating system. Is it possible to erase the hard drive using some external process since I can't do it with the computer itself. If I can do that then I can reload a system onto it and start from scratch.
If you have any ideas please let me know. Thanks very much.
Jim Smith
Yes you can do that. Do you have any restore disks from Sony? If not, click on the link posted below to get to the Sony site for that computer. Appears it is a current model. You should be able to order restore disks from Sony and also get help on how to restore the computer back to factory state.
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I'm sorry I forgot that you would see the info about my Sony and give me info based on that. The computer I want to fix is and old one and I don't even know what the specs would be for it.
I may just have to buy a new hard drive if I can't access the system to correct the problems on it. It was originally an ABS computer and worked well for a long time, but I have replaced the motherboard and the hard drive once already some time ago.
Sorry for the confusion.
Jim Smith
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If there is nothing on the screen there is a
hardware problem that has to be solved before
working on the hard disk and the operating
system.
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The same answer still applies. The difference is that getting restore disks may not be possible. Buying a Windows version for an old computer is not cost effective.
If you have a spare CD for Win98, 2000, or XP lying around then by all means go for it. You would most likely need a retail copy. WinXP requires registration, so only one system per license (key).
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Describe exactly what happens and what you see, if anything when first turning on the computer. What color is the blank screen?
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The easiest way to do this is to remove teh Hard Drive and attach it to another machine as an extra drive and just format it! (if windows recognizes it on teh new machine that is) and then pop it back into the original machine and install windows :)
Matt
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Does ANYTHING come up on the screen after you press the power button? If not, you may have a bad power supply, bad expansion card, or most uncommonly, bad RAM. Power supplies are the most common to give out, but to rule everything else out, unplug, open the case, and remove the RAM, and also any PCI/ISA cards you may have installed. Plug in and turn on again. Does the motherboard beep?
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if you're not seeing any video, you might want to test the gpu...
are you using onboard/integrated graphics? if so, you might want to test with an add-in video card to see if that fixes your problem. if you're using a video card, try switching to onboard graphics or another video card.
Do you have another monitor you could test with? that'd be worth looking into too, and while it's too bad that (older) monitors are heavy, at least you can switch them around without ever opening your computer's case.
i'd do what RayBurn suggested too - strip the PC down and try to boot, and see if you get any beep codes. that'll tell you if the motherboard/psu are working.
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