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A friend just upgraded my OS from 98 to 98se in order to add a CD burner to my PC. The burner worked and the computer was running better than ever. I shut down and restarted and everthing was great. For about 24 hours.
I then tried to "restart" and it hasn't worked since. The PC doesn't seem to Boot up. All I get is a small green/red/blue window that flashes on periodically stating
Self Test G
Check you PC
R
and Signal Cable
Monitor is working B
and nothing else happens. No keyboard function and I can't shut down with the power button on the front of the case. I have a DSL internet connection and the "bad" pc is "Networked" with the one I'm using now.
Can anyone diagnose my problem.
Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks,
Joe
Check your monitor cable - it may have loosened.
The secret of life is honesty and fair dealing..if you can fake that, you've got it made.
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This has nothing to do with the upgrade. It is clearly a hardware problem.
It sounds like your computer is not powering up. Is there any sign of life? Of course the easiest thing to check is the AC power. Is the cable plugged in at both ends? Check the power point is working.
Beyond that, the extra strain caused by the new CD burner might have pushed the power supply unit over the edge.
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Thanks for the quick responses.
I believe I'm getting power. But maybe not enough? 2 Green "power" lights, light up on the front of the case and my num lock indicator light on the my keyboard shines.
How do I check if the power supply is adaquate?
Jboy, Monitor cable is OK.
Rimfire, what type of "Hardware problem"
Thanks,
Joe
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That's what we need to work out. The presence of the LEDs (green lights) tells us that you have 5V present. If we can see fans running, we'll be able to check that the 12V is also present.
Do you hear a single beep after you turn on the computer? Are you confident enough to open the case?
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Sure - you're monitor's not receiving any signal and is itself displaying the error message. If it's not a loose cable (drat) then it's much more severe. Could be nearly anything, from a bad vidcard to failing PSU, RAM, CPU.....
The secret of life is honesty and fair dealing..if you can fake that, you've got it made.
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Rimfire, I do hear the fan. It runs as long as the PC is plugged in. The only thing that happens is the fan and the lights mentioneed above. No beeps. And I will open the case to experiment "inside" with alittle guidance.
Jboy, where do I began to check the Video card,CPU etc.
Joe
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I believe Rimfire's prepared to try and figure that out with you - I can't stay at the moment
The secret of life is honesty and fair dealing..if you can fake that, you've got it made.
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Thanks,
It's not the monitor for sure. I'm using it as I post this message.
Anyone's help would be appreciated.
Joe
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No, it's not the monitor - it's just telling you (for whatever reason) that there is no signal
The secret of life is honesty and fair dealing..if you can fake that, you've got it made.
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Sorry, I too am in and out. I've only just returned from a service call and am awaiting parts for another. So much for having weekends off!
The fact that there is noo beep is a concern. This means the computer is not passing early power on self test.
When poking around inside the case, make sure the power cable is DISCONNECTED. There is 5volts present even with the power turned off! Also try to retain contact between yourself and the case as often as possible to reduce the risk of static damage.
Have a look around for anything not correctly seated. Disconnect and reconnect the power connector to the motherboard. This is a long whitish coloured plug secured with a clip in the middle on one side. At this stage try reconnecting the power and see if that helped.
If that doesn't work, try removing the ram (with the AC power disconnected). Then reboot. With luck, you will hear a series of beeps to tell you that the RAM has a problem.
Post back when you've tried these.
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Rimfire, I got up the courage to open the case.
I checked the connections starting with the CD Burner I/we justed installed. Tightened what looked like needed to be tightened. Reconnected turned on the PC and PUFF the thing is back running normal.
Could the problem have been a loose connection? Even though everything seemed to be connected properly.
Thanks for the help and confidence.
Joe
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