Is My Pc Toast?

[Pymus]

Recently my PC statrted acting really sluggesh. Over time I lost use of my CD drive then my CD ROM drive. I ran a few clean up programs which got my PC running faster however I never regained use of my disk drives. I tried everything including reseating the cables and cleaning the drives to no avail. At one point when I had a few things apart there was some tension on the video cable and my moniter started showing a colorful snowy picture. I shut down my PC then rebooted. Now there is no picture at all. Black screen. I have tried everything from removing RAM and all cables to jumping out the board to clear the CMOS. Nothing. Monitor is fine. I tested it on another computer. Can anyone help? Am I overlooking something obvious? There is no video card so obviously Im assuming it is on the mother board. Could the tention have dislodged the video port from the motherboard? Before I invest in replacing parts is it worth salvaging this PC? Oh yeah one more thing. When ever I plug the PC in it automatically powers on. I can not hear the hard drive working. Since there is no picture I'm assuming its just dead. Is there a way to recesitate?

[Pymus]

Recently my PC statrted acting really sluggesh. Over time I lost use of my CD drive then my CD ROM drive. I ran a few clean up programs which got my PC running faster however I never regained use of my disk drives. I tried everything including reseating the cables and cleaning the drives to no avail. At one point when I had a few things apart there was some tension on the video cable and my moniter started showing a colorful snowy picture. I shut down my PC then rebooted. Now there is no picture at all. Black screen. I have tried everything from removing RAM and all cables to jumping out the board to clear the CMOS. Nothing. Monitor is fine. I tested it on another computer. Can anyone help? Am I overlooking something obvious? There is no video card so obviously Im assuming it is on the mother board. Could the tention have dislodged the video port from the motherboard? Before I invest in replacing parts is it worth salvaging this PC? Oh yeah one more thing. When ever I plug the PC in it automatically powers on. I can not hear the hard drive working. Since there is no picture I'm assuming its just dead. Is there a way to recesitate?

[mjc]

No need to double post...

[Sylvander]

Sylvander’s Diagnostic Flowcharts
Download a copy of my diagnostic flowcharts from here
www.erniek.eclipse.co.uk/downloads/sylvanderdiags.zip
and print them to leaf through.
Begin on the STARTUP chart.
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FAILURE TO COMPLETE POST, NO BEEP, NO OUTPUT SIGNAL FROM VIDEO CARD.
www.pcguide.com/vb/showthread.php?t=39685
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1. Do you hear the single short beep that indicates that POST is running and has successfully reached a certain advanced stage in its tests?

IF NOT...

2. Did you formerly hear that single short beep when all was well with the PC? [Does the internal speaker work?]

3. Disconnect all non-essential hardware, leaving connected only...
PSU, mobo, CPU+heatsink+fan, internal speaker.
i.e No on-switch [short the pins], no RAM, no monitor, no keyboard, no mouse etc.
When you switch on you should see signs of life and the BIOS's POST should run and test and warn that the 1st RAM test has failed.
That will tell you that the POST is running.

4. Now [shut down and] connect the monitor and repeat and you should hear the same RAM test failure beeps.

5. Then [shut down and] connect a single stick of RAM in the 1st slot and switch on.
The POST should run and there should no longer be any RAM failure beeps.
How far does the POST get?
Any single beep?
Any video?

[Pymus]

MJC - Thanks for the help. I tried and still nothing. I hear no beeps at all. Is there a way to add a video card and get the monitor up? My present set up has an integrated video card on the mother board. I dont see how this is possible without being able to load drivers. I'd be inerested in any ideas. I just dont have e cash to shell out right now for a new system.

[Sylvander]

Be explicit.

Say exactly what "I tried" means; which things you tried.
Say what "still nothing" means; a dead PC, no signs of life?

Was the PC bare-bones with no RAM [what exactly was connected?] when you got no beeps?

Is there any sign the POST is running; any blinking LED's?
Or any sign of power-up; fans running?

Does the internal speaker work?
If it does and you get no beeps with no RAM connected on a bare-bones system, then the POST isn't running bare-bones and there's no point in adding hardware until you can get the POST to run.