[shed]

Hi, not sure where to post this one. My Pc has started playing up. It turns on then goes dead, it does boot then after it goes to the start screen it goes blank. Sounds like the fan is still working inside but nothing else works. I have tried changing the monitor and graphics card but it's not either of them. I also took off the heatsink and cleaned it off and put more thermal paste on. It is a few years old now. It is a pentium 4 computer and it's a 2.8 gig. It did start turning off after it had been on a while but now it turns off after getting to the main screen after start up. Any one got any ideas .

Thanks.

[Mike0001]

Does your motherboard bios allow you to run a temperature check?

[Eltocliousus]

How much thermal Paste did you put on? Sounds like a heat problem.

[shed]

Hi, Mike0001. I dont know. How do I go about doing it. Only learning on it. I have changed the graphics card and added a few bits but that is about all. I like to try before going to the expense of taking it to shop. Thanks

[Eltocliousus]

When turning on, are you able to use a keyboard to get into the bios ( Usually Delete button or F12 )

[Mike0001]

or F2 or Esc! It generally flashes a message at you at startup (but not long enough to read) then you can enter the BIOS program and one option may be a temperature check.

Try holding F2 down as you start up. If that doesn't do it, try another key...

[shed]

Hi, I only put small bit of thermal paste on. I followed the instructions. Dont know about getting into bias. I turn on pc it loads windows and everything then just goes blank. It was staying on for a while but now goes blank straight away. I will try going into the bias and see if it stays on any longer. Thanks

[Eltocliousus]

It's really not that hard to get into the bios, when turning your computer on you should see a massive logo of your motherboard depending on the motherboard, at the bottom it should say what keys do what. Try restarting your computer a few times if you cannot read what it says until you get it.

[Mike0001]

Some of them have the option to hide that screen. You have to hold that key down then right from the start.

[philthomas]

Have you got an XP Installation disk ?

If so can you boot with this and mantain a display without it going blank ?

[kanoakavirus]

Also , as its a few years old maybe the psu isn't suppling enoth power to the graphics card? unlikely but not impossible.

[shed]

Hi, sorry not been back quicker. Had to borry son's PC again. I tried going through bios. I turned pc on, tapped delete until bios screen came on then waited a couple of minutes to see if anything would happen and it just went blank. Pc sounded like it was still on, fans etc were still working. I took side off and rebooted but same thing happened. I looked inside as it was rebooting and the green light stayed on on the motherboard and all the fans were working even after it crashed even the one on the graphic card. Anyone any ideas. Thanks

[shed]

Hi, just tried something else. I took out the memory stick I have and put it into the other slot. Then I changed the power lead to the hard drive. I turned it on and at the moment it is working and I am posting this using my pc. Dont know how long it will work for but here's hoping. Could it have been either of those things that made it stop working. Not being very good at this type of thing I am not sure. Thanks for the help. I may be back for more if it crashes again .

[shed]

Back again. Pc worked for about 30 minutes then crashed again. I tried to reboot but it just crashed straight away so dont think it was either of the things I changed.

[philthomas]

Have you tried booting with XP Installation disk ? ... (if you have one)