This problem is unrelated to the laptop with the failed hard drive. I have an Acer Aspire PC model AM5440 that turns on, but nothing happens. The CPU doesn't function at all, the cooling fan works, and nothing displays on the screen. My monitor doesn't even recognize the video input. This has to be the weirdest problem I have EVER encountered. It has had it's graphics adapter replaced twice.
Computer starts up, CPU doesn't "think", and nothing displays!
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Sounds like a problem with the mother board to me, as you aren't getting to the BIOS.
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He's probably getting well past bios but does not know it since nothing is being displayed.
If you have already gone through two display adapters then I'm going to hypothesize that you've just gone through a third. If there is power to the adapter on a line from the power supply then I would suspect that you have a bad power supply that is frying them. If not independent power then your motherboard is probably cooking them.
If you have already gone through two display adapters then I'm going to hypothesize that you've just gone through a third. If there is power to the adapter on a line from the power supply then I would suspect that you have a bad power supply that is frying them. If not independent power then your motherboard is probably cooking them.
When we first got it back in May of 2008, I discovered that the computer would suddenly shut itself down against my will in the form of a hard crash. Replacing the graphics adapter for the first time remedied that problem, until I began experiencing problems with static artifacts and mal rendered objects in GTA San Andreas 11 months later. In April of 2010, this happened and it wasn't until now that I thought it worth it fixing it. the power supply must have been defective from day 1. It wasn't a cheap computer either, it was an extremely expensive home theater oriented PC that came with it's own wireless keyboard and mouse kit.
It has a HD DVD/Blu Ray combo drive, countless USB ports and memory card slots of all kinds.
It has a HD DVD/Blu Ray combo drive, countless USB ports and memory card slots of all kinds.
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+ The CPU doesn't function at all
Leads me to believe the mother board is fried.
Mark
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OK let's get a clear description of what happens when you turn the machine on so we can zero in on a better diagnosis. For the sake of argument I'm going to assume given what you have said thus far that you hear the fan power up, you may see some lights flash on the panel. Do you hear anything other than that? Any hard drive noise? If so over what period of time? Any other sounds/noises/lights that we should know about?
If the monitor does not recognize a valid input then that by itself points to the video card as the first point of failure to rule out. If you are invested in trying to fix this machine the first thing I would do is plug in a new card and see what happens. Any card will do. If you put in a known good video card and you don't get any response then I would agree that the MB is the culprit.
If the monitor does not recognize a valid input then that by itself points to the video card as the first point of failure to rule out. If you are invested in trying to fix this machine the first thing I would do is plug in a new card and see what happens. Any card will do. If you put in a known good video card and you don't get any response then I would agree that the MB is the culprit.
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Could be a couple of things...
If you don't hear a beep, you're not making past the post. Bad memory can cause this also. If there is more that one stick of ram, remove one and try it.
If you have the same issue, try putting the other one in. If it's still the same, try removing the video card, if it's not built on to the motherboard, and try to start it up. I know you can't see what's happening, but if you hear beeps, it means the video card is bad and was preventing the machine from posting.
Last but not least, remove all the memory and turn it on. (with the video card in if you took it out) If you hear beeps, it's posting and you have 2 sticks of bad memory. If none of that works, your motherboard OR processor OR both is fried and there's really no good way to distinguish which one it could be. :thumbdown:
If you don't hear a beep, you're not making past the post. Bad memory can cause this also. If there is more that one stick of ram, remove one and try it.
If you have the same issue, try putting the other one in. If it's still the same, try removing the video card, if it's not built on to the motherboard, and try to start it up. I know you can't see what's happening, but if you hear beeps, it means the video card is bad and was preventing the machine from posting.
Last but not least, remove all the memory and turn it on. (with the video card in if you took it out) If you hear beeps, it's posting and you have 2 sticks of bad memory. If none of that works, your motherboard OR processor OR both is fried and there's really no good way to distinguish which one it could be. :thumbdown:
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