Hi all
I am totally baffled as to what is causing this problem.My computer is an Acer Aspire M1640 approx 18 months old
PC was working fine no recent upgrades only thing worth commenting on was USB mouse which is recharged in a docking station had "iffy" batteries.
Mouse froze and ctrl-alt-delete did nothing.Switched PC off at power switch and since then pc powers up but monitor says no signal and then black screen.
I have opened up case reseated RAM, reset CMOS, removed CPU cleaned and reapplied thermal paste and still nothing.
The heatsink fan spins and CD drive and DVD drive both open.
I was hoping to try another PSU but it is the older type so have ordered a 20 -24 pin connector so I can try this.
When i turn power on there are no beeps, if I remove memory the motherboard emits one continuous beep.I have two hard drives attached to motherboard and am hoping that i won't have lost any information off these.
Please can anybody suggest anything else. Is it looking like the motherboard is dead?
Thank you

I was hoping to try another PSU but it is the older type

Well, I think looking at the PSU is a good start. LEDs, fans, and drive motors work on +12V but the motherboard also needs +5 and +3.3V from the PSU too.

You could disconnect all drives, and all but one stick of RAM and see if it boots - swapping out RAM and through trial and error, maybe find a new stick. It should start the boot process and you should see this on the monitor. The boot process will then hang when no boot disk is found. Maybe you have a bad stick of RAM.

I think at this point we need to "hurry up and wait" for the replacement PSU to come in and hope that works. If not, then it does look like the motherboard, or CPU. I don't suppose it is is still under warranty? Some come with 3 years, but most just 1.

Thanks for yoru advice
I have tried 2 other PSU's with the 20-24 pin connector and the computer won't even switch on with these.
I have again juggled about with the 2 memory sticks but nothing.
How can i tell whether it is the motherboard or CPU or is it best to buy both and start from sratch.
Also what is the probability that all my infomation files will have been destroyed from the hard drives.
If i install the hard drives into another pc will my operating system still be on them or will I need to purchase another operating system as well

Well, if it did not work with 2 other PSUs, then I don't think it is a power issue.

How can i tell whether it is the motherboard or CPU or is it best to buy both and start from sratch.

There is no sure way but to try another CPU and hope the board does not fry it. Or take it to a shop and let them try one of their spare CPUs.

Also what is the probability that all my infomation files will have been destroyed from the hard drives.
If i install the hard drives into another pc will my operating system still be on them or will I need to purchase another operating system as well

It is most likely all your information is still fine. If you install the HDs in another machine, the OS will be there, but (1) it is not legal to use it in a 2nd PC and (2) it would likely crash if you tried to boot to it because it is set up for the current hardware. Therefore, it is better to install the HD in an enclosure, or as a secondary (NOT boot) drive in another machine, then copy off your data.

Both the hard drives are sata and i was wondering if i connected them to the sata connection on my laptop could i copy the information that way.
thanks

Both the hard drives are sata and i was wondering if i connected them to the sata connection on my laptop could i copy the information that way.

Yeah. That would be a good way. You generally need some sort of docking station - such as one of these.

Thanks, I have managed to borrow a docking station and back up all my documents, files,etc. Phew, what a relief
Now back to finding the fault with the PC.
I was wondering if it could be a fault with the VGA connector as this is very loose and I had noticed a couple of times that the monitor stopped responding and it would flicker and then it would come on again with an error message nvidia display driver nvlddmkm stopped responding but has succesfully recovered.
I know this might be along shot but I wondered if it might be worth purchasing a graphics card and trying that

Don't know that a loose monitor cable would cause the mouse to freeze, unless the loose connectioned caused a short - trying with tight connections costs nothing.

Just wondered if there is any equipment that can be used for testing motherboards,cpu's, psu's etc
Thanks

I am looking to buy a new motherboard here.It seems a good price and seems sufficient for what I use my PC for.
If I put the CPU from my dead motherboard in this if it is the CPU that is caput my understanding is that it shouldn't damage the motherboard although if i did it the other way around and bought a new CPU and mounted this on the old motherboard that this could fry the new CPU.
Please correct me if I'm wrong.
I just don't want to throw money away so to speak