Hi I'm having problems with my computer I'll be as specific as I can maybe one of you can help me with the problem

About 3 weeks ago my computer froze and completely powered off, then it wouldnt boot all the way I was forced to re-install windows upon doing that the computer would operate with only a few problems 1. was it would not detect my graphics card I'm using a ATI radeon hd 4650 it's an AGP port. Everytime I tried to install the driver either by CD or from the ati website the computer would freeze then power off.

So after doing some research I came to the conclusion that the computer was very dusty and needed to be blown out. After doing this the machine wouldn't power on at all. Assuming it was a power supply issue I took it to Best Buy Geek squad to isolate the problem and it powered on for them there. Took it home and figured out that I had a bad outlet but when I powered on the computer again it loads up only to the Acer screen and it stops there the keyboard light flickers once I push any button and nothing happens it just stays on the Acer screen.


here are my specs


windows xp

pentium 4 processer

1.75 gb of ram

1.3 ghz

Acer motherboard with AGP slots it's from 2004 so it's kinda old

power supply is 400watt

I tried to reset the cmos by taking out the small battery and putting it back in and also removing the jumper and putting it back so far it hasnt worked.


any help would be appreciated

If you don't mind me asking, how much did Best Buy charge you to test the PSU? And do you know how they did it. My guess at this point is your graphics card has failed. This assumes you correctly connected the PSU, and nothing was knocked loose when you were digging around. You might try removing all drives, extra USB devices and all but one stick of RAM, boot and see what happens. It should work its way through POST then halt when it cannot find a boot drive.

You can test the PSU your self by shorting a green and black wire on the main motherboard power connection.

My guess is a motherboard problem though, you probably wouldn't get a boot at all if it was the PSU.

You can test the PSU your self by shorting a green and black wire on the main motherboard power connection.

That does not test a PSU. That merely signals the PSU to turn on, if able. It tells you nothing of the +12, +5, or +3.3V.

Sorry, your correct what I meant was it will test if the PSU turns on for functionality. Obviously irrelevant in this scenario, I should have read the original post better.... I do apologise.

ok I'll try disconnecting the drive and booting I'll let you know what happens

The problem seems like the othe machine I have tested recently.
Reseat all the parts possible on the MB, check the VGA card connection to the PCI-E slot.

If the same issue, the MB some hardware that work with the graphic could be faulty.

Hope this helps!
Bill
Tech Manager WPTinc