Computer help!

[Frances999]

Our main PC seems to have an issue with me. DH complains, because whenever I go on it I break it

Anyway, now the problem is that when we switch the PC on the monitor says "No signal" even though all the leads are properly connected. Does anybody have any ideas what might be wrong? I'm hoping it is a problem with the monitor rather than the actual PC. Luckily we have our laptops but there is a lot of stuff (including holiday pictures) saved and not backed-up on the PC, so I am really hoping it's okay.

Thanks in advance if you can offer any advice....

 

[Claire L]

Are all the computers and lap tops networked up? If not another way to test the monitor is to connect a laptop to the main computer and view it through the laptop screen.

Claire

 

[Frances999]

Are all the computers and lap tops networked up? If not another way to test the monitor is to connect a laptop to the main computer and view it through the laptop screen.

Claire

Well they all run off of the same wireless router (don't know if that means they are 'networked up' or not). Sorry....I'm very much a computer novice!

If so, how can I connect the main computer to the laptop? Just using the regular monitor lead?

Thanks for helping

 

[Claire L]

If you go to the front screen of your laptop it should have an icon for 'my network places'. From there you should be able to access all files from the main computer.
As for connecting the laptop yes the cable to the monitor should also go in the back of the laptop I think, DH did this a while ago but not sure if he had to press any other buttons etc, and he is now at work so can't ask.

Hope that is some help.

Claire

 

[Laurafoster]

Claire is right this would be the first thing to try. Are all the lights on on the PC and monitor? if so its possible that the cable is faulty. No signal usually meants that the Monitor is not picking up the Base unit.

 

[Richard Bruvofetc]

It could be that your graphics board is not in place properly. Have you tried opening up the case and giving it a little push into the motherboard?

 

[Frances999]

It could be that your graphics board is not in place properly. Have you tried opening up the case and giving it a little push into the motherboard?

I am sure that if I started opening up the case I would probably cause more damage! Plus there is the fact that I wouldn't even know what the graphics board or motherboard looked like! Thanks for the suggestion though.

Claire is right this would be the first thing to try. Are all the lights on on the PC and monitor? if so its possible that the cable is faulty. No signal usually meants that the Monitor is not picking up the Base unit.

Yes, all the lights are on and the computer seems to start up as normal. The cable from the monitor to the PC is "built-in" to the monitor, so I don't think I will be able to just get a new lead.

If you go to the front screen of your laptop it should have an icon for 'my network places'. From there you should be able to access all files from the main computer.
As for connecting the laptop yes the cable to the monitor should also go in the back of the laptop I think, DH did this a while ago but not sure if he had to press any other buttons etc, and he is now at work so can't ask.

Hope that is some help.

Claire

Thanks again, Claire. I tried plugging the monitor into the laptop but it didn't seem to work (didn't even say no signal), so I'm assuming I must have to press something to get the laptop to send the signal to the monitor.

Thanks again for the advice all. We have a computer technician coming out at 4pm so hopefully it will be easy (and inexpensive!) to fix...and most of all I hope we won't lose all of our files!

 

[florida sun]

Hi Frances

Just looked up your problem on a few pc help sites and they all say the same thing which I think Richard mentioned, which is no signal is normally caused by some movement, or fault of the motherboard and gives instructions on how to open the case and adjust to see if this sorts the problem out.

I have to say though Im with you on this one, I wouldnt have a clue how to open the case and mess around inside without causing futher damage.

 

[Richard Bruvofetc]

It's terrible when you are remote and you know how "easy" these things are! The first thing I learned many years ago was not to be scared of your computer - easier said than done though. I remember the first time I took the "back" off my computer - talk about shaking! Now its just open up, fiddle around, put back together.

In the case of testing with your laptop, you'll probably have some writing on one of your "function" keys - mine is F8 - you need to hold down the Fn key (next to the left Ctrl) and "toggle" using the function key.

Hope this helps.

I do hate the idea of calling out so called professionals.........

 

[Kevin Stringer]

I had this very fault on a computer at work recently. Replaced the graphics card and all was well again.
The thing I always find difficult with computer faults is that everyone tells you what the fault MIGHT be, but you have to purchase whatever the potentially dodgy component is in order to test this out!

Kev

 

[Frances999]

Thanks again for all the replies. It wasn't the screen, so the technician has taken it away to test all of the components and try to find out the problem. Apparently the cards etc were all pushed in okay. The thing that worries me (and this is probably just because I am so very cynical) is that they will make out it is worse than it is just to charge extra or get us to buy extra bits for it

 

[Frances999]

Okay, I'm looking for some advice. The computer shop called today and said that it would cost £169+VAT to fix or £189+VAT if we want it fixed and want all the saved files on it to remain in-tact. Apparently it's something to do with the motherboard(?)

I'm can't decide what to do. It's about 3 or 4 years old and I have seen brand new PCs in PC World for not much more than those quoted prices. We still have the 17" flat-screen monitor, so it's just a matter of buying the base.

Would you get it fixed or just pay the extra and get a brand new one?

Thanks

 

[AlanUK]

To be honest it would depend on the spec of the machine that I was buying as opposed to the machine I was looking to get repaired. If I could get the same sort of spec for less or the same money then I would opt to ditch the one I had in favour of buying the new one.

One thing that puzzles me is that are charging you extra to keep all your files intact when they are only replacing the motherboard and not the hard drive The first question I would be asking is why the extra £20?

 

[florida sun]

Frances , hard choice but what about all your files on the old one, do you have any special photos or files that you need to keep, or have you maybe saved them on to a back up disc.

 

[Richard Bruvofetc]

One thing that puzzles me is that are charging you extra to keep all your files intact when they are only replacing the motherboard and not the hard drive The first question I would be asking is why the extra £20?

I agree. It sounds a bit dodgy to me. Even if you bought a new PC you can take the old Harddrive out of your old PC and place it in your new one. I still think its a problem with the graphics board. It's a shame I don't live closer as it is probably all of 10 minutes to diagnose the problem.

Dependent on the spec of your machine, if this company is suggesting changing the motherboard it may be worth buying a new computer as you have said.

 

[SophiesDad]

In our free ads local paper there is usually quite a few ads for people that fix pc's could you ask for your pc back from the people that have looked at it and phone somebody else up to have a look at it ?
Just a suggestion as that seems a rather large amount of money to pay to fix a problem.

 

[Frances999]

Thanks for the replies, everyone.

Alan & Richard - Thanks for your advice. Now you have mentioned it, it does seem a bit strange that they are charging extra to "recover" our saved files.

Surely if they put a new motherboard in it will be back-to-normal with all the saved files/programmes? The hard drive should still be okay, shouldn't it? Aren't the motherboard and hard drive two separate things?

Sue - all of our holiday and family pictures are saved on it so we will need to have the hard drive recovered somehow or another.

SophiesDad - Thanks for the tip, I will take a look.

 

[AlanUK]

Surely if they put a new motherboard in it will be back-to-normal with all the saved files/programmes? The hard drive should still be okay, shouldn't it? Aren't the motherboard and hard drive two separate things?

Absolutely, even if you bought a new pc you should be able to take the drive out of your old one and add it in as an additional hard drive on the new machine and access all your files.

Just out of intereest do you have the details of the make and model of the machine handy?

I'd be interested to see what you could get a replacement motherboard for. I also would tend to agree with Richard that it's more likely to be a graphics problem and the only reason I can see for replacing the motherboard is if the graphics are built in and there is no available AGP slot which would seem very odd.

 

[Claire L]

DH says it sounds like a blown grahics card and they are talking BS about saving your files for an extra £20.

I do hope it gets sorted and you can get all your files back.

Claire

 

[florida sun]

Frances, I do hope you get it sorted at a fair price and that you are able to get all your old files back.