I am trying to diagnose a friend’s PC problem (desktop).
Symptoms:
PC powers up, loads OS (WinXP), works for a few minutes — I can start running a program or look at computer properties — and then it seems to die. The video input blanks out — the indicator light on the monitor goes from green to yellow.
Sometimes the video doesn’t even start up.
It sounds like the HD is still spinning. The fan remains on. The power supply is only a few months old.
When I pull the monitor cable from the back of the PC, the monitor lights up with a “check signal input” message. This leads me to believe that the monitor is being “told” to blank out and go into power save.
I tried to start installing a new video card (current video is on board and I happen to have a spare video card on hand), but I can’t keep the video running long enough to install new drivers. I currently have the HD pulled out and hooked up externally to my laptop. It seems to spin fine and I can read it. I’m running antispyware scans on it just in case. I’m pretty new at this level of hardware evaluation and I am stymied. What do I try next?
If more information would help, please tell me what you need to know.
Thanks.