PC won't boot after 5 weeks no use

[Lowndsey]

I am trying to fix a friends pc. It's a few years old. She turned it off while she went away for 5 weeks holidays .. and came back and tried to turn it on and it gives 1 long beep and 2 short beeps. I unplugged everything and reseated it. Still same thing. I now have everything unplugged except ram and graphics card as it is a Gigabyte mobo and has no onboard graphics.I can get it to come on a give the normal 1 beep ..the monitor light powers up but nothing comes on the display...no bios just stays black. I have tried 2 gpu cards and same thing happens with both. tried swapping over memory sticks and Power supply. Google searches on bios error beeps suggest GPU failure but neither card works. I am just about out of ideas..Could it be the AGP slot ?..She left it plugged into the wall but turned off and the phone line into modem...there have been a lot of storms last few weeks maybe it has fried something?..Any ideas?


mobo is a Gigabyte GA-8ST667

 

[MikeReiner]

Plugged into the wall? as in, the system wasn't plugged into a surge protector?
If thats the case, then that may be it. I can't imagine why a system would just stop working after being left alone for only 5 weeks..

 

[Lowndsey]

hmmm not sure if she uses a surge protector or not....she's female so I am guessing not



Thought i would try reseating the cpu...undid the heatsink clips and lifted and the cpu came out with it...that cant be good surely.

 

[blackjack]

Have your tried replacing the CMOS battery?

 

[Lowndsey]

yeah tried that. I have got it to the stage now where it turns on..everything seems to power up...fans spin...harddrive makes a power up noise..just 1 regular beep...power light on monitor fires up...then nothing comes up on the screen. I am at a loss now

 

[blackjack]

I wonder if you can reset the BIOS by changing the jumpers around, Ive never dome it myself as I never needed to but it is possible I believe you will need to consult the MB manual for that.

 

[Lowndsey]

Well it is fixed now...happy it is fixed...unhappy i have wasted a few hours...
After I gutted the pc blew it out with the air compressor and replugged everything back in and turned it on the beeps ceased and everything sounded like a normal bootup. Only prob being no picture showing on the monitor...TURNS OUT IT WAS MY FRIGGEN MONITOR. Yep I was using my old LCD monitor which has always worked fine up until now. Was just about to quit and thought i would plug my 22" monitor in ..plugged it in and up popped the desktop. So the original problem seems to have been dust or a loose component. A bittersweet victory.......

 

[blackjack]

Glad you sorted it out, Dust is the silent killer of all computers.

 

[MikeReiner]

Don't sweat it man. First PC I built? I forgot to plug in the 4-pin motherboard plug. My dad teases me about it to this day whenever I build a system, lol

 

[Jesusfrk611]

I've forgotten to plug in the systems so many times before. I try everything I can think of to get it to work until I look on the back of the PC and the power cord isn't connected... I'm pretty sure I've done worse than that too. Just about the chuck the system through the wall and I find 1 thing I forgot to do...