loss of video when Windows starts

Hi all,
I'm working on a friends computer. It's a Micron Millennia with XP Pro. It has a 1 gig AMD Athlon and 265 mg ram. The problem is everytime Windows is about to load,the video goes out. The lite on the monitor turns from green to orange like no video signal is there. I first tried to repair the Windows installation,but had the same problem when it restarted. He told me there was nothing worth saving on the machine so I formatted the drive and attemped to reinstall Windows,but when it restarted it did the same thing again. I cleared the bios memory but no luck,so I found the latest bios file and flashed it........again the same thing happened. Just for the heck of it I put in another video card but with the same results.
Anybody got any ideas on what this can be?

Mark

 

Goes out and stays out or just goes away for a few seconds then recovers?

 

It goes out and stays out Newt.

 

Sounds very 'hardwareish' to me so I'm moving the thread to the hardware section for a better look.

 

ARGGggggggg!!

I had that problem with my Athalon 1gig and Radeon 7000 on an Expox board I had until recently with win 2000... Danged if I can remember how I got out of it for sure but I got out of it without reformatting.

There are a few possibilities that come to mind. One of them is probably right...

Sorry to be cryptic but I really can't remember for sure.

1) Boot in safe mode!!!! Always, anyone that views this... Always!, boot to Safe mode if you can get far enough to see the option when having a video problem.

If you can get to Safe Mode

Many times when XP installs it will pick "best fit" drivers for devices. Often these are not the best ones. And, yes, from what I understand it is quite possible for things to work fine with the 'best fit' drivers and then suddenly go nuts.

If you do not have an actual CD with drivers for the video card go find some on line. I suggest Drivers Guide.

Go to the device manager part of your control panel and uninstall the display adapter shown.

Re-boot. Just sit back and cross your fingers.

If you get to windows the hardware wizard should show it's ugly face. Select cancel. If you have the video install CD pop it in. Run the install file you downloaded if no CD.

Re-boot and cross your fingers again.

I think this is the most likely.

If you can not get to Safe mode

While the 'puter is off!!!! Remove all cards except video and reboot to Bios. Under 'Plug and Play' make sure Plug and Play OS is enabled. Enable 'Reset COnfiguration Data'. Don't have to go back and change this back. It's a one time deal. Save and exit.

Re-install the other cards one at a time. I suggest a modem if present first, then audio, network, whatever's left.

If a card instalation causes the problem to come back re-boot to bios and re-enable 'Reset Configuration Data' under plug and play. If that dosen't solve it look for a conflick.

You can try these two and see what happens pretty safely. I mean you've already reformatted so there is nothing to be lost. Plus it's pretty safe.

Let me know what happens and I'll also try to remember for sure.

 

Just a note...

Since we know that the video card and monitor work at at least some level (or you wouldn't know it's when windows is about to load)...

You could try another monitor if available and pulling and re-seating the video card.

Since you're getting initial video (thats how I read it) I doubt you'll see a difference but tryable.

 

Shutting down the graphics? If you cannot get to Safe Mode, when the monitor goes to orange, do:
Ctrl + Alt + Delete > Alt + S > Enter
If Windows is running this should shut the machine down. If Windows has stopped running there may be a problem running hardware. What I am wondering is if it could be a power problem. Could try another power supply (make sure the wattage is as high or higher than the old one).

Would your friend have made any changes to the BIOS settings? Try resetting the BIOS settings to "default ".

Matt

 

blufx - you've got two excellent sets of instructions above - follow them. Am also curious as to whether you or your friend added any memory right before this problem started? If yes - pull it. If no, you can try removing any memory, cleaning contacts with a pencil eraser followed by a Q-Tip dipped in rubbing alcohol and then reseat it.

 

I cant get to safe mode. It goes out before windows loads. I think some memory has been added to it. I'll try pulling it when I get back from work today. I've already tried reseating the video card and everything else on the board for that matter. I'll post back this afternoon and let you know how it went.

 

Well,I've tried everything suggested by you guys but nothing works. I pulled one stick of ram leaving it with just one. ctrl+alt+del did nothing as did alt+s>enter. What was that supposed to do anyway? I had already cleaned the contacts on the ram so that base was covered. Do we have anymore ideas before I throw this thing out the back door? LOL I'm not at that point yet.
I'll check back this afternoon.
Mark

 

If this were mine, I'd try another power supply in there.

 

Rockster2U,I'm going to try that sometime today. Thanks

 

Well,I tried a power supply from a HP Vectra and still the same thing. It looks like the keyboard is dead as well when the orange lite comes on. One thing I forgot to mention before: when I shut down or restart after the video goes out,not only does the keyboard not work,but niether does the reset button on the front of the machine.How can that happen? I tested this. It all works just before the dreaded orange lite comes on. I got video and keyboard during boot and accesing bios(which I set to defaults when this all started). I can do anything I need to,including hitting the reset button,right up untill Windows starts to load. Then, just like clockwork,the lite goes orange and nothing works untill I hold the start button in for 4 seconds and shut it down.

Mark

 

Blufx,

Try this:

Boot off a floppy and see if the video stays. If it does, then keep it in a DOS mode for a little while to make sure. This eliminates a hardware problem. It is a Windoze video driver problem.

You can use ANY bootable floppy to boot up. You are not interested in accessing the hard drive at all for this test. If you can't even get a screen in DOS, then it is a hardware problem.

HARDWARE PROBLEM TESTS
What size power supply is it? If it is under 300 watts, then that could very well be your problem. I have seen this before with systems where the power supply was undersized and thus did not have enough umph to bootup or not freeze up. Your Vectra power supply was probably 200 watts and that is NOT enough.

What components do you have in the system? Go to the following web site and let it do some figuring for you on what size power supply you need.

http://www.jscustompcs.com/power_supply/

This site has a calculator that you can use to help you figure it out.

George

 

Good point, Iclarius!

Another thought would be to set your bios to boot from CD first, or second. Dosen't matter as long as it's before your hard drive. Now boot with your Windows XP CD. (do this after the test that Icarius recommended or if you don't have a boot floppy) If you can get to the Win XP install try a 'repair' install.

Someone correct me if I'm wrong here but I THINK that if you can run the windows install program ya should be able to run windows.

Also, I believe you said that you removed a RAM card with the same results. I have to ask the question as to if you removed ALL of the RAM and tried them one at a time. Just because you remove RAM dosen't mean that you removed the RAM that has a problem if you didn't remove and try all of them.

On the reset button, what you describe is VERY possible. You have to remember that the reset button isn't like an on and off switch. When you hit reset all it really does is send a signal that it's been pressed. PLEASE, if someone knows I'm wrong on this say so. I'm saying this on the basis of a known fact from really older boards. I really don't see a reason it would of changed.Anyway, if the board dosen't have enough power or resources to operate fully it may very well ignore this signal. Heck, I've sat in front of an a system that hitting the actual power button did nothing. This symptom would, in my mind, give strength to Iclarius's thought on the power supply not being big enough.

 

Sigh!!!!!!

Just re-read the thread from the start and saw that you already tried the repair install.

Not gonna delete the post as it's not bad advice for the initial problem.

From all that you've said and after you've tried a power supply that is known to be more than big enough, and after you've pulled ALL the RAM and tried one at a time... if it were my system I'd reformat and start from scratch Now remember! I am saying this from MY situation. If my system melted into a puddle right now... after I replaced the hardware, I could be right now as of less than a month ago. Anyone out there, back things up! If you have a burner use a CDRW. But back things up. Export your e-mail, favorites, cookies, anything that you need once a month. Takes 5 minutes.

There are really only two 'laws' that govern computers.

1) Sooner or later you WILL have a hardware failure.

2) If you run any version of windows, sooner or later you will have to re-install it.

Dang, but I DO get long winded sometimes! Sotty but it's my nature...

 

Pretty Much agree with just about every post in this thread but have another thought here too. After you flashed, you've been getting nothing but a green to yellow monitor LED. Before you trash everything and start from scratch, I'd give it a shot re: clearing CMOS and setting BIOS to default setup. Locate your CMOS jumpers and after unplugging the ATX power header from the Mobo itself, move the jumpers from 1&2 to 2&3, wait 5-10 seconds and rejumper to 1&2. Reconnect the power header, reboot and go directly into the BIOS and set it at default settings. F10 out let us know whats happening.

 

Really? Not trying to be 'smart' here or anything but teach me!

I had always thought that to clear cmos, ( is it my imagination or does it always seem to be J6 ) power had to be supplied to the board?? I've done this fairly often to clear out a password on a used board with power connected. I've always jumpered and turned on the machine. Of course nothing happened as it's resetting and nothing more with the jumper set to reset but have I been putting boards in danger by doing this with power connected? Actually have found that pulling the batterie wihout the board being in a case does the same pretty well. Is there a potential problem with what I've been doing?

 

Jay:

There are exceptions to every thing and some boards do require power on, but that is a very, very, very small fraction of the MoBo universe. You'll also find boards with absolutely no CMOS jumpers whereby pulling the battery is the only option. The procedure I referenced will cover just about everything on the market, but as I say that, somebody is going to come back and challenge it. So be it -

Next time you hit a situation that requires clearing CMOS, remember this post and give it a go - it will do the trick for you provided you have disconnected the ATX power header from the MoBo.

The reason I suggested this is that its a fairly simple procedure and while some boards will retain previous BIOS settings after a flash, many others will not. Some will not reboot at all until CMOS has been cleared and some require an "optimum" setting for first reboot - especially if a CPU has been changed. I guess this keeps things interesting and, although there's no substitution for a manufacturer's recommendations, I've been through a few things that a couple of manufacturers totally disavowed - understandable response, yes - valid response, no.

 

I have a 350 watt power supply in a new box I'm building. I'll try it and post later.

Mark