Computer Boots up however nothing on monitor

[scratchy]

Hey guys,

Not much to do with trainz but still, i figured there'd be a few people out there who know a fair bit about computers.

My computers just come back from the shop, its data was erased recently. A few checks where run to see if the data could be recovered however all were unsuccessful. So the computer came back today and I set it up, and im 100% sure every things where it should be, but when i turn the computer on something weird happens. The tower starts up ok i think, i can hear all the fans whirling and stuff but the monitor still says it has no signal... The caps lock works on the keyboard as well.
There are a few things on the net about this happening, suggesting i reset the ram and that the motherboard could be bust, but i doesn't explain for idiots (me) how to go about repairing it.

Can anyone help? :wave:

 

[lewisner]

Have you tried connecting your monitor to every possible connector?

 

[scratchy]

Have you tried connecting your monitor to every possible connector?

I though i had but i double checked and found another shot at the very bottom (faceplam) and guess what it works! Now i have another problem thou, the screen does its black page setup thinky and says this:

Press F3 to start your PC in System Restore Utility
Error bootPress F3 to start your PC in System Restore Utility

stupid thing is, it won't let me press F3... anyway around this?

 

[NikkiA]

I though i had but i double checked and found another shot at the very bottom (faceplam) and guess what it works! Now i have another problem thou, the screen does its black page setup thinky and says this:

Press F3 to start your PC in System Restore Utility
Error bootPress F3 to start your PC in System Restore Utility

stupid thing is, it won't let me press F3... anyway around this?

You DO have a keyboard connected, right?

If so, you might want to try a PS/2 keyboard instead, as it sounds like the USB legacy keyboard/mouse support doesn't extend to the BIOS features (dumb, but I've seen several BIOSes written that way)

 

[scratchy]

You DO have a keyboard connected, right?

If so, you might want to try a PS/2 keyboard instead, as it sounds like the USB legacy keyboard/mouse support doesn't extend to the BIOS features (dumb, but I've seen several BIOSes written that way)

I've tried both the USB and the PS/2 keyboards.. I know they both work because when i press ctrl alt delete it restarts. It also says i should try F8 to get up some other startup options but that doesnt work either.
If i find the windows disk will it boot off that and get rid of the message?

 

[lewisner]

Or it may be that your keyboard has gotten altered to another countries configuration - I've had this happen for no apparent reason where it has alted from UK to US .

 

[scratchy]

Or it may be that your keyboard has gotten altered to another countries configuration - I've had this happen for no apparent reason where it has alted from UK to US .

Possibly, but i dont think the F keys change thou do they? I've spammed just about every key when its on that black screen but nothing changes, except from when i press F3 before the message comes up and it repeats this error constantly Error bootPress F3 to start your PC in System Restore Utility

 

[nexusdj]

When you start the computer up keep pressing the "F3" key constantly or try pressing the "Delete" key to get into the bios setup ?

If you've got corrupted information on the hard drive then the computer wont boot up into the operating system as the boot key will be missing . Have you got the disks for the operating system ?

 

[scratchy]

When you start the computer up keep pressing the "F3" key constantly or try pressing the "Delete" key to get into the bios setup ?

If you've got corrupted information on the hard drive then the computer wont boot up into the operating system as the boot key will be missing . Have you got the disks for the operating system ?

Yes i can get into the bios setup by pressing delete but i dont really know what to do from there, i set it to fail-safe defaults but that didnt seem to do anything.
I have a bad feeling that a corrupt hd is the problem..
By operating system do u mean the windows disks? I'm looking for them at the moment.

 

[Gandalf0444]

Sounds like there is no operating system installed, or is corrupt and can't boot, or it is a hard drive issue, or the file system on the hard drive has errors and it will not let windows boot because of it.

The fact that it says F3 for a system restore utility leads me to believe that it may have a recovery partition, although it could have been deleted as well, seeing as how you lost all the data already.

Your best bet would be to get the operating system discs and try to boot to the CD/DVD then install the OS. Sounds like the place you brought it to did not finish the job fully.

Or in the case if it is windows XP you can do a windows repair if the OS is already installed and for some reason won't boot.

You can obviously try and find the discs around the house, or buy a new set from the computer manufacturer if it is a pre-built system from HP or Dell etc. Or you can go about other means with torrents and such....

 

[masterowner]

Try changing the input source on your monitor.

 

[shaneturner12]

Also, if it happens to be Windows Vista or 7, there should be a Startup Repair tool available on the Windows install DVD.

If it's XP, it's probably going to need the Recovery Console which you should be able to access using a Windows XP installation DVD.

Shane

 

[tension69]

If you can get to the bios it's deffo not the monitor.

If you can't find your Win disk you're going to need a new one, and v likely another hard disk. Seems to me most likely corrupt boot sector and/or corrupted start up files.

Can you see the hard disk listed in the bios? If you can then look hard for your win disk, a fresh install will prolly do it.

I'd take it back to the shop, with a shotgun

Edit : I'd take the case apart first and make sure some noob at the shop has recabled everything inside correctly(if they were poking around inside). Make sure everything is seated correctly etc. You may not know about such things, and I'm sorry, I can't help you with that from here....

 

[Euphod]

Some keyboards have an "F lock" key which must be pushed to toggle on and off the functionality of the F keys.

 

[privite]

Hi,

What windows are you using, vista, xp etc. Also make sure you dont have scroll lock on as well, and you could also try pressing the up & down arrows on your keyboard when it comes up with the bit saying, press F3 and all that

 

[privite]

If you can't find your Win disk you're going to need a new one, and v likely another hard disk. Seems to me most likely corrupt boot sector and/or corrupted start up files.

I agree that your start-up menu may have been deleted/moved by accident, with out this your pc cant start

 

[BLACKWATCH]

Sorry folks, but I think you have all missed the main point here, to quote the OP 'Scratchy' .....................

My computers just come back from the shop

Surely the first advice we should be giving is, 'Take it back to the shop', as clearly, they have not provided their customer with a working machine.

Why should Scratchy be on here asking for help from amateurs, when they entrusted the sorting out of their machine to a (so called) professional outlet ?

 

[Gandalf0444]

Sorry folks, but I think you have all missed the main point here, to quote the OP 'Scratchy' .....................


Surely the first advice we should be giving is, 'Take it back to the shop', as clearly, they have not provided their customer with a working machine.

Why should Scratchy be on here asking for help from amateurs, when they entrusted the sorting out of their machine to a (so called) professional outlet ?

It does sound like they did a botched up job and didn't finish what they were supposed to. If my boss caught me sending out something like that I would've been fired a long time ago. Then again he may have agreed to something that we do not know about, or some weird shop policy.

 

[madclarinet]

I would also suggest taking it back to the shop and ask them.

If you can see and get into the BIOS menu then it isn't the monitor. Sounds like a different error though - if there was no operating system or bad boot block then you would see an error (as both of those errors would come from the BIOS).

See if you can get the boot menu by hitting F8 just after the BIOS screen appears (if it doesn't then start tapping when the keyboard light comes on).

It could well be that they wiped the drive itself so you won't have a 'system recovery' console as there is no 'recovery' partition.

 

[tension69]

Sorry folks, but I think you have all missed the main point here, to quote the OP 'Scratchy' .....................


Surely the first advice we should be giving is, 'Take it back to the shop', as clearly, they have not provided their customer with a working machine.

Why should Scratchy be on here asking for help from amateurs, when they entrusted the sorting out of their machine to a (so called) professional outlet ?

I didn't miss it.

READ my 1st post.

I'd take it back to the shop, with a shotgun

And I'm no computer amateur, thanks. I've been building them for 20 years, and worked in the industry as a game designer.

I'm getting increasingly frustrated by people on this forum making innacurate assumptions about people's talents, when all we're trying to do is help..........................................