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[tomster2300]

Hey,

Ok, this is what happened. This morning I opened a strange email which we get a lot of. (Many charter customers get these, they were really bad at one time). It had an attachment which I didnt open which had a .doc.scr ending.

Well I was playing call of duty later on in the day and the screen began dividing into bars but was still playable. I quit and got back in a couple of times, and it still did it. The computer began rebooting itself as well. The desktop began going blurry so I cut the computer off. Now when I try to turn it on, it won't register that a monitor is plugged into it. I've tried two monitors, so I know it's not just something wrong with one of them. What is wrong? Is it a virus or is something wrong with my video card? Please help soon because I have a half written research paper on there which is due Monday Thanks.

[Doobie]

does the monitor not work when windows is loading or you cant see anything at all from the begining? Have you tried starting in safe mode (press F8 when winodws is loading). If you can get it to load in safe mode go to antivirus.com and do an online scan.

[tomster2300]

The computer will boot up, but it never recognizes a monitor is plugged in. I turn my monitor on and it says monitor is working, check signal cable and computer. When I turn the computer on, the monitor acts as if the computer is still off. No computer recognition whatsoever. This is really bad I know.

[tomster2300]

One more thing I've realized...you know when you turn a pc on and it goes through its inital boot up check--how the lights on your keyboard wil flash for a second when the pc checks to see everything is plugged in (it does this for me normally) I've realized that the keyboard lights do not flash, although the mouse comes on (it's an optical mouse, and it lights up like it should when the pc is turned on).

[SamuraiWarrior]

Well it is possible that that email contained a virus and you somehow opened it and it went array on your system.

[tomster2300]

I dont mean to overpost or whine but I really need to fix this problem this weekend, preferably tonight because I have my big research paper saved on the machine and it's not near to being finished. It's due Monday. Thanks.

My main concern is how do I get back into my computer if it will not allow a monitor to work. I could probably fix the virus (if there is one) on my own if I could get back into the system somehow.

[SamuraiWarrior]

When you boot the system tap the delete key and see if you can enter the bios. bios is seperate chip on the board and doesn't work through you HD. If you can do that than I suggest you do a clean format and install of windows.

[tomster2300]

Even though the monitor will not register (I see nothing) it should still let me into bios? I have to reinstall windows...there must be another way. I have a bunch of stuff saved on there which I can't lose.

[tomster2300]

I just found this

http://enterprisesecurity.symantec.c...articleid=2420

Could I have been a casualty? I didn't open the attachment though, just the email. I'd like to get my hands on the people who make these viruses....

[SamuraiWarrior]

That is possible, try to reload windows and see what happens. If tha fails then I'm lost as much as you are. I would first open up my case (this is a long shot) and remove the cmos battery for 30 seconds and put it back in to reset the system to its original state. you might want to also try just formating the HD in another systme than reloading windows in the original one.

[tomster2300]

Thanks Samurai for all the help. I'm gonna go try what you say, does anyone else know what to do? This isn't looking good.

[tomster2300]

I can't get into bios at all. I can't see anything I do because the monitor isnt working.

[oddjob]

Since there is important info on your drive, I strongly suggest that you DO NOT format it. If clearing the CMOS is successful, and you get your video back and you have access to another machine, you can download and try F-Prot from floppies to scan for any virii. Check the info from glc in this thread here: http://forum.pcmech.com/showthread.p...ighlight=fprot

Either that, or you can slave your drive into another machine and scan it there. Also, if you can slave it into another machine, you should be able to safely pull off any important data before considering a complete format.

[raftero]

i know this seems too simple,but have you tried another monitor or checked the monitor on another computer?

[tomster2300]

I brought the monitor from the pc I'm using now and tried it--still no luck.

[tomster2300]

Do you guys think it could be my video card that went bad? Or do you guys think it's a virus. I tried connecting my monitor to the port on my mobo, but it doesn't connect, I think I need an adaptor. Would you klnow what kind of adaptor I would need to connect an emachines flat screen crt monitor to an asus a7n8x-x mobo? Thanks. If I could try that then I could rule out video card or not.

[oddjob]

Do you have another vid card you can try? A7N8X-X doesn't have on-board video.

[tomster2300]

I took my vid card out and put it back in and the pc ran, though the desktop was weird looking. I ran the asus monitoring program and it gave problems for something called 3.3 V ---the results were out of the normal zone. The pc then rebooted itself, and came back on, but stayed on for a shorter time before rebooting itself. I think the pc reboots itself when that reading stays out of the norm for too long so it wont damage itself. What is 3.3 V? Is this my vid card dying? Thanks.

[tomster2300]

The video card is a geforce 4 ti4800 se agp card

I'm going to take the geforce 4 440 mx pci card out of my other pc and see if it works. (It's the only other one I have). I'd like to see what you guys say before I do this because if the problem isnt my video card and I put this other one in, I dont want it to get damaged. Thanks.

[pam123]

You can slave the HD to your other pc and get your paper off it that way.
3.3Volts is one of the power supply lines and your problem could be a malfunctioning power supply ( they don't all die with smoke and flames ) so you do have the option of swapping out power supplies to check as well.

[Alfie]

I would say it's probably not a virus,but rather the power supply or video card,could be the card isn't fully seated or the edge needs cleaning.
Remove the video card,clean the edge ,reinstall and see if it boots.
If you get into windows,uninstall the video card drivers and reinstall them.
If the problem persists,try another power supply.

[tomster2300]

I put the mx card in and booted. It came on and I ran the ASUS utility program. All reading were normal (two were a little below, but still in the normal zone). After a few minutes the utility showed the 3.3 V reading begin to drop, but then it corrected itself. I tried to play COD and it got to the loading screen of the level, then the pc turned itself off. I'm thinking the power supply is cool when the pc is first turned on, then as it warms up it's not able to provide enough power, becausing the voltage never increases, it just slowly drops until the pc turns itself off. What do you guys think. If it is a faulty psu, what would be a good replacement? It's a MAV-300P-P4 (No idea of the brand because it came with the case, which I think is a Zenith) Thanks.

[tomster2300]

The pc will not start now, I think the PSU is completely dead.

[FLG]

Most likely, replace it with a good quality 350w psu like, antec,enermax,sparkle,fortron source, or enlight.

[tomster2300]

I plan on buying a new one, but for the time being I've taken an old psu out of an old packard bell pc--will it work? When comparing the numbers on the sides of the psu, the dead one is a stronger than the old one I took out. Could I try it, or would it just not work, or would anything get damaged? Thanks.

[FLG]

Dont use it, usually psu's from companies (dell,compaq.ect) use there own power supplys,so you might destroy your whole comp if you use it. Dont use it ,just wait till you buy a new one.

[pam123]

How old ?
Packard Bell hasn't been in the American market for at least the last 4 years or so ( in fact I think it's longer than that ).
Take a good look at that power supply.
It will make your problems worse if it won't put out enough power or if it's proprietary and if it's AT form factor it's not what you can use.

[tomster2300]

Alright, I'm not even going to try that thing. It came out of an old 333 mhz packard bell we got long time ago. Well what kind of psu do I need? 300 watt or 350? Which brand? I think Im going to go buy one off the shelf because I need one today and dont have time to wait on shipping from newegg (though they are cheaper) At circuit city and best buy they only carry the antec brand. Is it ok? Plus, which one should I get out of this list

http://www.circuitcity.com/searchres...ts.jsp&c=1&b=g

Or out of this list?

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage....equestid=16064

What is the difference between truepower and smartpower?

Could you guys pick one from each list then pick an overall one? Thanks.

[FLG]

The best buy link doesnt work, but any 350w antec will be fine.

[pam123]

Originally posted by FLG The best buy link doesnt work, but any 350w antec will be fine.

Ditto.

edit : got the link to work.
Get the 350 watt smart power Antec from Circuit City, their prices are better.