Hi,
I ran into problems with my computer recently: the computer rebooted not to Windows XP anymore, not to the C prompt … all I got was a 100% black screen with just a blinking cursor line at the top left of the screen. I brought the computer to the repair store. Several pieces of hardware were replaced, cables were checked, contacts were cleaned etcetera … to no avail.
Back home I decided to reformat the HD and then to reinstall XP. And so I came to the following situation:
- computer boots to Windows XP as long as NO video drivers are installed; of cause display is not what it should be seen the absence of said drivers. I have several versions of appropriate drivers; tried them all.
- the moment the appropriate video drivers are installed, the computer boots to a 100% black screen as described before. It stays that way forever or until I reboot in "Safe Mode" where I can uninstall (or disable) said drivers;
- after uninstalling the drivers the computer boots again into Windows XP.
- when in DOS, text on the screen is not as it should be: words are misspelled, small and capital letters randomly mixed up, a lot of letters are replaced by punctuations such as exclamation points etcetera.
I also remember, during installation of Windows XP, the text on screen is once more not adequate and I had to quess more than once what key on the keybord to push in order to continue the installation successfully.

Motherboard: ASUS A7S333 – its AGP slot is only 4x
Video Card: Inno 3D GeForce S450 – this is already a 8x card
- can that cause problems? Meaning to say: can I eventually put a new GeForce 8x card in that 4x AGP slot without damaging anything? What about the voltage going to the card? I guess (I am not 100% sure) said Asus motherboard provides only 1,5 volt through its AGP slot ... is this sufficient for a GeForce 8x card?

I am also looking into the following:
- Control Panel\System\Hardware\Device Manager ... the device "Video Controller" has an exclamation point near to it when NO drivers are installed. What is this device "Video Controller": is it part of the motherboard or is it part of the video card? Indeed it seems to me that this could be the cause of the problem.

I contacted already and Asus and Nvidia on this matter. They responded quickly but with answers that were of no use (things such as “Install the latest drivers”, or “Check the cables” etcetera…

So maybe someone on this forum had similar problems with his or her computer and could provide me with more appropriate answers. Thanks for the cooperation.

So, if you boot into DOS your screen is displayed, but the charecters seem to be garbled?

To me this would sound more like a motherboard or something related issue.

The video card is only displaying what the motherboard is sending to it. If your screen in DOS is not flickering or looks completely normal except for garbled characters, I would not believe that the video card would be to blame.

Something sounds seriously messed up and it could take a lot of guess work to fix it. What did the computer repair shop say? They should have some type of diagnostics or something they could do to check the components.

It could be as simple as your BIOS, but it could even be your CPU, memory, bus, Motherboard, etc. etc.

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Hi ,,, thanks for your suggestions.
I replaced most hardware with equivalent stuff from my second computer here at home (hard drive, all cables, floppy drive, CD Writer, power supply) and disconnected not essential hardware (USB to PCI card, Modem card). Nothing that solved my problem. Motherboard was already replaced in a computer store ... this also did not help. Will go back to the store trying to replace the video card and hopefully I can stil find a 4x GeForce card. If this do not solve the issue, I will trow this computer in the garbage can.
Regards.

If you're serious about tossing it, see if you can donate it to a school or other charity. You should be able to get a tax write-off for it.

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I did not toss my computer yet. Video card was replaced and everything was OK ... for 1 and 1/2 days ... got now a "Invalid Boot Disk" error. A clooser examination teached me that the computer did not find any hard drive, not any CD Rom, it recognized only a Floppy drive. Replaced the data cables to HD and CDrom. Computer OK again ... just wandering for how long time. This is the first time (a work on a computer for over 10 years) that a machine do NOT find HD and CDrom at the same time. I am afraid already that something is wrong with the IDE ports (loose soldering for instance). Hard drive and CDrom are properly working when transfered to another computer. Did you experience somthing similar? Regards.

It's possible that the connections on the mobo are bad. When I was in college, one of my projects was to build my own workstation. The first time I did it the power was intermittent, so my instructor gave me a new but identical board. This one also had power issues. We tried a different brand and it worked. It turned out that the original type I was using had somehow got broken connections in the motherboard's inner layers for the power supply. It seems all the ones in that batch were bad, according to the store where my instructor bought them from. Sometimes these things happen but usually it's very rare.

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Hello,

Interesting story you told me there. Never heard before. In the mean time my computer went down again. Once more "Boot Disk Failure" because the machine don't detect the hard drive ... Primary Master:None, Secondary Master: CD Rom. I opened the casing and reconnected the data cable to the Hard Drive ... didn't solve the problem. Then I placed two fingers under the mobo near to the IDE slots, gave some upward pressure and restarted the computer. It worked!!! The machine booted normally into Windows. I repeated this procedure several times ... succesfully. I then inserted a plastic blok (similar to a Lego block) gently under the mobo near to the IDE slots. It still worked fine. During this procedure, the computer was placed horizontally on a small side table so it was more easy for me to reach its inside stuff. Then I closed the casing and placed the computer back on its desk (vertically as it should be). Started the machine ... and what did I get? ... nothing !! A black screen with a blinking cursor at the top left of the sreen. Just the same as 2 weeks ago before replacing the video card. Got the puter back onto that side table and in horizontal position ... repeated the 2 finger trick ... computer boots again normally ... I let it that way (except for my 2 fingers ofcause, I need them for other things).

Maybe I should tell you about another event that "plagued" my computer before all these recent problems ... even when the machine was stil "young". It occured sporadicly, meaning to say: it could occur 2 times in 1 day and then it could take 2 or more weeks before it happened again. Here the story: every now and then, when starting the computer, it opened rightaway into the BIOS setting without any intervention from my side. The BIOS screen opened with the "CPU Speed" highlighted. All I had to do: going to "Save Changes and Exit" ... press "Yes" ... press "Enter" to confirm and the machine went to Windows' opening screen without further problem.

Maybe (let us hope) all this info will enable you to send me some more indications regarding defective hardware of my computer. I really do hope to hear from you again. Thanks and regards. Eddy.

Based on the finger-method, I'd bet that the mobo itself is the culprit. Two things could be happening:
1. The mobo has broken connections, similar to my story. By pushing on the mobo w/ your fingers or the "Lego", the connections are aligned correctly and make contact like normal.

2. The mobo is touching the case slightly enough to be shorted out. This often happens if the case has elevated screw holes or not enough plastic support positions.

If you have the ability (time, money, etc.) then I'd try a new motherboard; get one from a place where you can return it if the problem isn't solved. You might also look at trying a different case. Look for one that will support the mobo in the locations you think are causing the problem, either with screws or plastic "standoffs".

No guarantees but it's what I would try.

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I would like to know how old this computer is... because you my be better off chucking it. Its only gonna cost you time and money.