So Strange & Unexplainable!

Hi guys,

I've got a problem which relates to my monitor or graphics/video card or something else. Beieve me; so far I don't have an idea! As far as my efforts concern for me it's really strange and unexplainable. Let me explain:

The problem started when I was browsing as usual some of my files on my hard disk and all of a sudden the PC restarted by itself and the first thing I noticed was that as soon as the system restarted a few constant but unusual beeps could be heard immediately (never heard them before when I restarted or when I switch on my PC) and also strange colors appeared on my monitor (sort of the primitive graphics of the very old days) when the system tried to start windows. In fact the screen showed strange blue graphics on the screen (almost one whole big blue box) but looking in deep you can tell there was the XP welcome screen at the very back of the graphics. But at the same time, it was impossible to figure out anything in detail. As a result, I pushed the restart button and the same beeps could be heard at the very beginning which indicate straight away that there's something wrong. Also, this time the monitor wasn't able to switch on by it's own as it usually does when I do a restart and thus a black screen was displayed on the moitor's screen. However the tower could be heard that's it's working properly and that it was loading windows and in fact the light on my keyboard and my mouse showed that as the system related to the tower concerns, it was working properly. However the monitor was still switched off. As a result I tried to switch on the monitor manually by pushing its button. When I tried to switch it on, after 2 seconds on green light with still black screen, the monitor went back to standby (or switched off). I tried to do this several times with no success.

I turned off the PC and when I switched it on again, the same exact problems repeated themselves. Then I decided to connect and test on a 2nd tower that I have at home with windows XP installed and working properly. I connected this 2nd tower to My Monitor as my first suspicion was that something was wrong with My Monitor. To my surprise, both the monitor worked fine and also my 2nd tower. In fact the monitor switched on automatically as it's supposed to do so and also Windows XP was loaded normally.

As a result, I changed the tower with the problematic one once again and there again first the annoying beeps and then the black screen (in other words the same problems as explained above). After several times of trying - nothing.

I thought it must be something wrong with the graphics/video card then. This morning I took the problematic tower at my workplace and after I explained the problem to the IT people, they changed my 128MB videocard with an available new 64MB video card which from the very first tests worked just fine. After 4 restarts the system worked perfectly and even the beeps and the black screen disappeared and the problem seemed to have been solved. Obviously I didn't take my monitor to my workplace-only the tower. Then they just connected my tower to one of their monitors.

To my surprise, as soon as I arrived back home from work with my new 64MB video card, I tried to switch on my PC and it worked fine. However after 5 minutes after that I logged in Windows XP, the system restarted on its own and suddenly, first the annoying beeps were heard at the beginning and then at a certain point in time the screen turned half black and half yellow but the monitor's button indicator was green-meaning that it was switched on. After a while everything was working properly and windows were loaded normally.

When I tried to restart to check whether the problem was solved, from the very beginning I could tell that the problem was still there as the beeps were heard immediately. Then, not even half of the monitor was coloured as in fact it wasn't able to switch on. The monitor was once again turned off and only black was displayed on the screen. I tried to switch on manually my monitor by pushing its button but no success. Exactly the symptoms of my initial problem were evident!!! I tried to restart and switch off to start from scratch but nothing: just the same things were happening:-(

What I can't explain are the following:

- Howcome My Monitor was working just fine and properly when I connected it with My 2nd Tower? The only thing I did was to exchange the cables from my 1st Tower to the 2nd. All the plugs to the power supply connections remained the same.

- And why My "Problematic" or else My 1st Tower is working just fine when connected to the Monitor at my Workplace with the new 64MB graphics card whilst the same system is not working properly when connecdted with My home's Monitor; which is the same monitor which has not at all any problems when connected to my 2nd tower?

Just to let you know, after several restarts I now managed not to get the beeps at the beginning which meant that this problem was not going to show up and in fact it did not show up as I'm sending my post from the problematic tower right now connected to My Monotor at home! However I'm sending because I know that there are still problems in My PC! and the problems will show up soon. :-(

Can someone please help me? I'm really confused and to me it's something really strange. Please help.

Thanks a lot in advance for yout time and support.

P.S. I classified my problem under hardware problems however I'm not quite sure whethet it's a harware or a software related problem.

Best Regards,

Corolla

 

What else do you have connected to the errant pc? Particularly USB devices.

Disconnect everything, including usb hubs and use normal keyboard and mouse if possible, connect them straight to the pc if not.

If the problem disappears, reconnect things one at a time until something shows.

 

Hi Studiot,

Actually I don't have any particular USB devices connected. Both the mouse and keyboard are not connected via USB. Both are connected directly to the PC via the usual connection (I forgot the technical name).

One more thing, the system as it is has been like this for more than 1 year. That is all the devices connected, like the mouse, keyboard, speakers, mike and modem connection have been connected this way for more than a year and I has no problems until yesterday.

Thanks,

Corolla

 

It could be lots of things, so before you ask your IT dept to do a soak test and look for motherboard hairline cracks or shorts make sure it is not down to anything at all you have connected to the pc.

Try also the keyboard and mouse from your other unit.

 

Hi,

Thanks a lot for your reply.

Actually, since the first time I posted my problem here, (touch wood), my PC is still doing great and funnily enough I haven't done anything!!! I've been using it regularly since then without any problems! Fortunately I haven't had any problems since then!!! Originaly, I thought that the problem will pops out again very soon unless I take an action but however here I am!

Like the last time's ending note, I'm not sure whether this is something temproary or not. I still have got a small doubt at the back of my mind.

Anyway, apparently I have still to wait and see.

I will post again and let you know just in case I have to face again the problem.

Thanks a lot for your help and assistance.

Best Regards,

Corolla315

 

Thanks for the feedback.

If you need to switch off a pc via the mechanical start button/switch on the front panel because the software has lost control and the machine won't shut down don't just cut the electrical power at a switch on the back or the wall or yank the cord out.

Hold the front panel button in for about 10 seconds. The machine will shut itself down without danger of corrupting your har drive (windows).