No video?!?

This is a Compaq Persario SW1923WM..
upgraded to a AMD dual core 4400
and 2.5gig ram running windows XP Media
When i got up this morning and turned it on i had no video.. I will take you threw what i did..

First this video card and ram came out a system that was hit by lighting...

So i thought the Video card gave out because of its past so first i pulled it and the ram and hit the power to see if the mobo would beep showing that it was working and it did. So i put the ram back in and tried the onboard video and it loaded up. So i put the Video card back in and got no video but i heard the PC load into windows so i pulled it out and hooked back up the onboard and it still loaded fine.. Well today just so happens a new card came in someone gave me so i thought no worries and put it in and still got nothing.... Now if i leave it in and have the monitor hooked up to the VGA onboard it will load up just fine but windows does not see the ATI video card i put in it... Now i know BIOS will disable the other if not in use but i am unsure... So i am thinking the PCI-E slot is toast or My brand new 23.6inch HD monitors DVI port is gone... I am waiting to get to my DVI to VGA thingy to test that idea by hooking the DVI to the VGA on board video. but am i right in what i think?

 

Well its not the Monitor just tested the DVI on another rig and it worked so i guess the PCI-E slot is bad

 

What can make a PCI-E slot go bad?

 

"hit by lighting..."


Ahahahaha! Sorry, but that is funny. Just picturing the computer sitting out in a field minding it's own business when WhAM! It gets hit by lightening.Too funny!

I don't know the BIOS in that machine and I'm too lazy to Google for you, but maybe there's a toggle for which it looks for first, the PCI-E onboard or the PCI-Card slot and for some reason defaults to the onboard even if you have nothing attached to it. I don't really know but I spotted your posting and after downing a few beers I figured I'd chime in instead of watching you post to yourself. Try another PCI-E slot if you have one?

 

This computer is afew years old so it only has one... But the PCI-E slot has only been used for like 3 months lol I wonder if maybe a BIOS flush or something might fix the problem

 

I have not noticed anything else not working like it should but Everest always showed everything about this mainboard like the chipset and name of the board but now it don't..... Could the drivers/firmware be screwed up?

 

Possibly a silly question, but have you tried another video card? I've had several to go bad in various pc's.

 

I have tried the only two video cards i have one is a Nvidia EVGA 9600 and the other ATI 1650Pro