Ok so my xp machine wont boot up, as in no signal whatsoever is being sent to the display, despite powering up ok. The Dell diagnostic lights at the back arent on at all, which the manual suggests could be a pre-bios failure.
However, previous to being switched on, I opened up the computer for a good clean and to try to figure out how to remove the heatsink. For the cleaning i removed the fan (separate to the heatsink, the two share a plastic shroud) and front panel, and removed a **** of a lot of dust!
I did give the ol' sink a good jiggle, without actually removing it.
I then fitted everything back together and now this.
Made sure all the interconnects inside were in and swapped the RAM into another slot, checked the VGA cable was working - no improvement. So, did i fry the mobo? I opened her up a few days ago and removed and put back the 56k modem, and it was fine, but i didnt get quite this intimate. In terms of grounding myself thoroughly - I touched the radiator with both hands - it seemed to work for one of the IT tech guys who fixed another computer!
It was working fine before - i did a complete re-format and re-install to get the start up time down to 4.5 mins from a staggering 10.5 mins. I know 4.5 mins isnt exactly speedy either, but the machines stats will probably indicate why thats the best:
Dell Dimension 2400
Northwood based Celeron 2.4Ghz
512mb 333Mhz DDR RAM
40Gb Seagate Barracuda
Intel 845GV with Onboard Graphics
Hiper 460W PSU (this replaced the std. PSU when that gave up the ghost - no problems.)
It had been replaced as the family PC and was sitting idle in the loft for 2 years, so my aim was to upgrade it a bit to learn about PC hardware, but have I fallen at the first hurdle?
However, previous to being switched on, I opened up the computer for a good clean and to try to figure out how to remove the heatsink. For the cleaning i removed the fan (separate to the heatsink, the two share a plastic shroud) and front panel, and removed a **** of a lot of dust!
I did give the ol' sink a good jiggle, without actually removing it.
I then fitted everything back together and now this.
Made sure all the interconnects inside were in and swapped the RAM into another slot, checked the VGA cable was working - no improvement. So, did i fry the mobo? I opened her up a few days ago and removed and put back the 56k modem, and it was fine, but i didnt get quite this intimate. In terms of grounding myself thoroughly - I touched the radiator with both hands - it seemed to work for one of the IT tech guys who fixed another computer!
It was working fine before - i did a complete re-format and re-install to get the start up time down to 4.5 mins from a staggering 10.5 mins. I know 4.5 mins isnt exactly speedy either, but the machines stats will probably indicate why thats the best:
Dell Dimension 2400
Northwood based Celeron 2.4Ghz
512mb 333Mhz DDR RAM
40Gb Seagate Barracuda
Intel 845GV with Onboard Graphics
Hiper 460W PSU (this replaced the std. PSU when that gave up the ghost - no problems.)
It had been replaced as the family PC and was sitting idle in the loft for 2 years, so my aim was to upgrade it a bit to learn about PC hardware, but have I fallen at the first hurdle?