eMachine C2480 won't boot?

[Grizzlednewbie]

Hi,
I have a eMachine C2480 that won't boot. The symptoms are:
Monitor has self diagnostic when turned on, Screen message says,"No Signal, please check video cable and pc unit." PC power supply will run, and power supply fan runs. DVD and CD-RW drive lights will light up momentarily, no beeps during startup process, then only the power light will blink off and on, until turned off by pressing and holding the power button for about 20 seconds? I tried resetting the CMOS setting by using the procedure recommended by the manufacturer, pulled the battery for 30 seconds, and tried booting with a only HD, Video, Keyboard & Mouse after pulling out the network and modem cards. but nothing.
A older PC made by PB shows the exact symptoms, but the PB breakdown happened 3 days earlier. I check the PB first doing the same procedure as the eMachine and concluded the hardware had given up the ghost. So when the eMachine had the same problems, I immediately thought virus, as far I can tell users were not using any anti-virus programs. The eMachine did have anti-spyware programs running, by it's user.
My question is this: Is my conclusion correct or am I missing the obvious?

 

[ski]

Use an AV boot disk to check for viruses.

If no ne are found, then make sure the monitor's video cable is securely connected.

If ok, then check it for any bent or missing pins.

If ok, then try a different monitor.

If another monitor does not work, then reseat the video card making sure it's fully seated.

If no luck, then try a different known working video card.
If no luck, then the AGP port may be bad.
If a PCI video card is used, then try it in a different slot.
If the system uses a video adapter built into the MB, then
install a video card.

 

[Enkrypted]

In addition to Ski's advice, also make sure the memory is firmly seated in it's slot.

Also, if you have an additional power supply, try testing the system with that. I use to have a machine that would shut itself down and the power light would flash like you described. Turned out to be a bad power supply.

Enkrypted
A+

 

[Grizzlednewbie]

Hi,
Finally, I was able diagnose what was going on with this machine. The CPU had given up the ghost, and took a new mb and CPU plus another PC with compatible RAM sockets to narrow it down to the CPU. I told the user to find the recovery CD since changing the CPU and the mb caused WIN XP Home to request a reactivation of the product. I hope he can find it or else he's looking a reinstall of WIN XP......

Thanks again for all the suggestions and help!!!!!!!