powers up but nothing happens

[kam31uf]

I recently installed a new graphics card, upgraded to XP, and installed a new HD to my computer. Then I transferred some files from my old HD to the new one. Everything was working perfectly. Then I took the computer home from my mom's house and on the way home the CPU slid from one side of the car to the other hitting the door. Got home connected everything and started it up. Everything was fine I signed in to the desktop and was getting ready to open a program when the screen went black. THe power was still on but there weren't any lights on the front of the cpu. I had to hold in the button to shut it down. Then I tried again...7 more times... and each time it would power up and go through the 1st startup screen and the 2nd, but then it would do the same thing. The fan still runs and I took the cover off to see if anything had come loose. One of the black and white wires(that leads to the power button) was loose so I pushed it back in. Still nothing. PLease if anyone has a clue that would be super.

 

[CorruptedLogic]

Sounds a long shot, but did you have your shiny new video card in a high resolution on your moms monitor?..if so, could be that your original monitor deos not support the high resolution of your video card. Try booting up, hitting the f8 key for teh menu and selecting VGA mode...again, this IS a long shot!!

 

[kam31uf]

That was a long shot, thanks, but to no avail...I am starting to really worry.

 

[CorruptedLogic]

How about booting from your XP CD and selecting the Repair option from the install options?..you might want to check out a few other suggestions first as this could be quite a drastic step...though it may prove neccessary!

 

[kam31uf]

Im not sure that would matter as it seems that it wont allow me to see anything after the 2nd startup screen, before I even see the Win XP screen. Its like it loses connection visually to the monitor during the boot up.

 

[CorruptedLogic]

Ok, so you get the regular POST screen, then you get the progress bar running from left to right...then it turns black, right before the Windows XP logo appears? (just clarifying the problem!)

 

[kam31uf]

never see the progress bar running back and forth just the 1st and 2nd DOS like screens

 

[CorruptedLogic]

Try reinstalling you old hard disk and booting to your previous OS (assuming that you didn't format the old disk already!). If it boots fine, then chances are that you'll need to re-install XP on the new hard disk. If it still won't boot, you've probably cracked a board when the PC got slammed in the car....

 

[kam31uf]

would I be able to see a cracked board? How come I was able to boot completely the first time, would that be possible?

 

[CorruptedLogic]

You may not be able to see a crack in the board (especially if it is a multi-layer board). Could be that it was "kind of cracked" and then the PC heated up, causing just enough expansion that it "really cracked". Do you still have the original HDD with the OS on it?..if so, i'd try booting from that, its gonna be 100 times quicker than trying to repair the new version of XP (which may not need reapairing!)....try it out and see what happens...good luck!

 

[kam31uf]

I still have the old HD, so if the old HD works fine then I can assume the motherboard is damaged? thank you for all your assitance. Hopefully this will work. I wish this could have been a cheaper endeavor!

 

[micker377]

No, if the mobo is OK, it will boot with the old drive. If the motherboard is bad, it WON'T boot.

 

[CorruptedLogic]

Micker, you took the words right out of my mouth...

 

[kam31uf]

Well guess its the HD cause it started fine with the old one. Bad news is my mom was using that HD for another computer and some of my data is gone. Even if the HD is keeping it from booting is there a chance the data on it is still good?