Screwy computer issues Help! (long read)
My Dad has a Dell computer about 5 years old running XP Home edition. He was experiencing difficulty with really slow dial up speeds (9.8 KBs, etc) and not being able to stay connected.
I brought the computer to my house to determine if it was a phone line issue. I plugged in my monitor, keyboard, and mouse. Everything seemed to work fine.
I took his computer back to his place but when we attempted to boot it up it said the modem was missing or not connected so we opened the case to make sure nothing had gotten jostled loose, then the computer wouldn't boot up at all. Removing the modem completely did allow it to boot up so we got a replacement modem and the computer worked fine in the computer store.
Back to Dad's house - computer again won't boot up. Back to my house, bringing his keyboard and mouse along. Computer works fine with my kb & mouse. Shut it down, change out keyboard, still works, change out mouse, won't work. Put different mouse, does work. So I used it for a few hours before disconnecting everything.
Now comes the screwy part: When I tried to start my computer (2 years old XP Pro) I got nothing at all, not even an attempt to boot up. The screen just said "No signal input" So I switched out to Dad's keyboard and the old mouse and now I am up and running.
WTH is going on here? Could it be the XP anti-pirate features messing up? Is there such a thing as a virus that can be passed by hardware such as keyboard or mouse?
It's four hours until most computer places open - any thoughts on what to do about this welcome.
I brought the computer to my house to determine if it was a phone line issue. I plugged in my monitor, keyboard, and mouse. Everything seemed to work fine.
I took his computer back to his place but when we attempted to boot it up it said the modem was missing or not connected so we opened the case to make sure nothing had gotten jostled loose, then the computer wouldn't boot up at all. Removing the modem completely did allow it to boot up so we got a replacement modem and the computer worked fine in the computer store.
Back to Dad's house - computer again won't boot up. Back to my house, bringing his keyboard and mouse along. Computer works fine with my kb & mouse. Shut it down, change out keyboard, still works, change out mouse, won't work. Put different mouse, does work. So I used it for a few hours before disconnecting everything.
Now comes the screwy part: When I tried to start my computer (2 years old XP Pro) I got nothing at all, not even an attempt to boot up. The screen just said "No signal input" So I switched out to Dad's keyboard and the old mouse and now I am up and running.
WTH is going on here? Could it be the XP anti-pirate features messing up? Is there such a thing as a virus that can be passed by hardware such as keyboard or mouse?
It's four hours until most computer places open - any thoughts on what to do about this welcome.
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It sounds like one of those two devices may be shorting out, this would cause the computer not to boot. 0 -
Is your computer and HP? HP Keyboards have different (less) voltage. They will usually work on other systems but not always. Same goes for swapping keyboards back to HP. 0 -
Henry -
An interesting problem...
First you need to understand that a virus (or any malware) is merely a program written and executed with ill intentions. It's really no different than any other program. Malware won't affect the system until the actual boot procedure begins.
The actual system boot is as follows: At this time the machine powers on and does a few simple checks that are hard-wired into the system. Then it looks at the BIOS where basic instructions are retained for the rest of the boot procedure. (BIOS is contained on the motherboard and is flashable.)
BIOS tells the machine how to boot and what to expect as far as peripherals are concerned. This is an area of the system that can be corrupted on occasion, but usually remains safe from hackers and malware. What it isn't safe from is a flash (update) that's corrupt or failed to load properly. Usually this causes different symptoms than mentioned.
I believe that there's a better than even chance that you have a hardware problem... Possibly more than one. Some of what you've shared leads me to suspect either a power supply or motherboard failure. I don't preclude a bad mouse or a bad peripheral board, but it's all very suspicious.
"No Signal" displayed on your monitor at boot is a good indication that you have a voltage missing. This can be caused by a shorted peripheral device, shorted RAM, or just about any other failed component. While it could be a sign of a bad power supply, I'd be more likely to conclude that the PS noted a short on start-up and shut itself down as designed. This is sometimes a bit hard to spot as the cooling fan will continue to run on some units.
My short course on trouble shooting is that you can remove just about every peripheral component on the system and it'll still attempt to boot. Start with your drives. Unplug power and data cables. (Obviously you won't get a full boot, but that's ok.) Next, remove the keyboard, then the mouse and try to boot. Remove your PCI boards and your AGP board and try to boot. Even if you remove your display board, the machine will merely indicate the problem with a series of beeps.
Memory is a bit more complicated in that your motherboard could be set up in several configurations. Some require only a single piece of RAM to run. Others require a matched set of RAM. (Consult your manual.) In any case it would be a good idea to swap RAM or remove pieces and rotate them into the machine in order to possible locate a bad component. Note - The PC will not attempt a boot without proper RAM in place.
Good luck.0 -
quote:Originally posted by slipgate
Is your computer and HP? HP Keyboards have different (less) voltage. They will usually work on other systems but not always. Same goes for swapping keyboards back to HP.
Nope, not HP
Dad's is a Dell and mine is made by http://www.villagegeek.com0
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