Computer won't start windows when I turn it on...

Honestly it sounds like it's a bad BGA connection on the chipset which would mean new motherboard time. If it's making an intermittent connection if would make sense why it would start sometimes. A competent computer guy would diagnose this in no more than 10 minutes. This is only a guess because a few things could describe those problems but generally the motherboard is the heart of the computer and everything else is just an accessory.
 
Since the problem is based entirely on video, I'd say short of you hooking up a graphics card and seeing if that changes everything for you there's not much you can do.
 
Well another topic just came up here about whether or not I even have a slot on the board for a video card. I am going to check at lunch.
 
Gotta run, so a quick reply...

Uthinkso said:
Alright I just spoke with our IT guy. He asked me if there is a start up screen before the windows start-up screen appears. I told him that there is when it boots correctly. It is the MSI International little space scene and then windows XP boot screen comes up with its little scrolling deal.

Given that information, he feels that the issue isn't with my windows installation but rather that I need to flash the BIOS of the mobo. That something has interfeared with it and for some reason or another it isn't booting correctly. Does anyone have a clue what this means, rather how the hell do I get this fixed in the next 48hrs.
Click to expand...

Here's the deal. When you turn on your computer, the MB goes through a "pre-boot" sequence that is referred to as a "POST" - Power On Self Test. The POST starts when you see that first screen with the MSI logo... continues on through showing you the RAM size, HDDs connected, etc... and normally ends with a beep... where you'll then see the normal "starting Windows" screen. Everything in that POST process, from MSI logo to beep, is totally separate and has nothing to do with the OS - Windows. If you had a blank HDD, or no HDD, that post process should be the same. What this means, and your symptoms indicate, is that your problem is clearly hardware related... since your PC is not POST'ing consistently.

Not POSTing means a hardware problem and is most likely one of the core components... MB, CPU, PS, RAM, videocard. The quickest/easiest way, practically, to diagnose is trial and error by swapping each component with a known good component. You've already done this with the RAM, so that leaves 1 of the other 4 components as the problem. 2 of those components are very hard to swap - MB and CPU - so focus on the remaining 2 that are easy - video and PS. If you swap those two and still have problems, that leaves the MB/CPU... which basically means you're FUBAR'd anyway. New rig time.

As far as flashing the MB, sure you can try that, but I'd say it's a very low probability of fixing anything. You'll need to goto the MSI website, download the latest BIOS for your MB, download whatever tool (software program normally) that installs the BIOS (or creates the boot floppy/CD), then follow the directions to flash.... normally is just booting off of a floppy/CD/USB with that BIOS install tool and new BIOS. Personally, I don't think this is your problem, or going to help, since the PC ran fine for years with the current BIOS... nothing has changed... and if the BIOS somehow got corrupted, the root cause is probably a bad MB anyways (e.g. NVRAM died). You also need to be very careful when flashing... lose power during the flash and your MB is toast.

It sounds like you have on-board video. If that's the case, the MB most likely has an AGP slot that will disable the on-board video when a secondary videocard is installed. I think this is your next step. If u need to borrow an AGP videocard, just yell.... I have several. I also have a spare PS if you want to borrow one of those too to test.






Killjoy said:
As far as what to do from here, I would get my hands on a known-good AGP videocard and swap it in... see if the POSTS consistently. If so, it's the VC. If not, swap a known good PS in and see what happens. If still not booting consistently, it's probably the MB (or CPU, but unlikely).
Click to expand...
 
Killjoy said:
Gotta run, so a quick reply...



Here's the deal. When you turn on your computer, the MB goes through a "pre-boot" sequence that is referred to as a "POST" - Power On Self Test. The POST starts when you see that first screen with the MSI logo... continues on through showing you the RAM size, HDDs connected, etc... and normally ends with a beep... where you'll then see the normal "starting Windows" screen. Everything in that POST process, from MSI logo to beep, is totally separate and has nothing to do with the OS - Windows. If you had a blank HDD, or no HDD, that post process should be the same. What this means, and your symptoms indicate, is that your problem is clearly hardware related... since your PC is not POST'ing consistently.

Not POSTing means a hardware problem and is most likely one of the core components... MB, CPU, PS, RAM, videocard. The quickest/easiest way, practically, to diagnose is trial and error by swapping each component with a known good component. You've already done this with the RAM, so that leaves 1 of the other 4 components as the problem. 2 of those components are very hard to swap - MB and CPU - so focus on the remaining 2 that are easy - video and PS. If you swap those two and still have problems, that leaves the MB/CPU... which basically means you're FUBAR'd anyway. New rig time.

As far as flashing the MB, sure you can try that, but I'd say it's a very low probability of fixing anything. You'll need to goto the MSI website, download the latest BIOS for your MB, download whatever tool (software program normally) that installs the BIOS (or creates the boot floppy/CD), then follow the directions to flash.... normally is just booting off of a floppy/CD/USB with that BIOS install tool and new BIOS. Personally, I don't think this is your problem, or going to help, since the PC ran fine for years with the current BIOS... nothing has changed... and if the BIOS somehow got corrupted, the root cause is probably a bad MB anyways (e.g. NVRAM died). You also need to be very careful when flashing... lose power during the flash and your MB is toast.

It sounds like you have on-board video. If that's the case, the MB most likely has an AGP slot that will disable the on-board video when a secondary videocard is installed. I think this is your next step. If u need to borrow an AGP videocard, just yell.... I have several. I also have a spare PS if you want to borrow one of those too to test.
Click to expand...

Awesome post. Thank you. I went home and checked and I do have a slot. This motherboard is similar to mine http://www.pcstats.com/articleview.cfm?articleID=1802
 
Well the search continues. Dave was good enough to drop off a vid card with me last night. I put my daughter to bed, and then went to put the card in. I have a slot for one, but my slot is about an inch and a half longer than the card I got from Dave. Does this mean that I have a more modern type of card?

What would a card cost me if I roll into Best Buy and get one? What type of card is it that I am looking for?
 
Did you build this machine? If so, tell us what the model number is. MSI makes a ton of boards. If it's longer though I would say PCI. Not PCI-e. Just PCI.
 
stalked_R/T said:
Did you build this machine? If so, tell us what the model number is. MSI makes a ton of boards. If it's longer though I would say PCI. Not PCI-e. Just PCI.
Click to expand...

Yes I built the machine. It is an MSI K8 RS-480, I'm not a computer guy per say but the computer monger at the store wanted $500 to put it together. It can't be that hard and it wasn't.
 
Does it look like this?
http://blogulate.com/content/msi-rs-480-m2-il-2-specifications/
rs480.jpg


If that's the board, it has a PCIe slot for video, not AGP. You'll need a PCIe videocard. BBY has them starting at ~$34. A "good" PCIe card is ~$150 if you game at all.
http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?_dyncharset=ISO-8859-1&_dynSessConf=-437871696123896280&id=pcmcat182300050008&type=category&usc=abcat0500000&cp=1&sp=%2Bcurrentprice+skuid&nrp=15&qp=crootcategoryid%23%23-1%23%23-1~~q70726f63657373696e6774696d653a3e313930302d30312d3031~~cabcat0500000%23%230%23%231nn~~cabcat0507000%23%230%23%233b~~cabcat0507001%23%230%23%231q~~cabcat0507002%23%230%23%2317~~ncpcmcat182300050008%23%230%23%23c&pagetype=listing

Though, you might want to buy from Newegg (cheaper) or borrow one from someone just to see if the VC is the actual problem.
 
It looks a lot like that. The only difference is that there is a small lever on the right hand side of the black slot. What are the two white slots for ?
 
Two white slots are PCI slots... used for things like soundcards, modems, videocapture cards, network cards, etc. The dark brown/black slot closest to the CPU is the PCIe slot.

PCIe and PCI are different animals...

In the olden days (> 7 years ago), videocards came in PCI. Then they moved to the AGP slot, then PCIe slot. However, even though you have 2 PCI slots, a PCI videocard will not work. One slot on the board is designated as the "video slot"... PCIe in your case. A PCI videocard will plug into one of your two white slots, but will not work (POST).
 
After looking closer it is deffinitely PCI-e. I am going to grab one from Best Buy this weekend and try it. If nothing else it would probably be better than whats onboard, so I'm calling it an upgrade either way.
 
Ok a little update here. I installed a graphics card and it booted right up. I installed the driver and it worked fine. Unfortunately now I can't access the internet though, and I've lost sound. Apparently when you override the graphics part you take out the sound as well. I'm gonna have a cat one of my buddies knows fix this thing. I've dicked with it too long.

Thank you for all the tips here.
 
Yeah, mine turned out to be pretty shitty....I think it got fried from a bad storm... Mobo took a crap. Replaced it all.. Then the DVD/RW took a crap. I got it running 100% last night.
 
Well I had a buddy of mine check it out and apparently I'm a numb nut. When I swapped the board I didn't have the brass screws that hold the board into the case lined up correctly and it caused the board to short out in certain areas. So now I'm on the hunt for a board. Plus I have the wrong power supply for my board, but it will be a stud when I get it working again.
 
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