Strange problem booting - my monitor loses its signal
I will try to keep this brief but bear with me, it has been a long day for me trying to fix this problem.
I have a Gigabyte GA-7DPXDW mobo with Dual Athlon MP 1800's. It hasn't been my favorite system . . . but it has been pretty stable for a year and a half so I can't complain - until now.
About two weeks ago I added the second processor and all was well with the world for about a week but then it started acting up. On a cold boot it would get to the Windows XP Pro boot up screen and the monitor would shut off. I should say it would lose its signal, but the computer would stay on. All of the fans were spinning, the hard drives were still spinning but no signal to the monitor. So I thought it was overheating (I also replaced the heatsinks) So I went into the bios to check the temps but they were fine, in the 42-45C range. So, i rebooted. This time it got past the boot screen and into the login screen, but just when I clicked on my user name the same thing happened . . . monitor lost its signal but the computer stayed on (fans kept spinning, hard drives kept spinning, etc) So, I checked my temps again. They were fine. This time I stayed in the bios for ten minutes, way longer than the first two times and nothing happened. So I rebooted again and everything was fine. The computer worked great for two days with no problems. I kept it on but I had a temp monitor program running the whole time to see if it was getting hotter than normal but it was fine.
Then I shut it down overnight and tried it the next morning and I had to go through the same process again . . . three tries later it got into windows and it has been working fine ever since . . . until today.
I tried the same process but this time it didn't work. So I replaced the video card, thinking that might be the problem but it didnt work. Then I replaced my 430W power supply with a 550W power supply thinking that since my new heatsinks required a molex connector each, maybe it was drawing too much power . . . but that didn't help. Then I tried re-seating the memory - Nothing. I removed everything except the graphics card and the boot drive - Nothing. Then I came to Icrontic and read some threads that seemed to have a similar problem. One said that it might be a virus, so I booted to a new version of a Norton CD - Norton couldnt find any viruses. Then I tried repairing Windows and I thought that was going to work . . . but it got about 6 minutes away from completing and the monitor lost its signal again.
So now I'm stumped. My temps are fine no matter how long I leave the stupid thing on. It stays in the bios for a VERY long time (at least I can't seem to get this problem to happen in the bios) Does anyone out there have any suggestions? I would really appreciate any help at all! Thanks!
I have a Gigabyte GA-7DPXDW mobo with Dual Athlon MP 1800's. It hasn't been my favorite system . . . but it has been pretty stable for a year and a half so I can't complain - until now.
About two weeks ago I added the second processor and all was well with the world for about a week but then it started acting up. On a cold boot it would get to the Windows XP Pro boot up screen and the monitor would shut off. I should say it would lose its signal, but the computer would stay on. All of the fans were spinning, the hard drives were still spinning but no signal to the monitor. So I thought it was overheating (I also replaced the heatsinks) So I went into the bios to check the temps but they were fine, in the 42-45C range. So, i rebooted. This time it got past the boot screen and into the login screen, but just when I clicked on my user name the same thing happened . . . monitor lost its signal but the computer stayed on (fans kept spinning, hard drives kept spinning, etc) So, I checked my temps again. They were fine. This time I stayed in the bios for ten minutes, way longer than the first two times and nothing happened. So I rebooted again and everything was fine. The computer worked great for two days with no problems. I kept it on but I had a temp monitor program running the whole time to see if it was getting hotter than normal but it was fine.
Then I shut it down overnight and tried it the next morning and I had to go through the same process again . . . three tries later it got into windows and it has been working fine ever since . . . until today.
I tried the same process but this time it didn't work. So I replaced the video card, thinking that might be the problem but it didnt work. Then I replaced my 430W power supply with a 550W power supply thinking that since my new heatsinks required a molex connector each, maybe it was drawing too much power . . . but that didn't help. Then I tried re-seating the memory - Nothing. I removed everything except the graphics card and the boot drive - Nothing. Then I came to Icrontic and read some threads that seemed to have a similar problem. One said that it might be a virus, so I booted to a new version of a Norton CD - Norton couldnt find any viruses. Then I tried repairing Windows and I thought that was going to work . . . but it got about 6 minutes away from completing and the monitor lost its signal again.
So now I'm stumped. My temps are fine no matter how long I leave the stupid thing on. It stays in the bios for a VERY long time (at least I can't seem to get this problem to happen in the bios) Does anyone out there have any suggestions? I would really appreciate any help at all! Thanks!
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I am having this same problem, my setup is a nforce2 Leadtek K7NCR18D, athlon 2100+.
One problem extra that I am having too along with this is when the monitor looses signal and I turn off the computer and start it back up, the computer doesn't post at all, no beeps. The only way I get it to turn back on is by trying numerous times or by moving the jumper pin to load the defaults in the bios.
I reformated and reinstalled windows that didn't fix anything, I tried using a different powersupply that didn't help, I tried connecting the computer to a different monitor that didn't help, I tried a different video card that didn't help, I tried moving around the memory that didn't help and I tried putting a new battery on the motherboard, that didn't help.
I am lost any help would be appreciated.
Just to be on the safe side, I removed the C drive and replaced it with a new one that I bought a few days ago (for storage) and tried to install windows. I was hoping that maybe the hard drive was just on the verge of crashing and replacing it with a new one would solve the problem . . . unfortunately that didn't fix anything because just like every other time, halfway into installing windows the monitor looses its signal again and the computer stays on.
I would like to say that it's my motherboard and be done with all of this crap, but when Im in the bios it stays on, there isn't a problem at all. Don't know if that really means anything but it sure has me on the verge of insanity. I guess I'll keep trying other things . . .
I tried using a different hard drive in mine today, windows installed all the way for me then when I was signing in the monitor lost its signal. I was going to try flashing the bios, but ive never done it before and I don't want to just make my motherboard into a large frisbee.
Here's what I tried so far: I changed the video card out with two times, I changed monitors, I reset the CMOS, upgraded from a 430W PSU to a 550W, I removed everything but the graphics card and the system drive, I tried checking for viruses by booting up to the Norton CD, I tried repairing Windows twice, and I also tried doing a clean install on a brand new hard drive. Every time the monitor lost signal and the computer stayed on. However, the system does lock up when this happens. I cant control-alt-delete or even reset the system, I have to actually cut power to the PSU.
I noticed that there is another thread on this forum that appears to be a similar problem but there doesn't seem to be an answer. I'm going to keep checking but my fear is that my motherboard is the cause of the problems. If anyone has any ideas why this might be happening please let me know.
I had a problem similar to this, but it involved certain games, and when both CPU's were handling the instructions, it would lock up repeatedly.
I will continue to look into it for you and I will update this thread as soon as I find out.
But first things first...yank that CPU...unless you already have and I missed that in the post.