I have a eMachines W2785, 2700+ AMD Athlon XP Processor, 80 gig HD, 1 gig DDR RAM, built-in 10/100 Mbps ethernet card..
my problem is that suddenly when I turn on the computer, my monitor does not work, and neither does my keyboard.. I'm guessing my mouse doesn't, either, but I have no way of knowing, since I can't see anything on the screen..
what I mean by "not working", is that the computer starts up fine, the power light comes on, both fans start up, and I can hear the hard drive working as well.. my monitor just keeps acting as though it's not hooked up.. the power works.. it just has the analog/digital screen flashing, all black. I tested my mouse, monitor and keyboard on this laptop I'm using to type this, and they all work fine, so I know it's not any of them.. I just can't get them to work on my main computer. the scroll lock, numbers lock, and caps lock keys, when pressed, do not light up on the keyboard on my main computer.. the mouse, I have no cluse, as I don't have a working video to see if there is movement.
I don't know much about this kind of thing, but from hours of searching on Google, I've got a feeling it's something to do with the motherboard, as all three peripherals plug into it in the back.. and yes, I've checked ALL connections, I've reseated my RAM, I've unplugged EVERYTHING and plugged them all back in, to ensure proper, tight fits.. the power supply seems to be working fine.. it is set on the correct voltage, etc.
what's strange, though, is that immediately upon booting up the computer, all the lights on the keyboard light up, so it is getting recognized somehow..
I read that instead of assuming the whole motherboard is bad, that it might be some BIOS settings that are off, etc, and to check them.. I can't do any of that, as I can't see anything, since it won't recognize my monitor now..
as for startup "beeps", I have none..
my pc has worked fine for years, since I bought it in 2004.. now yesterday I went to install a new dvd drive, and when I installed it and put the case back on and restarted it, that is when I first experienced my problem(s).. so obviously, I did something when I was installing the dvd drive. but I went through and checked everything, and so I don't know what I possibly could've done.. I've tried restarting it with the drives disconnected, doing it each time until I could find the culprit that might be conflicting.. to no avail.
now, I'm prepared to hear that it could be as simple as a fried motherboard.. so if that turns out to be the case, my next question is, if/when I buy a new pc, can I just simply take my old hard drive out of this computer (assuming the HD isn't bad, which I don't think it is) and put it into the new pc, so I don't lose any of my stored data/files? I have a TON of stuff on there that I don't want to lose, such as documents and I would also like to not lose any of my bookmarks/favorite places, and stuff like that.. PLEASE help me with this if you can.. I looked around the net at TONS of pc help forums and I chose this one, as it seems to be the best one that I have come across.. thank you in advance!!!
Scott aka asmodeus718