[Virus Anonymous]

Greets,

Recently my family recieved a nice Dell PC from a friend who's had trouble with the thing. He said something along the lines of "If you can fix it, you can keep it." Well, it's better than my PC all around, so I'd love to be able to fix it and keep it. The problem is, it won't start up so anything can be done with it.

I'm not too good with computers, so I wouldn't be able to spot anything out of place on the inside, except the RAM, which is all there. When the computer is plugged in, the power button won't turn it off, and the only way to get it off is to unplug it. When on, the monitor shows a green, grid-lined screen with flickering lights and nothing else. The computer doesn't respond to mouse or keyboard, or the power button. Can any of you kind folks out there offer advice, or suggestions, about what might be wrong? I'm willing to provide any answers I can if you need to question me to diagnose it.

Sincerely,
Lucas

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Welcome to G2G

I'm assuming that the monitor you are testing the Dell machine with is fine, right? (if you don't know & haven't tested the monitor on another system, then do so).

Assuming that the monitor is OK, then the most likely culprit is the video card. If you open up the case & look inside, can you tell what type of video card you have?
i.e is it integrated into the motherboard or is it plugged into the motherboard via a slot? If its plugged in, (ie removable) what colour is the slot?

Can you also check on the back of the computer to make sure that there is only one possible connector for the monitor to connect to. In other words, only one video card.

Can you also tell me what model of Dell this is please?

[Samm]

Welcome to G2G

I'm assuming that the monitor you are testing the Dell machine with is fine, right? (if you don't know & haven't tested the monitor on another system, then do so).

Assuming that the monitor is OK, then the most likely culprit is the video card. If you open up the case & look inside, can you tell what type of video card you have?
i.e is it integrated into the motherboard or is it plugged into the motherboard via a slot? If its plugged in, (ie removable) what colour is the slot?

Can you also check on the back of the computer to make sure that there is only one possible connector for the monitor to connect to. In other words, only one video card.

Can you also tell me what model of Dell this is please?

[Virus Anonymous]

Yes, the monitor has been used with previous systems and works. The video card is integrated with the motherboard and there aren't any other monitor slots in the back.

I unfortunately don't know where to look on the thing for the model, and we didn't recieve anything with it that would say, I don't think.

[Virus Anonymous]

Any other things besides the video card I should check?

[Samm]

If it is the video card thats fried, then that may be a problem seeing as its integrated! And, as you cant remove the card, the only way to test it is to add a second video card & hook the monitor up to that.

I know you said that the monitor was working previously, but check it again anyway by connecting it to another computer.

Apart from the video, I would also check the ram. The ram modules may not be loose but that doesnt mean they aren't bad.