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I just took them out and put them back in the same way but this time it didn't beep at all. I still have nothing on my monitor which is the same problem I had when this first started. When I first noticed the monitor being blank the tower didn't make wierd beep notices, it wasn't until trying to restart it a few times that it began to beep. Al the lights on my motherboard are on and my fans are all running. I have no idea what would cause this. I will keep trying to mess with them until I get a something on the monitor. If you can think of any reason why this problem might be happening then let me know, I was just browsing the net and some other forums said that it could be the motherboard or the video card. Is there a chance my RAM are bad? I need to narrow this down. I will get back to you once I have tired to reset the RAM modules.

I am positive that the RAM modules are set in the right slots. When I took them out I did it one at a time so as to make sure I didn't get them mixed up. When I just messed around with them I did get a different beep when they were in the wrong slots. These new beeps sounded like normal computer beeps and there were only 2 quick ones. The ones I was referring to before sounded a lot different and there were 6 of them. There was one or two in the beginning, a pause, and then 4 or 5. Are there such a thing called error beeps? I know this is something other than them being in the wrong slots. At least my computer started up normally without any beeps the last few times I tried it with the RAM modules in the slots that Im sure are the correct spots. My flipping monitor is still just blank and not showing anything. I just want to get this fixed so I can run that diagnostic scan you were talking about. I know I am all over the place when describing things, I just don't have the computer vocabulary and knowledge. Im sure this would be so much beter if I could just verbalize the problems, but I know I can't so I will just have to try and make this go as best as I can. Can you find out if there is any other problem that can make a monitor go blank and not show anything.

You're going to have to use your full range of troubleshooting skills buddy. The steady beeps are almost certainly a RAM problem. You have to have something wrong there. Hopefully you didn't damage anything. I would inspect the memory slots with a flashlight and make sure you didn't somehow bend some pins or damage something there. When you plug the RAM in you have to put quite a bit of downward force on them to get them to "snap" into place. The arms on the side of the chip should raise up and lock the chip into place when you push down on the chip. It will usually, but not always, make an audible click when they snap into place.

Yes, they definitely snap into place. Like I said in my last post, they are not beeping anymore. When I push the power button on my tower my computer starts up normally, its just the monitor screen is blank and wont show anything. Could it be my vidoe card or something along those lines? When I was first having this problem my monitor screen would go blank randomly remember? This is why Im thinking it might be something other than the RAM. I know that I dont know very much but Im just thinking of it from a different view. I am really hoping that the tech member before you didnt have me do something that messed my computer up, that would suck. These major problems didn't start happening until I started doing things with him. Whatever, thats not gonna help my problem now, Ive checked all those troubleshootong things you referred to and everything looks fine, nothing bent and snaps into place.

You're having a hardware problem. Its fairly safe to say that there is pretty much nothing you can do with software that will actually damage hardware. Therefore, I wouldn't believe anything someone else did would've caused these issues. It is likely however that some of the software issues you were having with the browsers were a result of the malware removal process. But, you are having a totally different problem. You need to tackle them one at a time. Starting from the ground up. Yes, your problem could be the video card. Can you provide the service tag to your Dell so that I can look up teh exact specifications on it? Do you understand the different between onboard video and an add-on video card? If you have onboard video it will be effected by memory problems. Most OEM machines have onboard video unless they are high end machines. If you have an add-on video card it may be effected by a bad connection at the slot it plugs into. Or, ofcourse, you should verify that your monitor cables are plugged in appropriately. YOu were moving the computer around and these things could've came loose. If you think it is the video card, and you have an add-on video card, you can remove the video card temporarily and power the system up. If it doesn't have any other video ports (some machines have onboard video that is disabled while the add-on card is installed) the system should beep at you to signal you that the video card has been removed. If the system has an onboard video port, then that one should become active and work if you removed the add-on video card. Some Dells will cover the onboard video port with a black plastic cover you can remove with two screws. When you remove the add-on video card, that port will start working. You can plug your monitor into that port and see if you get any video. However, I would still point my finger at RAM at this point. You said you tried all my troubleshooting techniques. However, did you try running only one RAM module? And have you tried plugging each RAM module, one at a time into at least two different slots? You could still have one module bad, or a bad slot on the motherboard. You have to eliminate that possibility. You were already having problems before you went into this. Everything you do might have taken what was already failing and pushed it over the edge. You just don't know in this situation. You have to troubleshoot, and eliminate possibilities. Look and make sure that you didn't knock any cables or other connections loose, especially add-on cards. Those beeps are there to help you figure out what is wrong. By unplugging the video card, or memory modules you should get different beep patterns to tell you if the motherboard is working and what it notices is wrong. If the motherboard beeps at you, it is pretty safe to say the motherboard and CPU is working. The beeps are telling you that something else plugged into the motherboard is either bad or not plugged in well. You could still have a bad component without a beep, so the fact it is not beeping does not automatically eliminate the possibility of continued RAM problems.

The service tag is FSR5X31. I do not know the difference between on-board video cards and add-on video cards.

I just unpluuged my monitor cable from the back of my tower and for the first time something showed on my screen. Once disconnected it said that either a cable was disconnected or there was no input signal. I checked to make sure there was nothing bent and I didn't see anything messed up. The second I plugged it back in the screen went blank and the monitor shut off again. I found a manuel for my computer online and found a troubleshooting section. In the section it showed how there are letters on the back of my tower that light up for diagnostic purpouses. These letter display a certain color pattern. When there is a problem there is a specific color pattern to point out the exact hardware problem being detected. There was a specific section on RAM and what to do if a certain color pattern appears. The instructions they gave to fix it was almost exactly the same as you gave me earlier. My letters all showed up green which means there isnt a problem with any of my hardware. I obviously am having a problem so I dont know what to make of it.

You did good by checking the diagnostic lights against the manual. I've never used those lights to troubleshoot so I don't know how accurate they are. There could still be a problem with the system even if those lights say everything is OK. They aren't able to check everything. They are just a good baseline for knowing the motherboard, CPU and RAM are probably all OK.

However, I started thinking about this again. You said you unplugged the video cable and you did get the message about a cable unplugged. This is normal. And, that would sound like the monitor is ok. But, this all started because you had shaky and flashing video.

My thought is that maybe you just have a bad monitor. Go tell your parents it is absolutely imperative that you "borrow" their monitor for a few minutes to see if your computer works with their monitor.

See if you have the same results with a different monitor.

I looked up your computer and it appears that your computer has a 128Mb Nvidia GeForce 5200 video card plugged into it. If you plug in a different monitor and you have the same results I would suspect something with this card has gone awry.

Informational video about changing a video card.

Please visit the above link and get an idea of what your video card looks like and where it plugs in. Please remove the card and re-install it to make sure everything is plugged in properly. If your video continues to not come on, you are going to probably have to change your video card. (this whole thing is bringing back memories of a previous thread ) If you are uncomfortable with changing these components then you need to seek a more technically savvy friend or computer shop that can assist you. You could do more damage than good if you are not careful. You also might be missing something obvious that a more experienced technician might find and actually end up saving you money in the long run.

If you need to change your video card, I believe that any AGP video card should work fine in your computer and you would be able to replace that video card with a better model for $30-$50 including shipping. A reputable computer shop should not charge you more than $25 to install this card as it is a very simple procedure to install and load video drivers. Ofcourse, prices change based on your location. Thats why a house in California can cost $1.5 million in an area similar to Flint, Michigan that would sell for $30,000.

Would any monitor work or are there certain ones only compatible with Dell? I have the really big picture tube monitor and I thought these were supposed to last for quite a long time, but I guess you never know. You are starting to look at this like I am. I just had a feeling that it was something that dealt directly with the monitor or something that controls the monitors picture. I am really hoping that is just the video card because that would probably be the cheapest fix, and I have a feeling it is. Do video cards usually go out after about 5 or so years? If it does turn out being the video card, would you strongly suggest I take it to a professional to have it installed? I am really really broke and would have a really hard time affording it. I know it is always best to have a professional do things, but if it is something that I can probably handle then I need to go that route. I am guessing that the first step you want me to take is pulling out the video card and reseating it to see if there are any changes. I should next then get a different monitor and plug it in to see if my current monitor is bad. If neither of these fixes the problem than I should buy an AGP video card and install it. Are these the steps in the correct order?

Yeah.. Except I would plug in a different monitor first. You can use any VGA compatible monitor. You can probably install the video card yourself. If you can manage to pull out and reinsert the current video card, you can put in a new video card! You just have to install video drivers after you get the new card installed. CRT displays do not last a long time relatively speaking. They are going to be the quickest to fail out of all the display technologies.