Windows XP boots black screen

Yesterday morning, when I turned on the desktop, the screen was blank, and the mouse and keyboard did not respond. I turned it off and rebooted it. Now it doesn't start-up anymore. Only the power button and the working button lights up. The screen is blank and the mouse and keyboard do not respond. What can I do? If it need reformatting, I would do it, but I have many saved files on the memory. Can somebody help? Thank you very much.

Well, this could be a number of things, from a loose connection, to the worst case scenario of a fried motherboard, and anything plugged into it! Let's hope it is not that bad, but I wanted you to know up front.

My guess is this a power problem - possibly the power supply has failed. And sadly, when supplies fail, they can do a lot of damage to the devices attached. Or the reverse - a failed device can take out a PSU, especially if old or underrated.

I don't think this is a corrupt hard drive problem because if it was, you should still see the initial video BIOS splash screen and part of the motherboard boot sequence on your monitor during the boot process. We don't know if it is the computer not sending video, or the monitor not displaying. Does the monitor come out of sleep mode when you boot? Any beeps or other sounds?

The first thing I would do is make sure the cable to the monitor did not work loose (and don't forget some monitors have detachable cables so there will be connector on both ends). Then check all other external cable connections. Inspect the interior of the PC, unplugging the computer from the wall first. Open the side of the case, touch bare metal to discharge any static before and while reaching in, and make sure the system is clean of heat trapping dust and dirt. Give each fan a flick to see if it spins properly. Press EVERY power supply and data cable connection, card, and plug in module to ensure every connection is secure. Route cables to maximize front to back air flow, inspect for loose wires, screws, foreign objects, then connect it all up again.

If something was loose, that might solve it.

I keep a FrozenCPU Ultimate PSU Tester in my travel tool bag and now would be a good time to test yours. It is not as good as a qualified technician testing the power supply unit (PSU) under a "true" (realistic) load with an oscilloscope or power analyzer, but close. The advantage of this model is that it has an LCD readout of the voltage. With an actual voltage readout, you can better detect a "failing" PSU, or one barely within specified tolerances. Lesser models use LEDs to indicate the voltage is just within some "range". These are less informative, considerably cheaper, but still useful for detecting PSUs that have already "failed". Newegg has several testers to choose from. All these testers contain a "dummy load" to fool the PSU into thinking it is connected to a motherboard, and therefore allows the PSU to power on, if able, without being attached to a motherboard - great for testing fans, but again, not a true load. Alternatively, you can swap out the PSU with a known good one that meets the computer's power requirements. I do not recommend using a multimeter. To do it properly, that is, under a realistic load, the voltages on all the pins must be measured while the connector is attached to the motherboard. This then requires poking (with some considerable force) two, hard and sharp, highly conductive, meter probes into the heart of the computer. One tiny slip can destroy the motherboard, and everything plugged into it.

Try another monitor or try your monitor on another computer - monitors do go bad.

If the new monitor works on your PC, you know your monitor is bad. If still black, I would test the PSU or swap in a known good, suitable spare.

Do you use a separate graphics card? Or on-board graphics? If on board, the connection will be in the rear panel I/O panel, the same area as your keyboard, mouse and printer connectors. If add in, it will connect to a card in the expansion slot areas.

Hi, Well, there was a severe thunderstorm a couple of days ago and it might have been that, but I don't think so. I checked all the internal connections and I replugged them in to make sure they were not loose. I don't believe it was the monitor going bad because I recently bought one a couple of months ago. It was a bit dusty inside and I cleaned up most of the dust that didn't need anything taken out but will clean throughly this weekend. I didn't take out anything from the interior of the desktop and I checked the fan, which was working. But somehow, when I plugged everything back in, when I turned the desktop, it works! Woot! Thank you very much for your help. But, I seem to have another problem now. The desktop starts lagging now and I don't know why. Is it because of replugging all the connections? Usually my computer rarely lags, but it is constant now. I don't know if this would help but I right-clicked on the My Computer icon and it says: Computer: Intel® Pentium® 4 CPU 2.53GHz 2.52 GHz, 768 MB of RAM I don't understand the 2.53GHz and the 2.52GHz, is the computer reading the processor incorrectly? Many thanks.

Well the 2.53Ghz is what the CPUs model type says, and the 2.52 is what you are actually running. The .01 is insignificant. Unplugging the connections would have nothing to do with running slow. Have you scanned for malware? is everything slow? How much free disk space do you have. And even though 768Mb of RAM is not small, 1Gb is normally the recommended minimums these days. 2Gb with multicore CPUs and Vista. You might want to right click on your drive and select Properties > Tools > Error Checking. Say yes to letting it run during reboot and follow the prompts. Hopefully it won't find any errors it cannot fix.

Hi Digerati, Sorry about not responding sooner, I was over my relatives and they didn't have a computer with internet . I scanned for malware already with Kaspersky Online Scanner and Ad-Aware, but didn't find much except a tracking cookie in Ad-Aware. Should I post a hijackthis log to be sure? I continue to have the problem where the PC turns on but the keyboard, mouse and monitor do not work. The monitor continues to be black. The PC, when turned on, starts up good, then stops, lighting up the working light and the power light. Could it be the power outlet? I'm going to go out and buy a new power outlet to see if thats the case. Otherwise, I'm hopeless as to what the problem is. I also have a question about the volume icon because it doesn't always show up in the bottom right hand corner. Usually I have to go to accessories to open it up. This problem also started recently. Thanks again for you help.

What do you mean by power outlet. And in your post on the 12th, you said, "when I plugged everything back in, when I turned the desktop, it works! " Now you are saying the monitor continues to be black. I'm confused. Does the monitor work? How are you doing scans if black?

Hi, Sorry about being confusing so here it is straight. When I posted the topic, it wasn't on the desktop, which is the computer that had the problem. After I did some of the suggestion you posted on the 11th, the desktop turned on and the monitor, keyboard and mouse worked. I scanned the computer while it was on but whenever I turn the desktop off, and I try to turn it back on, it wouldn't respond. Yes, the monitor does work but its pretty new so I don't think its broken. I said the power outlet because when I pulled out the power plug for the desktop and put it back in, it worked. But I had to repeat it because if I shut it down, the problem would arise again. Umm…do you understand now? I know I can get confusing at times Thanks again.

We all get confused - not a problem if we continue to communicate. When you say "outlet" I think of the socket in the wall you plug the computer into. If you mean the component inside the computer where the power cord connects to the computer, that is the power supply unit (PSU) - an often misunderstood, and often disrespected critical component, that fortunately, is pretty easy to replace. Abruptly shutting down the computer by pulling the power cord is bad and should be avoided when possible as it can cause a corrupt hard drive and Windows. It is always best to shut down through the Start menu. So that needs to be corrected - even it means remembering the keystrokes so you can work through the Start menu blind to reboot. Electronics usually fail when brand new, or when old. You said your monitor is new, I would still try another monitor just to verify the problem is in the computer and not the new monitor. A black monitor normally means a lack of communication between the graphics card and the monitor. Whether that is caused by a lack of signal, failure to process that signal, or no power to send or receive that signal, we don't know until possible causes are eliminated. If it happens with a 2nd monitor, then you know for sure your monitor is good - you are just assuming now. If the problem happens with a second monitor, it could be the graphics card (you never answered if on-board or card), motherboard, or power supply - and none should be replaced until the new monitor is out of the equation. I would replace the motherboard battery too. For $2 at your local battery/camera/watch counter, buy a new battery, usually CR2032 - but verify type first. Take old battery with you as many counters will recycle the old to keep them out of landfills. When removing the old and replacing the new, make sure system if off AND UNPLUGGED. Touch bare metal of the case before reaching in to discharge any static. Do not touch the new battery with fingers, skin oils promote corrosion and attract dust. I put a clean sock over my hand. On first boot after battery, go straight into the BIOS Setup Menu, verify your drives are correctly identified and the boot order is as desired. Set Date and Time, the Save and Exit. Hopefully it will boot properly.

Hi Digerati, Thank you so much for your help. I don't have a second monitor lying around but I will check it up when I get one. I think I have an on-board graphics card. As for now, the computer is turning on fine and hopefully it doesn't happen again. If the problem arises again, I will post up here again. Thanks again for your help.

I think I have an on-board graphics card.

To way to be sure is to see where the monitor connects to the computer. If it connects in the rear I/O panel area, that rectangular area full of connections that also contains the connections for your mouse, keyboard and printer, then it is on-board graphics. If it connects to a connector in the expansion slot area, then it is an add-in graphics card.

If it connects in the rear I/O panel area, that rectangular area full of connections that also contains the connections for your mouse, keyboard and printer, then it is on-board graphics.

From your description, I have an on-board graphics card.

Then at some point, you might want to consider getting an add-in card. Even the entry level PCI graphics card generally offer an improved over all performance boost from the on-board graphics solutions. On-board graphics generally have less power graphics processor units (GPUs) to make matters worse, GPUs need RAM to, so it steals, usually 64 - 128Mb from the system RAM. Graphics cards come populated with dedicated RAM. So getting a card and disabling on-board graphics gets you a better graphics engine with it's own dedicated RAM, and Windows and your CPU get all the system RAM back for a little increase in RAM - always a good thing. Motherboards with on-board also support at least PCI cards, for which you can find a few 256Mb models for under $50. Some older boards may also support AGP, which would be better than PCI. New motherboards may support adding a PCIe graphics card, and that would be the way to go. The downside is graphics processing eats watts, so you may need to get a new PSU to support a better graphics solution.

Hmm, I'm not sure I will need one besides to replace the on-board because I don't play many games that need a hardcore graphics card. Since this is an old computer, I might need to replace most of the old parts for newer hardware. Either way, I am either going to upgrade the computer or make my own, whichever is less expensive. Although, I will keep that in mind in case there are cheap add-in cards that interest me.

Hmm, I'm not sure I will need one besides to replace the on-board because I don't play many games that need a hardcore graphics card.

I was not talking hard core gaming, the cards for which can cost $400 or even more. Do remember that the Windows Desktop is a GUI - "graphical" user interface and everything about Windows is graphics based. Just putting one little red dot on your screen takes graphics processing power and there are nearly 2 million dots on modern displays that need to be addressed 60 times a second. Word, Internet Explorer, email, all use graphics, and more and more every day. Vista is very graphical.

Either way, I am either going to upgrade the computer or make my own, whichever is less expensive.

Generally it is hard to beat Dell at pricing when they can buy wholesale parts in lots of 1,000,000 units. So if you have to buy a whole new computer, and price today is your may concern, going with a factory built is usually cheaper.

Over the long haul - say next 20 - 30 years, you can save lots of money by building your own. For one thing, you can usually carry forward keyboards, monitors, and often power supplies cases, and graphics cards. Plus the value of the education you receive by building your own pays off big time down the road. Not to mention the warm fuzzy you get when you do build your own.