My computer is screwed; how bad?

[Elheru Aran]

Hey,

So for the past few days my computer has been cutting out unexpectedly on me. Generally it starts up okay again after a little while-- but when it cuts out it brings up the blue screen where it tells you that your computer's fucked and they're shutting it off for your own good.

Well, today it stopped coming back. At all. I turn it on, and the monitor stays black with the little amber light... no green. Previously, before that started happening, it'd bring up a black screen with this: X300XT BIOS P/N 133-A33437-102, and a cursor below that.

I know I don't have a virus. I've got an older Dell 5100, from... 2004? Either '04 or 05. There have been a few minor issues with this box before but nothing much. I opened her up and wiggled a few boards around to make sure they were seated tight-- I've had problems with the graphics board being loose before. Then I plugged everything back in, and well. It's all fucked. I should note that for the past day or two, I've been running some stuff and not turning it off for a few days at a time, though I did turn it off last night after it'd been shutting down a few times.

So, is this salvageable? Is it all shot? What can I do to save the HD info if so?

[General Zod]

It's possible you got stuck with a machine that was faulty from the beginning. Dell sold a lot of bad hardware in 04 and 05. http://www.betanews.com/article/Unseale ... 1277845742

Did you check for damaged capacitors? I'd unplug the hard disk and hook it up to another machine if at all possible to see if it still works.

[Elheru Aran]

Machine's been fine for a long time, it's just these past few days that it started acting up. I don't really have any capacity to check out the HD right now...

[General Zod]

Machine's been fine for a long time, it's just these past few days that it started acting up. I don't really have any capacity to check out the HD right now...

I'd check for damaged caps either way. It's possible one of them isn't seated properly or is leaking.

[Elheru Aran]

Well then. What do they look like anyway? Discs, pegs, what...?

[General Zod]

Well then. What do they look like anyway? Discs, pegs, what...?

A handy how-to article. Also see this.

[Zaune]

When you say nothing comes up on the screen, what about the base unit? Is the power light coming on, are the fans spooling up? If not, you should check inside the power supply for the same symptoms.

The good news, however, is that the hard drive will probably be fine.

[Elheru Aran]

The lights are coming on there, yeah. I checked the monitor connection and it's fine, too-- everything is plugged in like it should be. What worries me is that today I checked it, and the monitor did come on but it was nothing more than that BIOS message. What does that mean, anyway...? X300XT BIOS P/N 133-A33437-102

[Elheru Aran]

Ghetto edit:
I googled the code and apparently it's some video card info. Someone on some computer board posted this; what do you think?

This worked for me. Easy fix.
Open the case, loosen the 2 screws holding the black plastic casing on the cooling tower over the CPU. Carefully remove, or tilt back to reveal cooling tower radiator and coil.
If there is a layer of dust built up (like there was on mine); carefully vacuum clean the radiator, cooling tower unit, fan and all other surrounding areas. Clean any residue from tower-to-CPU contact area.
Vacuum entire PC inside and out. Remove, reseat, vacuum video card. Reseat storage drive cables. (did not do memory modules).

[General Zod]

Sounds like standard maintenance but if the video-card or ram is fucked then you'll have to simply replace them. Try testing with spare modules if possible.

[Edi]

I'd hazard a bet that it's a busted video card that needs replacement. If it was an integrated one, it's possible the motherboard is dying and the machine is old enough for that to be a concern if it was 2004-2005 vintage. You need to test things by swapping out one part at a time and see when it starts to come back on.

[Elheru Aran]

So apparently I've got either a PCI or PCI-e card. Basic one would be a Radeon x300. I might have upgraded to the next one up; I'm fairly sure I have a 512mb card, though. So where's the best place to get a new video card? I'm running on a sub-$100 budget here...

[General Zod]

So apparently I've got either a PCI or PCI-e card. Basic one would be a Radeon x300. I might have upgraded to the next one up; I'm fairly sure I have a 512mb card, though. So where's the best place to get a new video card? I'm running on a sub-$100 budget here...

TigerDirect has quite a few options for cards under $70.