No Signal

Latley when i turn my computer on about 5 or 10 minutes later the screen cuts
off and a no signal pops up, i then have to turn the whole computer off with
the main switch and leave it for about half an hour, then it will go back on
again, then it all starts again, and another wee question, i went to use my
re-load disc and its empty, anyone know how i can get another one or how to
fix it?

thanks

Cheryl

curlycher wrote:

> Latley when i turn my computer on about 5 or 10 minutes later the
> screen cuts off and a no signal pops up, i then have to turn the whole
> computer off with the main switch and leave it for about half an hour,
> then it will go back on
> again, then it all starts again, and another wee question, i went to
> use my re-load disc and its empty, anyone know how i can get another
> one or how to fix it?

There are two issues here - the first issue is one of hardware failure,
the second issue is your "re-load disc".

You are experiencing some kind of hardware failure. It may be your power
supply is going, the computer may be overheating, your video card may
be dying, etc. Reinstalling Windows, a software solution, will not be
useful in this case. You need to fix the hardware problem. I'll give
you general hardware troubleshooting steps below.

For the "re-load disc" and its "being empty", I'm afraid I don't know
what you mean. Contact the company from whom you bought the computer
for replacement of their Restore Disk if that is what you mean.

For hardware issues -

1) Open the computer and run it open, cleaning out all dust bunnies and
observing all fans (overheating will cause system freezing). Obviously
you can't do this with a laptop, but you can hear if the fan is running
and feel if the laptop is getting too hot.

2) Test the RAM - I like Memtest86+ from www.memtest.org. Obviously, you
have to get the program from a working machine. You will either
download the precompiled Windows binary to make a bootable floppy or
the .iso to make a bootable cd. If you want to use the latter, you'll
need to have third-party burning software on the machine where you
download the file - XP's built-in burning capability won't do the job.
In either case, boot with the media you made. The test will run
immediately. Let the test run for an hour or two - unless errors are
seen immediately. If you get any errors, replace the RAM.

3) Test the hard drive with a diagnostic utility from the mftr. Download
the file and make a bootable floppy or cd with it. Boot with the media
and do a thorough test. If the drive has physical errors, replace it.

4) The power supply may be going bad or be inadequate for the devices
you have in the system. The adequacy issue doesn't really apply to a
laptop, although of course the power supply can be faulty.

5) Test the motherboard with something like TuffTest from
www.tufftest.com. Sometimes this is useful, and sometimes it isn't.

Testing hardware failures often involves swapping out suspected parts
with known-good parts. If you can't do the testing yourself and/or are
uncomfortable opening your computer, take the machine to a professional
computer repair shop (not your local equivalent of BigStoreUSA).

Malke
--
Elephant Boy Computers
www.elephantboycomputers.com
"Don't Panic!"
MS-MVP Windows - Shell/User