Solved Dead computer

Submarine

Submarine

Member
Vista Pro
When I started my computer the other day the screen remained black and I got no indication Vista booted. The computer lit up and the fans started but that was all. I have a dual boot system with W7 on a SSD and Vista on Raid 0. If I tapped F12, arrow down twice, and enter as I usually do to boot W7, I could hear it load and I could sign on blindly.

To start Vista I need do nothing normally. So it seems I can get W7 to start but not Vista. W7 disk is attached to an expansion card. Suspicion is my GPU is dead. Would that prevent Vista from booting, but not W7?
 
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My Computer

System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    Dell XPS720
    CPU
    Intel Quad Q6600 2.40GHz
    Motherboard
    Dell 0YU822, NVIDIA nForce 680i SLI SPP / SLI MCP
    Memory
    4GB DDR2 800MHz
    Graphics card(s)
    Gainward GeForce GTX 560 Ti, 1024 MB GDDR5
    Sound Card
    Creative SB X-Fi Xtreme Gamer
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Dell 2407WFP-HC
    Screen Resolution
    1920x1200
    Hard Drives
    NVIDIA 640GB SATA Raid 0 (2x320GB) (7200 rpm) for Vista, Intel X25-M G2 160 GB for W7, Maxtor OT III External HDD, WD Elements 1 TB External HDD
    Internet Speed
    100/20
    Other Info
    M779 PCIe PAL/SECAM/DVB-T Desktop TV Tuner. Broadcom NetXtreme 57xx Gigabit Controller.
Can you see Win7 when it boots? If not, then it's either the video card, the monitor, or the cables/power.

It's possible that a bad HDD is also causing this. While I'm not very familiar with RAID, I'd suggest disconnecting the Vista hard drive(s) and seeing if that fixes things.

Do you have a current backup?
 

My Computer

System One

No, I get no signal to the monitor, cannot even get the blip in the corner in the beginning of the booting process. I can, however, get it to tell me it gets no signal, so I do not think it is the monitor. I made a file backup the day prior to the event so I am not that worried over data loss. My data is also spread over several disks, so only some data would likely be lost in case backup is corrupt.
I will test moving around the graphics card, and if this does not help, disconnect my Raid disks.
 

My Computer

System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    Dell XPS720
    CPU
    Intel Quad Q6600 2.40GHz
    Motherboard
    Dell 0YU822, NVIDIA nForce 680i SLI SPP / SLI MCP
    Memory
    4GB DDR2 800MHz
    Graphics card(s)
    Gainward GeForce GTX 560 Ti, 1024 MB GDDR5
    Sound Card
    Creative SB X-Fi Xtreme Gamer
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Dell 2407WFP-HC
    Screen Resolution
    1920x1200
    Hard Drives
    NVIDIA 640GB SATA Raid 0 (2x320GB) (7200 rpm) for Vista, Intel X25-M G2 160 GB for W7, Maxtor OT III External HDD, WD Elements 1 TB External HDD
    Internet Speed
    100/20
    Other Info
    M779 PCIe PAL/SECAM/DVB-T Desktop TV Tuner. Broadcom NetXtreme 57xx Gigabit Controller.
Indeed, it was the GPU. With a new card installed, everything works nicely.:) Apparently, a broken GPU may prevent Vista from booting too.
 

My Computer

System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    Dell XPS720
    CPU
    Intel Quad Q6600 2.40GHz
    Motherboard
    Dell 0YU822, NVIDIA nForce 680i SLI SPP / SLI MCP
    Memory
    4GB DDR2 800MHz
    Graphics card(s)
    Gainward GeForce GTX 560 Ti, 1024 MB GDDR5
    Sound Card
    Creative SB X-Fi Xtreme Gamer
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Dell 2407WFP-HC
    Screen Resolution
    1920x1200
    Hard Drives
    NVIDIA 640GB SATA Raid 0 (2x320GB) (7200 rpm) for Vista, Intel X25-M G2 160 GB for W7, Maxtor OT III External HDD, WD Elements 1 TB External HDD
    Internet Speed
    100/20
    Other Info
    M779 PCIe PAL/SECAM/DVB-T Desktop TV Tuner. Broadcom NetXtreme 57xx Gigabit Controller.
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