Pc monitor goes to Standby Computer wont Boot

[Soixante]

I have a problem on one of my computers(xpsp3)...When i turn it on the windows logo appears as it does before it boots up...Then the monitor goes to standby and the computer shuts down.I have done extensive virus scan with nod 32 and malware bytes as well..When i run in safe mode the monitor and computer will work in minimal mode though .. Could any one point me as to what may be wrong please....The only thing i could think off is the video card may have a problem..Any advice greatly appreciated..My kids are driving me mad

[jman98]

Based on what you report, it is highly unlikely to be a problem with your video card. Never say never, but as a general rule either the card works and you have video or it doesn't. And while I have no access to Windows source code so I cannot say this with absolute certainty, but video card problems shouldn't cause what you have. Modern operating systems shouldn't just shut themselves down because of a video card issue. Unix and derivatives such as Linux won't.

My guess is that Windows has simply become corrupted and will have to be reinstalled. It happens all the time. The longest I've ever had a PC boot without requiring a complete reinstallation of Windows is about 4 and a half years.

[Soixante]

Sorry when i say shut down ..i should of said . the monitor light goes into standby(amber) and the tower still has power as the light is Greeen and still on the tower on/off button but it blinks as in standby as well..

Reinstall..that means a lot of data loss..Ooppss.. The system is 3 years old and never had a reinstall of xp..Ill give it a few hours see if i get any other feedback..If not ill try your suggestion..Thanks

[AlanHK]

Make an Ubuntu or other bootable Linux CD to check the hardware. If you can boot that, then
an XP "repair install" should retain data.

[aedipuss]

while in safe mode bring up msconfig. start/run then type in msconfig and hit enter. go to the startup tab. uncheck everything and then click the boot tab and uncheck safe boot. reboot and see if it does.

if it does go back to msconfig and start at the top and check one program at a time to find the one causing the problem.

if it doesn't boot go back to safe mode, bring up msconfig, go to the services tab, hide all microsoft services, uncheck all the other services. boot normally. if it does then start at the top of the list and recheck the services one at a time, reboot until you find the one causing the problem.

[jman98]

Make an Ubuntu or other bootable Linux CD to check the hardware. If you can boot that, then
an XP "repair install" should retain data.

This is a decent suggestion and it's well worth a try, but I have NEVER, not even once, had this fix a booting problem for me. NEVER. I've never personally seen repair installs work on anything below Vista. You can try and maybe you'll be lucky, but it often fails.

[neomaine]

Soixante,

He you installed anything new? Any new hardware? Any new/updated drivers?

[Bjs]

Just make sure when performing those steps as others have mentioned that you take into account of "connected hardware" ... bad mouse, dodgy keyboards, faulty external drives ... all can be a source of conflict ... exchange or remove them to rule them out.

If you can slave the drive into another system , use Active@ Hard Disk Monitor to confirm this drives current health status ... if its below 80% start backing up soon ... hit 75% , it needs replacing ... backup your data asap while you can.

As for the question about possible GPU cause ... I dont need any source code to know that this is possible ... I have seen this happen numerous times before ... gpu overheats causing loss of input signal to monitor, monitor goes into standby mode yet system still shows activity (any form)

Rule 101 applies ... pull the part out and test it to rule it out

As for repair install, yes it can work to clear certain issues as the old registry gets thrown into oblivion and replaced ... however just about all original applications the user installed will need to be reinstalled again.

Xp reinstall repair wont help if its a physical hardware issue ... which is why I suggest checking out results from Active@ Hard Disk Monitor , if its already heading south dont bother doing a reinstall of any kind ... it's due for replacement.