Windows 7 Powering down during set up.

Brod500

New Member
Joined
Nov 11, 2009
Just powered up a brand new PC with Windows 7 pre-installed and I havent got a signal to the monitor (faulty video card I think). My dilema is, is it safe to power down the PC at this stage. Presumably, Windows 7 is asking me to set it up etc. Or is it safe to power down now, without affecting the set up at a later date. Support from the PC manufacturer is out of hours for the rest of the night so I cant ask them.
 
Have you doubled checked the cable connections, do not try to remove and reinstall while it is running, just make sure they are secure. If this is a new computer and you put it together, this is more than likely the problem. Is there a trouble shooting manual in the box?

If it was shipped to you, a connection might have come loose inside. If you go inside, make sure you unplug the power cord and ground yourself before touching any of the components.

You monitor is on, right? Does it have a signal light or just an amber or some other no signal indication?

Do you hear any beeps during startup?

I would guess shutting it down will not have any ill effects, but do you have a choice?
 
I've checked the cable connections, no joy. I cant open the case without voiding the warrenty. Monitor is on, flashing a message on screen saying D-SUB, no signal. I'm phoning Technical Support as they are open for business now.

Just spoken to technical. He points out there are 3 DVI ports on the rear of the PC. A white one I was using and 2 black ones lower down. He says to switch off tower & monitor, remove both power cables & DVI cable from tower and monitor and wait for 10 mins??? Then reconnect DVI cable first to tower, then to monitor and then the power cables??

Tried that. No change. Giving them another call.
 
Three DVI ports,WOW!

Could you give us the exact make and model of your video card?

Can you try the analog connection to see if you get a signal?
 
Tried VGA cable also. No good. The video card is an ATI Radeon 5700 series.

Spoke to Tech Support again. They suspect the problem is with either the motherboard or the video card. They are recalling the PC for repair under return to base warrenty.:mad:

Oh yeh. They reakoned that powering down the PC at that stage in setting up Windows 7 would not matter. That remains to be seen. Hopefully they will check the OS before they ship the PC back to me.

Thanks all for your comments.
 
They never suggested using one of the other DVI connections? Sounds like you have onboard video and a separate video card. If you did not try the other DVI connections, I would. I am assuming they sent you the correct DVI cable for your type. Some of the older ones were similiar but looked different on one side of the connector.
 
Yes, I've tried all the DVI ports. One is on the motherboard (white) and the video card has 2 (black).
Interesting about the connector types. Could you explain the differences in appearence between a new one from an old one.
 
It could be the DVI cable. The cable they have supplied is a DVI-D 18 pin Single-link and the ATI Radeon HD 5750 GPU Feature Summary web page ATI Radeon? HD 5750 GPU Feature Summary lists the DVI connections as Integrated dual-link DVI output with HDCP. Could this be the root of the problem.
I've also tried an HDMI cable but which didnt work, but I dont know if its a 1.3 type or if that matters.
 
It's strange, but not uncommon for them to ship the wrong cable.

The 1.3 specification doesn't matter.

So far, as far as I know it's only on higher-end home theater receivers.
 
I've realised that the amber light which indicates that the hard drive is doing something isn't lighting up at all when I power on. Without a display I was assuming the system was booting up properly as there is lots of noise from the fans and optical drive, but no noises coming from hard drive. Could it be that the hard drive is not connected? Could this cause the lack of display? Sorry, this isn't a Windows 7 issue but I would like to diagnose the problem if its something simple before I return and loose the new PC for a couple of weeks.
 
Spoke to Tech Support again. They suspect the problem is with either the motherboard or the video card. They are recalling the PC for repair under return to base warrenty.:mad:

Tell them you want a new one, not a refurbished one.:D
 
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