Black screen - I'm stumped...

[Kilgore65]

I'm trying to put together an older computer for a relative. I've got everything configured, but when I turn it on, I just get a black screen on the monitor. I'm stumped. Any ideas?

 

[Yzzim]

could be a thousand different things

What are the system specs?

Does the power supply turn on?

Have you tried just booting with the bare minimal things? IE: processor, ram, hdd, mobo

Have you been able to check that each and every piece of hardware is for sure working? Have you tried it on another system?

 

[Legendary]

Do you see the BIOS screen and the RAM count? Does it stop right when it's supposed to load Windows? If it stops then, it might be refresh rate. Boot into safe mode and make it 60. If it's something else, we need to know.

 

[Kilgore65]

No BIOS or RAM count.. the vid card should be good though...

 

[IanthePez]

I would try it with just the video card, mobo, processor and memory. If it starts up but no screen it could be the video card. Check to make sure it's all the way in and connected well. If that doesn't work. Take the mobo out and see if it will start outside the case. I once had my mobo in the case wrong and it wouldn't start until I remounted it.

 

[Kilgore65]

I tried that with two video cards but no dice. The only thing I can think of is that the mobo has been shorted out. This occurred after the computer was plugged in at a relative's house where there had been a previous lightning strike with a computer taken out. Maybe the house electrics were still fried?