 | Thank you for being a valued part of the CNET community. As of December 1, 2020, the forums are in read-only format. In early 2021, CNET Forums will no longer be available. We are grateful for the participation and advice you have provided to one another over the years. Thanks, CNET Support |
I was given a Gateway FX530. When it did the updates, it updated the Nvidia driver and told me to reboot. When I did, I lost video completely. I get the Gateway & no signal/RGB logos when I turn on the monitor, and the computer seems to be running, but I've got no video. The video card fan does not run, so I'm assuming the card is shot. The machine is so old, I can't find any info, and I guess Gateway has gone belly up, because their site is totally useless. This is XP, but seems to be a good machine, and could be upgraded, I assume, so I want to know what the specs are, how to get a new video card (not gaming), and if it's worth spending the money to fix.
Discussion is locked
Thanks, Bob. No sound from computer on power up w/o card in place. I guess it's shot. I got another monitor, keyboard and track ball out of the deal, anyway. <G> Now what to do with this monster machine. Could the HD and memory be reused? This is a BIG sucker. Any way of knowing if the memory is DDR2 or 3, V, and other important considerations for reusing any of the stuff?
Thanks for saving me some money. I will put that money into a new HDD for my other machine, which is trying to crash. I upgraded the memory in my Mom's machine DDR3 and it's working fine, but a new HDD in the other one would help my Sis, but will strip what I can out of the Gateway. <G>
Gran
This proves what we say here about never accepting driver updates from Windows update (which are optional). Why did you?
You might be able to undo the update after booting in Safe Mode. That is, if it's a driver issue, not a hardware issue. Worth a try.
Kees
Well, you see, I have no video, so can't get into safe mode, or at least don't SEE it. I have no video at all. If I did, it wouldn't be a problem. I accepted the updates because the machine hadn't been used in years, except to be turned on and tested before giving it to me. It worked for 3 days before this fiasco. So I have no video, so I can't reinstall the original drivers (have disc), so I don't have video. See where this is going? <LOL>
That said, the video card fan has not turned on, in the time I've had the case open, so I've pulled the card out. I see nothing to indicate what card it is, but assume the fan SHOULD work, if the card is good. RIGHT? If so, then I need to replace the card, but with WHAT? I don't want to spend a lot of money on something like this.
Thanks for the feedback.
Bikrgran
If the PC was OK (just a video driver issue) then you would see the usual BIOS/splash screen and be able to get to Safe Mode. But that is not happening.
It is a XP machine so it could have finally failed. I would not advise replacing the video card since there is no BIOS screen and I'm not there to see if it's booting but has no display.
How about this test? Unplug the video card and see if it beeps in protest. If it doesn't then a new video card won't fix this one.
Bob
Chowhound
Comic Vine
GameFAQs
GameSpot
Giant Bomb
TechRepublic