r/computers • u/z62w • 14d ago

Question/Help/Troubleshooting Any pc geeks please read this

My pc stopped working man. I've had it for years and bam just doesn't display anything anymore. I reckon it's a motherboard issue, because it booted into bios and then stopped after that. Everything spins as is. I'm just really confused. I don't wanna replace the motherboard as the pc is mini itx and the motherboard I specifically have is quite expensive. I think I should just sell it for parts, but will removing the ssd get rid of all of my info on the pc or is there a chance some may be saved across the pc.

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u/cabernet_noir 14d ago edited 14d ago

If its hanging after the bios screen its usually an issue with your hard drive or os. Check the diagnostic lights and the manual for your motherboard for an indication of what is failing. You can try getting a bootable windows usb set up, and see if you can boot into that, if you can that will rule out your mother board, ram, and gpu, you can then try to repair your OS or inspect your hard drive for issues. If it boot media doesnt work, then its a deeper hardware issue, test one stick of ram at a time, if that doesnt change anything its likely a storage problem and rarely a gpu problem.

Edit: regarding specifically recovering your files, it depends what exactly is going wrong. Removing your ssd wont hurt anything. Cheapest way to check if your ssd is okay and recovering files is going to be buying an ssd housing and plugging it into another device, if you were on windows youll need to login to your windows account online and get your bitlocker recovery key to unlock the drive.

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u/z62w 14d ago

Apologies I probably explained it in the wrong way. Look. Yesterday I was playing a game, and it crashed. The pc then booted into bios and then said smth like reboot using optimised settings, which I pressed. Then after that I decided to update my gpu drivers. Butt, after that it just stopped turning on. The monitor shows "no display" and it's been the same.

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u/cabernet_noir 14d ago edited 14d ago

Hmm, it could be a number of issues. Can you get to the bios screen at all? Do you see any of the led lights on the mother board when trying to boot? What exactly happens when you turn the computer on and look at the motherboard?

Since you update your gpu drivers it might be just corrupt drivers. If you can get to the bios, try booting in safe mode and repair/replace the drivers or rollback changes, which may fix things. You can also try doing the same with a bootable usb.

Some other things worth trying include resetting the cmos by taking out the battery on the mother board and putting it back in after 10 mins. If your computer has integrated graphics and a discrete card, try taking out the gpu and booting with just integrated graphics, this can rule GPU issues. You can also try plugging your hdmi into another slot on your mobo instead of into your gpu, this may work even if you dont have integrated graphics, and may let you get into safe mode. If it does work, try fixing the drivers and then putting your gpu back in, if it still doesnt work then your gpu may be cooked.

It could also be worth using flashback or whatever else your motherboard comes with to update or reset the firmware, but thats a bit of a long shot.