Help getting system to boot

[jagsta21]

a few years ago my sis built a computer in school and eventually the grphics card dissapeared i decided to break it out as i found another one but i cant get it to boot i need to re install windows xp becuase the old install got corrupted which is why the comp was discarded i turn it on the graphics card has a red light for some reason its a geforce 9600 gso xfx i unplugged some stuff cuz i thought it was psu issues i just basicly need it to function to browse the web help please!! ill post more info if needed its amd i believe

pic of insides and red light

 

[jagsta21]

also i can hear the harddrives going "zzz click" every once in awhile

 

[cmichael138]

You would need to tell us the computer's specs (MB, PSU, etc.).

 

[jagsta21]

ok asus m2a - vm (mobo)
xion 450w (psu)

 

[cmichael138]

Have you tried running it without the GeForce card installed? According to the specs, that MB has onboard graphics.

No offense....did you connect the 6 pin power cable to the GPU?

 

[eshepard]

yeah, we need more info, without more details, not much to go on.

but in general red lights are bad! especially on products like video, it can indicate a dead card

 

[jagsta21]

link me to a 6 pin cable? and any way to get the onboard graphics working for now till i can get a cable? i could never get it to work wich is why i had to go find a graphics card iv tried many times

 

[cmichael138]

Some brands of the GeForce 9600 don't require a 6 pin power cable. Perhaps your's is one.

If you pull the 9600 and boot, do you get any picture?

You mentioned that you "unplugged some stuff" Any chance something didn't get plugged back in?

 

[cmichael138]

Toggle to picture #7 (the one that shows the 10 silver and blue capacitors) and look at the bottom, right corner. You will see a square black connector with 6 slots. That's the 6 pin power connector.

http://www.tigerdirect.com/include/AddCartfromGallery.asp?EdpNo=4128445&csid=ITD&Sku=P450-9616&imgcart=1

 

[jagsta21]

Some brands of the GeForce 9600 don't require a 6 pin power cable. Perhaps your's is one.

If you pull the 9600 and boot, do you get any picture?

You mentioned that you "unplugged some stuff" Any chance something didn't get plugged back in?

no picture i dont think iv ever gotten any picture from the onboard and the only stuff i unplugged was some fans but i plugged those back in
also there is a 6 pin slot in the back but i would like to try to get on board video working until i get the connecter

 

[cmichael138]

If you have puuled the GeForce and can't get a picture, then most likely the onboard graphics isn't working. Are all the fans spinning?

Here's a link to a 4 pin Molex to 6 pin adapter. You might want to look up the specs for the GeForce because a 4 pin Molex might not supply enough power to run the GeForce.

http://www.nanosys1.com/cbl-pwr-lp4pcie.html

 

[cmichael138]

I'm assuming that you connect the monitor VGA cable to the MB VGA connector when you remove the GeForce card??

 

[jagsta21]

all fans are spinning how do i get onboard video to work? and yes i connect the monitor vga to mb vga

 

[eshepard]

all fans are spinning how do i get onboard video to work? and yes i connect the monitor vga to mb vga

completely remove the nvidia card, it should be good, but check the bios, you might have the ability to enable/disable onboard video

 

[jagsta21]

how do i check the bios when i have to way to view it? the nividia card is out

 

[eshepard]

fair point,

if you remove the nvidia card, onboard video should be enabled by default

clear the cmos to reset bios to default

 

[cmichael138]

Looks like your best bet is to get the 4 to 6 pin adapter and hope that the PSU will
power the GeForce.

 

[eshepard]

Looks like your best bet is to get the 4 to 6 pin adapter and hope that the PSU will
power the GeForce.

agreed,

but he should try and boot with onboard video first, then he can verify everything else is ok, and work on the GPU issue

 

[jagsta21]

fair point,

if you remove the nvidia card, onboard video should be enabled by default

clear the cmos to reset bios to default

how do i clear the cmos and reset the bios?

 

[eshepard]

there are pins on the motherboard that you can short, or remove the motherboard battery for a few minutes and put it back

consult your motherboard's documentation for more details

 

[jagsta21]

ok ima try that and post back results