I have a PC running Windows XP. It's fairly old but not ancient (not exactly sure of its age). It's connected to a network with one other PC. This morning someone was connecting a photocopier to the network, and installed some drivers on the PC... at that stage everything was working fine.

The PC was then left on for a while; when I went to shut it down it had gone to screensaver (blank screen), and when I hit the mouse and some keys etc, nothing happened. Only the power light was on.

Eventually I used the reset button to turn it off. Now it won't boot up - when I switch it on, the power light comes on, and the CPU fan comes on, the monitor displays a message saying something like 'no input', and nothing else happens. It doesn't even beep, and the hard disk light never comes on.

Does anyone have any ideas what could be wrong, or what to try? Could it have been the stuff that the photocopier guy installed maybe? Or might it have overheated? But it doesn't even seem to be attempting to boot up...

All cables etc seem to be OK. The power light comes on and the monitor is getting power as well.

It's not my PC; the person who uses it says there is important stuff on it, so it would be good to at least be able to get that off, but obviously I'd like to be able to fix it properly.

Any ideas would be appreciated!

Thanks!

try reseating your gfx card. Take it out blow the slot and refit. It does sound either motherboard or psu related though. Obviously check the cables first

Thanks zinglebarb, I'll try that on Monday - don't have time right now, plus I'll need screwdrivers and things. Is it fairly easy to do? And can it make anything go wrong? I've been inside PCs before, but don't really know what I'm doing? And is the gfx card easy to spot?

In terms of motherboard issues... just so I can prepare over the weekend, what would I need to test that? I have an old laptop at home that I can take apart - could I take the motherboard out of it and try slotting it in, or are there different types?

Thanks for your help!

I am tbh edging towards motherboard or psu as if it was a gfx problem you should get post beeps pointing you to and error. Did it normally beep just after switch on? is there anyone with a tower you could borrow a psu out of? its quite a job but doable if your careful and make note of what plugs in where as you do it. If the system fires up then you have it fixed if it does not id say its mobo .However normally a plugged in gfx will not give a no signal warning if the motherboard is getting power so that is a puzzler. You will be able to see where the screen plugs in check cables first. Ground yourself to the case while it is plugged in to removed static from yourself. Then either switch off the socket at the mains the psu or unplug it. Undo the screw holding the gfx card then locate the retention clip at the rear of the card and lift it out. Blow it all out then reverse these steps