Sign in with
Sign up | Sign in
Your question

Got a free desktop, Need help getting it set up

Tags:
  • Desktops
  • Systems
Last response: in Systems
Share
January 23, 2014 12:44:02 AM

I recieved a desktop from someone who was getting rid of it. She had told me all it needed was a hard driveand that her father built it. I had a spare hard drive from when my Acer aspire laptop video card crashed and I was not going to pay 300 to get it fixed. I don't have an closure to mount in the desktop yet until I get the money, but I bought the SATA cord to see if it would work. I hooked up the power supply and I hooked up the SATA cord in the correct positions and nothing shows up on the screen. The 5 fives that are inside all work, the mouse lights up. No beeps but I think it has the option to do so. I also hooked up my external hard drive and nothing worked. Can someone help diagnose this for me? I'm trying to save myself from having to buy a laptop and want to put as little money into this as possible? I could take pictures of the insides and go step by step and I would REALLY, EXTREMELY appreciate it. :) 

More about : free desktop set

January 23, 2014 1:15:43 AM

Does the monitor light up?it may be working and you're just not seeing it.
January 23, 2014 1:28:37 AM

allanitomwesh said:
Does the monitor light up?it may be working and you're just not seeing it.


  I guess I should have mentioned that the monitor does work. It is currently my monitor to my gateway desktop. The connection from desktop to monitor. I've plugged it in using the pin connection and when I unscrew it the screw goes with monitor cord... So I'm assuming they've yanked on it quite a bit. I don't know if that matters. I'm savvy with computers just not the actual hardware inside. I'd hook up HDMI but there is no HDMI placement as I can see. Just the s video and pin connection. Just to add in a few more details.  

Related resources
January 23, 2014 2:33:08 AM

When the fans start spinning do you get to the bios? Since it's a built one you should get a splashscreen of the motherboard manufacturer logo,with a button like maybe Delete to enter BIOS. Otherwise,when you turn it on does the monitor switch from "no input"[which it should be showing just plugged in to power with the desktop off] to "VGA" or "DVI" meaning it confirms your connection? If you are not seeing any of this then the monitor is definitely the one not receiving any input.
January 23, 2014 2:44:08 AM

Nope. When its all hooked up and all that, nothing pops up on the screen and it says no input. If I have NY gateway plugged into the screen it reads I just fine and tells me my resolution. When i push the menu button it says no input on the cord the free desktop is hooked up too. The fan works on the card itself so I'm assuming it's getting power... Right?
January 23, 2014 2:58:19 AM

Yeah it is getting power,but you should try using the video inputs off the motherboard first,at least until you can get input to your monitor.
January 23, 2014 8:37:34 AM

OK. It has the yellow video out so I'll try connecting to my TV.
January 23, 2014 8:57:59 AM

Still nothing...even with the video cord :-/
January 23, 2014 10:30:48 AM

Strange...
give HDMI a shot to the TV through the GPU.
January 23, 2014 10:49:36 AM

I could order an s video and try that. I don't have one anymore.
January 23, 2014 10:56:28 AM

You could try the DVI on the GPU. That should be easier. That would be the bigger white port to the left. That's cheaper to test than optical.
January 23, 2014 10:58:55 AM

And how old is that PC? No HDMI on the board AND the GPU? Damn.
January 23, 2014 11:25:01 AM

I really don't know... But I've been able to look at it finally without my toddler being crazy and there is no RAM in it. Is that my problem? Lol. I wish I knew how old it was, I'm assuming old since I also changed the battery and checked it and it was dead completely.
January 23, 2014 11:46:49 AM

If there's no ram that would mean there's no case speaker either since it would definitely beep. And yes,that is definitely a problem. You need to get some,and maybe a new VGA cable,and a DVI to VGA converter just as precaution. Also spend a little time checking inside that PC what else is dead,dying or disconnected.
January 23, 2014 12:05:58 PM

OK. I'll start with the RAM first. Any recommendations? All im using the computer for is my embroidery machine so the RAM isnt that big of deal as long as i can run a couple of programs at once. I wish I could pull it out of my laptop and use that. I will get one of those cords too.
January 23, 2014 12:06:39 PM

Thank you so much for the help by the way. I appreciate it a lot!
January 23, 2014 12:25:49 PM

Laptop ram wont fit unfortunately. Just get a pair of 4GB (2x2GB) but now the question is,is that system ddr3 or ddr2, I'm not quite certain.
January 24, 2014 6:05:30 AM

Can't tell really,it is an old AMD CPU,looks like AM2 maybe,but then that could swing either way for the RAM,the newer ones supported dd3. An easy way to be sure is to track down the motherboard version.I couldn't see it in any of the given photos. Should be there somewhere,something with M4A or M5A in it.
!