Computer is on. working monitor is not :( ?

Just recently i faced any casual pc users nightmare. Though for me my work is all pc based and i thought my harddrive had crashed. i was using my computer the way i usually do and out of nowhere decided to turn off. I decided not to fiddle with it, instead i decided to let it go for a bit. Until recently i checked it out. to find my hp compaq dc 7600 didnt want to boot and flased red whilst power was on. I decided to disconnet the cd drive incase of any shortage or surges of power was an issue (i decided the cd drive because it fails me alot of the time.) I also made sure the rom, hdd And power was all in place and in theory too me it all look right... however my power supply is situated on top of my sata drive so i have moved (not disassembled) the power supply just a little bit further from my hdd and what do you know? The powers on. The fans for both cpu and the power supply work.. and i can cheerfully hear my harddrive running. But right now my problem is that my working monitor does not show an input signal. And ive tried to use a different monitor and an lcd tv and still nothing. My main priority was to back up any important files before my hdd is next but simply cant without seeing anything please help...

System details.
Windows xp
2 gb ram (2x 1 gb) pc5300 ddr2
Western digital 800 jd 80 gb sata hdd
And using an rgb cable for monitor i/o

P.s opinion on ditching this pc and switching harddrive to new pc? Thx
 
First, you can slave your harddrive to another system and access it through said system and save your important documents, etc. as well as run a harddrive diagnostics.

Second, HP like Dell, etc. put in poor power supplies and a psu is the backbone of any system. It sounds like the psu may be a bit unstable and/or the cables are loose. If you are truly thinking about another system we would recommend building your own. We can certainly help in that department under our General Hardware section. If you ask for advice for a build answer the following two questions: a) What is your budget and b) What do you want to do with your system?

Third, as for the monitor did you try a different cable?
 
reply

First: im not a total master in the tech department so slavimg the harddrive is a foreign thing to me.

Second: the pc i have been using is second hand (which may answer the budget question) and lasted a good four years and has been moved around quite a bit due to moving around simply. So i would agree something may be loose or just simply worn out.

And i havnt tried a different cable. And i hadnt mentioned the keyboard lights dont light to signal power so... i dont know if that means much.

Also my budget is low and i produce music for myself and others so the 2 gb of ram was enough for what i was using so virtually anything reliable with a minimum 2gb of ram or a ddr2 ram input to place my existing ram into would be enough and yep, sound is no issue as i have an external sound card so anything with decent ram, memory etc... just aslong as i can run my programs and do it with ease. The main thing i want though is for everything on my current harddrive to still work as i have numerous plugins, synths, samples, programs etc that i unfortunately also dont have copies of... lol i was very un organised til recently but i guess my max budget would be about $400-500 aud...
 
Okay, first things first. Do you have a friend with any tech knowledge, i.e. working with/building computers?
 
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