Does this sound like a video card problem?

[ingeborgdot]

I was talking to a friend of mine and she said that her computer has been acting up. She has to leave for extended periods of time so she shuts down her computer. When she comes back she pushes the power button and the machine fires up and starts to load but then the screen goes black. She says it sounds like the machine is still running but it won't do anything. When she She then has to do a reset a bunch of times and finally it will boot up properly. When she resets the computer it makes the XP shutdown noise like it was on but no screen. She doesn't dare turn it off now for fear of it not coming back on. When it is on it seems to work fine. Could this be a video card problem? Her motherboard is the Epox EP-9NPA+ Ultra running XP pro. I am going to go over later today and do some checking of things to see what the possiblities could be.

 

[aphilio]

kinda sounds more like a mobo problem but try opening her up and check all the connections, make sure everything is secure

ps wear a static strap

 

[EXCellR8]

If you are familiar with the process of clearing and resetting CMOS I would recommend giving that a try. It almost sounds like maybe the settings in BIOS are incorrectly configured causing the computer to struggle at boot time.

 

[THNDR143]

Hmm..

My sons PC did that once, and it was a combo of a bad ram stick and a toasted video card.

 

[kimsland]

I'd go with the Video (hardware) card issue too.

But just in case:
Remove the Video Card
Remove all internal dust (on Motherboard and on the card itself, using a compressed air can)
Re-insert the Video card (securely)
Turn on

There is also the possibility of Power Supply issue.
Instead of Turning off/on over and over
It would be best to remove all power
Then hold down the ON switch for 30 secs (dispersing all internal power)
Then replug in the power and turn on