Computer died from lightning :( Help pls!

[eidairaman1]

Weston, I hope your still on here or someone else can help. My home pc was hit my a lightning strike that hit my neighbors tree. My computer was on and connected to a surge protector. The lightning strike also took out my internet modem on a separate wall outlet. My computer will fire up, fans turn on and lights just nothing on the monitor. I have verified the monitor is still good and working. As the computer starts it makes a long beep then 5 to 10 seconds later it does 2 fast beeps. My graphics card is a integrated one. I thought that was bad so bought a different one a few d that didn't fix it. I also took the bios battery out and didn't fix it. I tested the wires you asked the previous guy and this is what I got.

Color-----off-----on
Purple---4.98---4.97
Green----4.29---0.06
Gray------0.00---5.01
Red-------0.00---5.01
Orange--0.01---3.30
Yellow---0.04---11.80

Any input as to what my issue would be for sure would be greatly appreciated. It is a gateway DX4831-01E Intel core i3 processor 530.

Thanks greatly
Joe

Powersupply or motherboard are dead, time for an Upgrade to a Ryzen and a true lightning shunter

 

[racingjoe66]

I'd like to fix what I have and save what I have on it if possible. Sorry I'm not very computer / tech savvy, so any help would be greatly appreciated as what to do with it. Thanks

 

[eidairaman1]

I'd like to fix what I have and save what I have on it if possible. Sorry I'm not very computer / tech savvy, so any help would be greatly appreciated as what to do with it. Thanks

Its 10+ yo system. Time to move

 

[racingjoe66]

Might be old, but does what I need and still fast enough for me.

 

[Toothless]

Might be old, but does what I need and still fast enough for me.

Unless you have spare parts to test with, it might not be worth buying aged parts to maybe fix it.

 

[racingjoe66]

To me it's worth it. Anyone by chance know what the voltage readings on the wires show?

When the monitor comes on it says the following

D sub
Power saving mode

Does that mean anything?

 

[Toothless]

To me it's worth it. Anyone by chance know what the voltage readings on the wires show?

When the monitor comes on it says the following

D sub
Power saving mode

Does that mean anything?

Did, again, unless you have the spare parts to test everything, assume it's all gone.

 

[racingjoe66]

Okay, then how do I save the programs and pictures and files that are on it? Thanks

 

[Vayra86]

Okay, then how do I save the programs and pictures and files that are on it? Thanks

You can plug the drives into any new system and grab the data off it, it shouldnt be hard. I wouldnt re use these drives though given their age

 

[hat]

Can we focus our efforts on trying to help the poor guy instead of telling him "lul buy new system"? Not all of us have the money and the desire to do so.

@racingjoe66 a long beep followed by two short beeps is usually a video error. Which graphics card did you get? Did the behavior of the system change at all when you installed it, including the beeps the machine makes when you try to start it? Does the video card have a power connector, and if so, did you connect it?

Further troubleshooting includes bare-bones testing. Disconnect power and data cables from any and all hard drives, optical drives, and whatever else may be present. Remove any and all expansion cards. Unplug everything from the back of the computer, except the power cable (keyboard, mouse, speakers, etc). This should leave you with just the motherboard, processor and memory installed with only the main 20 (or 24) pin and CPU power connectors plugged in. If nothing changes, try booting it without any memory at all and note any beeps that occur. Try one stick of memory at a time in each slot, then try the other stick in each slot if nothing happens.

 

[Grog6]

racingjoe66, you need to call a friend that keeps old hardware.

At a minumum, you're going to need a power supply, a video card, and a stick of memory, all that fit your current computer.

Swap the power supply, see if it boots.
Write down any sounds, or efforts to start; see if anything works.

If that gives nothing, swap in the video card and one stick of memory.
See if it boots.

If nothing, remove the one stick of memory, see if it beeps at you.
If nothing, I'd pull the drives for recovery in another machine.

You can buy a hard drive dock that has a usb port, to recover files to a laptop.

If the video card, power supply and one stick of memory boots, buy new ones, and buy your buddy some beer for helping.

 

[hat]

Lol.

I have that album.

racingjoe66, you need to call a friend that keeps old hardware.

At a minumum, you're going to need a power supply, a video card, and a stick of memory, all that fit your current computer.

Swap the power supply, see if it boots.
Write down any sounds, or efforts to start; see if anything works.

If that gives nothing, swap in the video card and one stick of memory.
See if it boots.

If nothing, remove the one stick of memory, see if it beeps at you.
If nothing, I'd pull the drives for recovery in another machine.

You can buy a hard drive dock that has a usb port, to recover files to a laptop.

If the video card, power supply and one stick of memory boots, buy new ones, and buy your buddy some beer for helping.

I'd just like to add that, if you follow this and get to the part in bold, having swapped in all those other known good parts and still get nothing, you're looking at a dead motherboard and/or dead CPU, plus the other parts of yours you would have already removed from the machine at this point which are also possibly dead.

 

[Frick]

Man I miss some of the posters here.

 

[racingjoe66]

Thanks guys/gals. The video card I got was PNY GeForce GT 430 Graphics Video Card | VCGGT4301XPB. There was no wires on it to plug in. The fan on the card does turn on. It made no change on how it fires up or the beeps. I did notice if I pushed keys on the board it would make a beep or some kind of noise in the computer with each stroke. When I get home tonight I will diagnose it further with your guys help

Thanks guys/gals. The video card I got was PNY GeForce GT 430 Graphics Video Card | VCGGT4301XPB. There was no wires on it to plug in. The fan on the card does turn on. It made no change on how it fires up or the beeps. I did notice if I pushed keys on the board it would make a beep or some kind of noise in the computer with each stroke. When I get home tonight I will diagnose it further with your guys help

Okay disconnected the hard drive and CD drive and new video card and didn't make a change. Then took out the 4 sticks of memory and all it does after turning on is a solid beeeeeeppppp with no stopping.

Just put 2 sticks back in and now no beeping at all

Plugged everything back in, now the screen comes up, but says detect drive no any drive found.

Goes to black screen that says american megatrends.

Cmos date/time not set
Cmos checksum error
Press del to run setup
Press f1 to continue


I've tried f1 and del and it wont go past this screen.......

The delete does work, my bad lol. So what am I looking at here? Back hard drive....

 

[racingjoe66]

The computer is working and everything is still there.

 

[hat]

It's normal to see something like "cmos checksum error" after pulling the battery. So you got it to boot but it didn't detect the hard drive? Just to make sure: you did reconnect the power and data cables after you got the system to boot? Or does your last post mean you got it working? If so, glad we could help you get it sorted.