Blank screen after Windows Update

[nbstl68]

I run BI for my cameras on a refurbished HP ENVY 750-247c.
The other night I shut everything down and let Windows apply their updates and reboot as I've done often before.
This time the computer never comes back up on screen.
The computer turns on when the power button is pressed; power light, fans come on, you can hear the DVD drive attempt to trigger, but then nothing. No beeps, no screen. The monitor remains blank then eventually flashes, "No signal" for a few seconds and back to black.
I tried all the trouble shooting steps on the HP site specific for this computer as well as trying a rescue DVD and USB thumb drive, tried all possible combinations of key holds prior to power up to attempt to get to a safe mode or bios etc with and without the SSD main drive disconnected but the computer never makes it past power on and then a blank screen.

I know this is not really a computer trouble shooting forum but thought I'd ask if anyone here has had similar experience for any direction or next steps.

I'm thinking for my next step to try buying a basic cheap video card that should work with any Windows installation, (swapping out the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 745 card that came with it; no video connection is available off the motherboard) and doing a VGA connection to the monitor on the off chance the issue has something to do with the Windows update not being compatible with the graphics card drivers.

Any thoughts or insights would be appreciated.

 

[0blar]

can you check your RAM ?

 

[nbstl68]

I removed \ re-seated the RAM, video card and SSD.
My Google searches turned up a lot of topics under computer breaks after Windows update. The odds of a part failure at the exact time as the update reboot would seem astronomically unlikely IMO but how do you fix it when there is nothing at all to see on the monitor without all kinds of special diagnostic equipment for testing components out of the machine?
It's frustrating.

 

[bp2008]

I suggest finding the clear CMOS pins on the motherboard and short them together with a jumper or a screwdriver or something. I had to do that on my brand new BI server to get it to detect and use a PCI-E graphics card that I was using for tests. I don't know if they're all going to do this, but my machine basically boot looped as long as I had the pins shorted, which let me know I had done it correctly.

 

[fenderman]

A bad power supply could cause this as well....no bios screen would point to that as well...

 

[nbstl68]

Interesting thought but it seems to be working. I'm not sure how to independently test the PS. I don't have any type of testing equipment. The PS light comes on and everything appears to power up...3 fans running in the case and on the video card, DVD tries to initiate, etc. It just seems way too coincidental that anything hardware related would fail the same instant of a Windows update reboot.

I went to Best Buy last night to grab a cheap basic video card to go with that hunch...wow, I have not been there in a while. They used to have rows of computer parts.....They only had a "computer accessories" section about 4 ft long and only 1 video card option. Sad. The "Geek Squad" service desk was pretty busy though...and I may be stuck in line there soon too.

 

[fenderman]

Interesting thought but it seems to be working. I'm not sure how to independently test the PS. I don't have any type of testing equipment. The PS light comes on and everything appears to power up...3 fans running in the case and on the video card, DVD tries to initiate, etc. It just seems way too coincidental that anything hardware related would fail the same instant of a Windows update reboot.

I went to Best Buy last night to grab a cheap basic video card to go with that hunch...wow, I have not been there in a while. They used to have rows of computer parts.....They only had a "computer accessories" section about 4 ft long and only 1 video card option. Sad. The "Geek Squad" service desk was pretty busy though...and I may be stuck in line there soon too.

Often a shutdown/reboot will cause an faulty supply issue to surface...lights and fans are meaningless...Just resolved a video issue like this on an old lenovo desktop using integrated graphics....but its a guess, could be the card or something else, but safe mode should display...

 

[TonyR]

Could be the power supply having an issue with the "power good" signal that it's supposed to generate upon startup and send to the motherboard as mentioned ==>> here.
I've had a few Dells and older Gateways that exhibited the same issues as you describe "come back to life" by unplugging the power supply from the power 120VAC source completely for 15 minutes. Costs you nothing but time to try!

 

[c hris527]

I will agree with @TonyR on this one, I would also unplug all drives, cd rom any thing usb and remove all thumb drives. Try to power it up with everything unpluged except your mainboard. Sometimes the pins on the PS connector get oxidized and a re seat will clear that..however usually when you have spinning fans and all your drives are alive your CPU has most likely failed or needs to be re-seated. Bad or no ram or video card failure will usually give you beep codes. Take a good look at your mainboard, If you see any Caps that are bulging than you have board issues.

 

[nbstl68]

Thanks for all the suggestions. I'm going to check all that out tomorrow.

 

[nbstl68]

Well, after killing a few hours doing all the above recommendations and following the HP troubleshooting I had to take it into a local repair shop. They diagnosed it with a dead mobo. New board $177,(Dead board was HP Ipm17-tp Thimphu which are still going for more than that.) installed $236.
So much for my great "deal" on a refurbished HP after only 18 months.

 

[TonyR]

So much for my great "deal" on a refurbished HP after only 18 months.

I know this won't make you feel any better but a new PC would with its 1 year warranty would not have been covered either. I'm still a fan of most refurbs.

I wish you better luck with the new mobo.

 

[fenderman]

I know this won't make you feel any better but a new PC would with its 1 year warranty would not have been covered either. I'm still a fan of most refurbs.

I wish you better luck with the new mobo.

the dell and hp business refurbs have 3 year next business day warranties...though I have never had to use them except for a laptop....motherboard failures are extremely rare... @nbstl68 check to see that they didnt replace the power supply...

 

[TonyR]

the dell and hp business refurbs have 3 year next business day warranties...though I have never had to use them except for a laptop....motherboard failures are extremely rare... @nbstl68 check to see that they didnt replace the power supply...

Dang! I didn't know that. I have bought other party refurbs like from newegg.com with a 1 year (like new). Thanks for the info.

 

[nbstl68]

I thought motherboard failures were extremely rare too. Not that I don't trust the guy, but I don't have a choice but to trust him. I have no way to test the stuff myself. He's a local self owned small shop with all good reviews but you never know. He says he checked the PS and tried different memory and video etc. A bad mobo I was not expecting. I mean it worked great, no issues until the Windows update rebooted it and it never came back up. I was just expecting a video driver issue or something. He basically says no signal coming out of the mobo at all.

 

[c hris527]

Dead Mainboards these days are rare but judging by the symptoms you were having it was really pointing in that direction, when you buy used system, you do not know how many power hits it took before you got it or brown out conditions it went through. That being said, I have been on the other end of that situation when I was doing some minor repair or upgrade and having a customers running system take a dump on my bench by no fault of mine but try to explain that to the customer. Most people will hear non of it and yes I had to own a few mainboards or worked out a pro rated solution because of it age.

 

[nbstl68]

Well, after fiddling around with it a bunch on my own I finally gave up and bought a "new\used" replacement MB. Installed it last night and I'm back in business.
I wanted to stop Windows 10 updates for a bit just to monitor it for a while with no other changes but it appears with Windows 10 (not Pro ed) I have no choice to block \ stop their updates?!

 

[bp2008]

You may be able to prevent updates by marking the network adapter as "metered" and disabling updates on metered connections. I've never done this myself so I'm not sure where the buttons are.

 

[TonyR]

You may be able to prevent updates by marking the network adapter as "metered" and disabling updates on metered connections. I've never done this myself so I'm not sure where the buttons are.

I've heard that what you mentioned works, but also read it applies only to Wi-Fi, not Ethernet. Since I don't have a Win 10 machine, I cannot say for sure.

I did find another method here that states:

"The most effective way to stop Windows update is to disable it. Windows Update service can detect, download and install the Windows updates and programs. Here are the directions:

1. Press the Windows logo key + R at the same time to invoke the Run box.
2. Type services.msc and press Enter.
Invoke run box and type services.msc
3. Scroll down to Windows Update, and double-click it.
Find windows update and double-click it
4. In Startup type, select Disabled. Then click Apply and OK to save the settings.
Disable the windows update service

Tips: Once disabled, you can not use the Windows automatic update feature, and programs will not be able to automatically download and install. So if you want to update your Windows 10, you can go to the Windows Update service, and select Automatic to enable the service. Then you will be able to update your Windows."

NOTE:
I have three Dell Win 7 x64 Home Premium machines, so I cannot testify to the accuracy of the above in Win 10 even though the method DOES allow you to disable Windows Updates using 'services.msc' in Windows 7.

 

[nbstl68]

Thanks!
I'll check that out.
I get MS wanting everyone to be as updated as possible which I'm sure avoids all kinds of support issues for outdated drivers and such but something about forcing it on me with supposedly no choice to control it strikes me as a bit too invasive.