how to solve black screen on vgc-v3s all in 1desktop?

[richnshell]

Hi, I've just purchased a vgc-v3s all in one desktop (second hand) the o/s is windows xp home it was only switched on for about an hour. About 5 minutes after I had installed mcafee it came up with an error report and said that it needed to close then it flicked to what I believe is called the 'blue screen of death' and a message appeared saying it had begun the dumping of physical memory. I tried to restart in safe mode but it just kept restarting itself before it got to the desktop now it switches on and you don't see anything just a black screen, the power light and the hard drive light are on and the fan is running but nothing else, you cant even open the dvd drive. If there is anyone that could shed some light on this for us it would be greatly appreciated.

thanks

[Blencogo]

It sounds like a driver or a hardware conflict and it will be difficult to find if you cannot get into the system.

Do you see the first Vaio Logo when you first turn  the computer on?  If not, make sure it is shut down completely by holding the Power Switch down for 5 seconds and then unplugging from the mains for 30 minutes.

I wonder if the previous owner returned the Vaio to factory condition to remove all his programs and data - what do you know of its history?  I wonder if all Microsoft and Vaio Updates have been reinstalled along with SP3.

If you can get it to display the Vaio splash screen during startup, try tapping F10 repeatedly and this should start the Vaio Recovery Utility.  Chose to make a complete recovery, which may take some hours, and then reinstall all Microsoft Updates by running Windows Update. Then go to the support page for your model here: -

http://support.vaio.sony.eu/computing/vaio/downloads/updates/index.aspx?m=VGC-V3S&l=en_GB

and download and install Vaio Update 5.  When installed, run Vaio Update 5 to install all Vaio Updates.

[richnshell]

Hi, thanks for your response.

The logo didn't appear at all, just a blank black screen. We have tried tapping F8 to gain access to safe mode and also F10 but unfortunatley nothing happens and the pc is completely unresponsive. I would also like to add that computer would not switch off by the power button even after holding it down for at least 5 seconds and so were forced to reluctantly switch it off at the socket.

We don't know much about the history as the seller is reluctant to state anything about any previous issues of the PC and the only repsponse received is that it was fully working. There were no programmes on there except Yahoo messenger and it was running on SP2. Windows was promting us to install updates.

There was a pop up in the right hand side of the screen at the botton (where the small icons are) saying that we needed to back up all the data??? Could this have been a warning sign?

This morning the computer will not even switch on, the power light flick on for a split second and then goes off and nothing happens. There is no issue with the socket and the power cable is connected properly.

If you could advise us with any possibilities of what this could be it would be greatly appreciate it, we will get a technician out and it would be helpful to have some ideas of the potential issues.

Many Thanks

[Blencogo]

It could be several things and the nature of the problem seems to have changed.  With the Vaio totally unresponsive it is almost impossible to diagnose and you probably need to talk to an engineer.

Are you in the UK?

If yes, have a chat with one of Sony's Service Partners near to where you live.  A full list of Service Partners can be found here: -

http://support.vaio.sony.eu/computing/vaio/contacts/asc.aspx?l=en_GB&m=VGC-V3S

[richnshell]

thanks for your help. yes in uk. I have been informed it could possibly be a gpu problem (whatever that is, something to do with graphics????) I'm not sure but i think that means new motherboard?? apparently the solder on this hardware is very brittle and a lot of people use a heat gun to re-heat the solder and re-connect it but this is temporary, don't know how true this is. cheers again