I kinda dont have anywhere else to go. All of a sudden, my computer will not play video, whether in Real Player, Creative Mediasource, or plain Windows Media Player....i get sound, but just a black screen.....anyone have suggestions? PPs: My computer whistles when taxed.....and i CANNOT figure out exactly where it is coming from.....I am reasonably sure it is not my graphics card or some case fans (especially seeing as how it DOES NOT WHISTLE....FOR INSTANCE RIGHT NOW) anyone know what it could be? Im thinking maybe my hard drive or CD drive...but its so hard to tell...and it whistle when i play Empires....so its hard to believe it would be CD drive
1) Did you install any video codecs lately? Divx or something along those lines? 2) Did you install new drivers lately? 3) Fans speed up and slow down based on temperature. Temperature depends on how fast your computer is running. Web browsing takes few CPU cycles, whereas a video game will use as many as it can squeeze out of your system. So naturally, any heavy-processing will create a lot of air flow in your case. My money is on the fan. It's probably sucking or blowing air over a little tiny screwhole in the side of the case, causing it to whistle. True, a hard drive winds up and does a lot of bit-shifting when you're playing games, but all the moving components are enclosed. Plus, the kind of vibration from a whistle would almost certainly cause data loss. CD drive is also out, because obviously it's not running all the time. Try removing a panel (or 3 panels, or whatever you do to open it up), and just lightly settle it on top. This way there is plenty of airflow, but there aren't electrical components dangerously close to your carpet. Leave about an inch of gap, then plug in and boot up the system. Run Empires (or some other game) for a few minutes, and see if the whistling reappears. If that seems to clear it up, then you can either try to seal up any holes in the case that were obviously not meant for ventilation, or alternatively, drill a bunch more in to boost airflow (warning: ugly). Edit: Oh, and this probably won't even come up, but NEVER EVER put WD40 on a computer fan. It'll melt the sucker. Just FYI.
same thing he said, you changed something recently I'm sure. Check video codecs or reinstall/update them, DVD viewing softwares? Video driver would be last on the list. You can probably solve the whistling by getting one of those compressed air cans and blowing out all your fans, you do that every 6 monthes RIGHT? Try system restore to a date before that happend. You'll be amazed that it will work and have new found respect for microsoft. If that don't work, post in anandtech forums.
i dont know what the video problem was, using system restore did not fix it. However, updating my drivers seemed to have fixed it. The whistling just started about a month ago, and i have made 0 hardware changes in that time (although i am getting a new CPU soon...mine hits like 90C under full load if i dont have a powerful room fan blowing into side of open case....the fact that it is like 100F outside and probably 90F inside doesnt help things though)
that is WAY WAY too hot, most cpu fail around 85deg celcius... you probably need a new non stock fan and some artic silver. clock it down if it's overclocked. make sure that it's not clogged with dust.
Lol 90°C :D My CPU always locked itself down at 120°C. Like 20 times. It was an overclocked Celeron. I cooled it with a big fan (not a computer fan, a big-ass 'holy shens this wind feels good in hot weather' fan.) And it still works \0/ (don't use it anymore tho)
Heh, my old CPU had a critical temperature of 65 degrees Celcius... If I didn't keep the air flowing in the room via big fans, the mutha' would shut down after 30 minutes of play.
