Foo - *sigh* I think my motherboard is toast

I guess everything compensates. I will have gotten my braces off, graduated from HS and gotten my license in 2 weeks. But my comp just had to fail.
This morning it all seemed fine. Checked my emails, checked Digg, checked the weather, etc.
I come home from work, things seem extremely slow and I've got the "Windows is low on virtual memory error". Whatever, so I restart.
Now I get the lovely black screen with white text. I forget the exact wording, but it was something on the lines of "Invalid boot device, press any key when you are ready". Okay, I've seen that before. 2 months ago my DiamondMax 8 HDD failed, which I replaced with a new 120GB Diamondmax 20 w/ warranty. Just for kicks, I try to insert the WinXP CDROM and boot from that. I press delete to enter BIOS control panel, I can't get in. I try to remove and replace the jumper to reset BIOS, and now the screen just stays black. Computer gets power, but not even the brand of the motherboard is displayed on the screen.
My Radeon 9600 has never been an issue, and I really doubt that is my problem considering the problem evident when I COULD see.

My motherboard is an MSI Neo2, 1.5 years old. Does it sound like this is the likely culprit?>?

Just curious. If you're motherboard is toast, how are you posting on the intarweb right now?

I bought a laptop last year to use for situation like this.

Is the BIOS socketed?

If you think it's just a hosed BIOS, then try to get a ebay damage special with a good BIOS and swap the chips, then learn to hot-flash the messed up BIOS chip.

Power supplies going bad can have strange symptoms as well.

On one of my computers, I had some error messages and the system rebooted. After the reboot, the sound card started making strange sounds half way through the boot and the system stopped cold and shut down. Typically, electronics in computers don't just die. It can happen, but I would swap out the power supply first.

Meh...a dead motherboard isn't nearly as bad as graduating is good.

If you've got spare components, try swapping various things in and out before spending money on what it might be. That could potentially save you a few bucks.

Is it rye? I love rye toast. Or even better, cinnamon raisin. :)

How's the battery?

I don't have any extra power supplies. Could I check the voltage from the outputs using a voltmeter?

It might work to check the voltages although I've never tried. It would make sense that the voltages would be irregular if there was a problem.

I don't have any extra power supplies. Could I check the voltage from the outputs using a voltmeter?Well, you also have to check the voltage under load. With nothing attached, the PS will give out full-voltage due to the minimal current-draw of the voltmeter and they'll be very little voltage-drop. With devices sucking power, they'll be a voltage-drop rate vs. amps flowing. A failing power-supply might drop voltage too low at only 1/2-1/4th the output-rating of the PS. Using dummy resistive loads might be an easy way to test the PS.

Does it beep for the POST?

Power supply is a common problem and a cheap fix, generally speaking.

Power supply is a common problem and a cheap fix, generally speaking.

Cheap compared to a new computer, but the power source is the last component one should cheap-out on.

Nothing less than $80-$100.

I don't necessarily know about that. It's pretty easy to find a reliable power supply for ~$50, especially if you don't need more than 400 Watts. Of course, my numbers could be skewed a little bit by buying from Newegg.

It does not beep or make any sound at all. Just my black screen. I'll see if I can borrow a PS from a friend.
I hate living off my laptop :(

I have a feeling it is the power supply. THe hard disk was spinning alright (so it sounded), but perhaps the reason it said "boot device not available" was becuase the HD was not getting adequate voltage to function. And now, the motherboard is not getting adequate voltage to really function at all. I think I'm going to replace the power supply, get the 350W one from Staples for 50 bucks. I don't have anything outside the norm except 5 small case fans to power up (12 watts a piece).

Looks like the power supply was not the culprit. I bought an Antec 500W power supply on sale, for 70 bucks it seemed like a pretty good deal. Well I get the same problem. Now I think it's the motherboard.