PC will not boot up

Hi,

I closed my PC down as usual last night and when I hit the power button to switch it back on 40 minutes later it would not boot up. I've not done anything unusual, not installed any new h/ware or s/ware. The PC is coming upto 3 years old and has never had a problem up until now.

It is a Packard Bell iXtreme X9610 running Windows 7 64-bit.

When I switch it on the caps lock light etc on the keyboard all flash and the power and hard drive lights on the computer both switch on. I hear it kick in but nothing happens. Just a black screen, I don't even get the mobo message so I cannot access the bios.

* I have noticed the hard drive indicator light on the computer flashes on and off eight times per second. Then there's a pause of 3-4 seconds and the pattern is repeated. Obviously this is trying to advise a problem but I've tried Packard and the drive manufacturer Western Digital and they couldn't advise me what it was.

The HD is a Western Digital wd6400aaks, Caviar Blue 640 GB SATA II 16MB Cache 3.5" Internal drive.

The mobo is a Winfast/Foxconn N15235.

Have noticed the fan is working and the fan on the GPU is working.

I've tried ringing both Western and Packard but they were of no help.

I'm able to open the dvd drive, so I've tried putting in my Windows 7 backup cd to see if it will boot from that. Again nothing even after switching off and back on with the cd still in the drive.

I'm thinking about taking out the CMOS battery to reset the bios and see if that does anything.

I'm not sure what to do, I'd hate to buy a new HD and a new copy of Windows 7 and find its not the HD but I think it probably is.

I need to get some stuff off this HD as well.

Any suggestions on the 8 flashes or help in general really appreciated.

Thanks,

I took out the CMOS battery for a few hours, popped it back and switched on and got a long beep and two short beeps. Signals a video error!

After doing some investigation unless I'm mistaken here:-

The system has a FSP250-60HEN PSU
The system has a NVidia GF9600GS 768MB PCI-Express X16 video card.

Am I right in saying there is nothing fricken way this system should be powered by a little 250 watt PSU?

No wonder the cards fried and probably everything else on it.

Well after installing a new PCI card everything powered up as normal as if there was nothing wrong. Everything does seem to point to the PCI-ExpressX16 slot not working. I've been able to get everything off the HD I need.

I've tested the RAM, HD, CPU everything is working fine apart from the PCIEX16 slot. Problem is the lag time on everything with this card is unbearable, even solitaire experiences a lag when dragging cards.

I've just tried putting in the brand new PCI-ExpressX16 card alongside the working PCI card. I've still got the monitor plugged into the PCI card though. DeviceManager indicates just the PCI card is plugged and no mention of the PCI-Express card, again further evidence its slot is broken I think.

Quite pleased I've found the fault though .

Is there anything else I could try other than buy a same model mobo if one is available?