Six symptoms account for almost every desktop call from a Ghaziabad office. You can narrow any of them to two or three candidate causes in fifteen minutes, without tools, and that list turns a vague quote into a fixed price.
The triage table
Find your row, then run the free test before calling anyone.
| Symptom | Most likely causes | Free test to run first | Cost if it is the part |
|---|---|---|---|
| No display, fans spin | Graphics card loose or dead, RAM fault, no POST, cable | Swap the cable, reseat card and RAM, listen for beeps | ₹1,500-4,000 per stick, ₹4,000-12,000 for a card |
| No power, nothing at all | Wall socket or extension, PSU, front-panel wires, board | Try a known-good socket, check for a lit PSU fan and the front panel | ₹1,400-4,500 for a PSU |
| Random restarts | PSU under load, overheating, RAM, storage, a driver | Note whether it is idle or load, and before or after an update | ₹1,400-4,500, or ₹800-2,500 for a clean |
| Blue screens | RAM, storage, overheating, driver, less often hardware | Read the stop code; it is the whole diagnosis | ₹1,500-4,000 for RAM, ₹2,500-6,000 for a drive |
| No network | Dead or disabled NIC, driver reset, cable or router port, DHCP failure | Check the link lights at the tower and the router | ₹1,200-3,500 for a NIC, usually ₹0 for a driver |
| Clicking or scraping | Hard drive head crash, a fan hitting the case, a failing drive | Listen to the pattern, run the SMART status | ₹2,500-6,000 for a drive, plus recovery |
| Buzzing, whine, rattle | Coil whine is harmless; rattling is a bearing or a drive | Stop each fan in turn, a rattle that stops is the fan | ₹600-2,000 for a fan |
No display but the fans spin
It has power, so the failure is between the PSU output and the monitor. Beep codes narrow it: one short beep means RAM passed, three or four point at memory, five at the CPU, a long-short-long-short pattern at the graphics card, continuous beeping means power or board.
Three tests, in order: reseat the graphics card, try each RAM stick alone in each slot, then connect a different monitor over HDMI. If it works from another port, the cable was the problem and you saved ₹8,000.
Random restarts: the time of day is the clue
Where the restart happens tells you the cause before you open anything:
- Only under heavy load, after the machine has been up a while: power supply or heat.
- Only in the evening, on several machines at once: supply voltage. Fit a stabiliser or UPS on that circuit.
- Immediately after a Windows update: a driver, almost certainly the chipset or graphics one.
- The moment one application opens: that application’s install, not the hardware.
- Once at boot, then stable all day: the PSU losing regulation on startup, or a CMOS battery.
Read the blue screen, do not reinstall Windows
The stop code at the bottom of the blue screen is a real diagnosis, and “just format it” destroys the only useful information you have.
MEMORY_MANAGEMENT,IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL: RAM or a driver. Test memory first, it is cheaper to check.INACCESSIBLE_BOOT_DEVICE: the drive, its cable, or a storage-mode mismatch after an install.WHEA_UNCORRECTABLE_ERROR: a hardware-level error, usually CPU, RAM or board. Not a software problem.CRITICAL_PROCESS_DIED: usually Windows itself, worth a repair install before anything else.
The full dump sits at C:\Windows\Minidump. Nobody needs it for a simple job, but a technician asking for it will diagnose rather than guess.
When the network is the problem, not the PC
Look at the link lights at the tower and the router port: no lights at the tower means the NIC or the cable, and the cable is free to swap. Lights but no connection means a DHCP or driver problem: power-cycle the router and reinstall the adapter driver. If the machine connects then drops, turn off the adapter’s power saving in device manager, a Windows default and a real cause. When the whole office drops at once, it is the router or switch, a different job covered under networking services.
Sounds, and what each one means
Coil whine, a high whistle that follows load, is the inductor in the power supply or graphics card. A rattle that starts and stops is a fan bearing. A click or scrape from a drive position is a failing head, and every power cycle makes recovery less likely: stop using it before anyone installs an operating system on it. Data recovery is the first conversation, not the last.
FAQ
Should I try to fix it myself? Yes for the free tests: reseating cables and cards, checking a socket, rebooting the router. No for anything involving opening the power supply, which holds a charge even when unplugged.
Hardware or software? Hardware symptoms survive a boot into safe mode; software symptoms often disappear in it. If the fault is still there in safe mode, stop reinstalling Windows.
Is a blue screen a sign the machine is dying?
Usually not. A single stop code naming memory or a driver is routine. A blue screen on every boot, or a WHEA error that repeats, is closer to a dying part.
Do I need to back up before the repair? Always. If it is a hard disk making noise, every boot is a risk to the data.
Desktop repair in Ghaziabad
24Bit System handles desktop repair across Ghaziabad, Raj Nagar and Indirapuram, with a written diagnosis before work starts. Send the symptom and the model number on the contact page, or call +91 7840002466 to book a slot.
