Jenny. It doesn't matter which cord is hooked up, I get no signal.
Ok, got the pc on. Now if I can just get into the bios to fix that part. I can't remember what I found last time but it didn't look anything like the picture that Inlandaz posted.

Oops, had put the Zotac disc in drive and getting message that Windows found driver software for your device but encountered an error while attempting to install it ."The required line was not found in the INF".
Found new hardware-Video Controller (VGA Compatible)

There's not much we can do about a hardware problem, which this seems to be. The hard drive may be OK, but I don't know about the power supply and the motherboard.

The only way I know to test a power supply is to replace it with a power supply that you know is good -- and if the problem goes away, you know the power supply is bad.

Jenny we were posting at the same time. What is an INF?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/INF_file

It sounds like you've got the wrong driver for your video card.

Is there any way you can take a picture of that, and then upload it to image shack or photo bucket so we can look at it? Also what is the model make and number of the monitor?

BTW - to enter the BIOS I believe you have to press and hold F10 when you boot up the PC.

Well, I'm not sure what is going on or what I've done. I downloaded the latest driver again for the GT220. Rebooted the pc and after doing that it reconized the GT220. The pc has been working fine for the last few hours. I don't know if anything has been running, like Norton doing a check, but the pc has not turned itself off yet. I find it hard to believe that is the end of my problem but I certainly hope so.
Thanks Jenny, Drac and Inland. I appreciate all your help. Please keep your fingers crossed!
Terri

Excellent news

Glad you got it sorted out.

I wonder if the GT220 drivers never got installed for some reason. Be sure your monitor is plugged in to that video card and not the motherboard video card! A picture might still be a good idea...

That's great news. Hopefully this was just a driver issue, though it doesn't really explain the problems you had in Knoppix or outside Windows.

As we suspected that wasn't the only problem. PC booted up after second try. Again the tower showed the blue/white light, but not the yellow flashing one and the EHD was on but monitor was not getting a signal. If you think a new power supply would resolve the problem, which would you recommend. Do I have to stay with a 300 watt?
Hopefully I got something resolved and with all the posts, hope they help someone else.

In my opinion, at this point you would just be sticking replacement components in your computer without knowing whether they are the problem or not. Like Jenny said, it's impossible to diagnose hardware problems from a distance. If no one has a power supply tester, I would take it in to a computer repair shop.

Actually it's quite possible that the PSU isn't supplying enough power to the video card (which could explain the signal issue).

So far as I'm aware, the GT 220 doesn't require an additional power input, so all of its power is supplied by the PCI-E port.

Try disconnecting your external hard drive and see if it boots more consistently.

PSU are relatively inexpensive, and not too difficult to swap out.

The odd thing is all of this just recently started and I've had that card installed for several months. I am seriously considering doing a complete recovery and going from there. I did have my EHD on the Compaq for several days, so I don't think that's an issue. I am wondering if what ever started this also did something to my Epson Workforce 320. I can make copies but can copy nothing from either PC. I don't want to put too much in the HP but a PSU wouldn't be much. I've got an out of the country trip planned for this summer, so don't want to have to buy another pc either. I am at a loss and really don't know what to do.
I do think I'm going to take a break from this mess that I've made, and give all of you a break too.
Thank you so much for all the help and all of the time you've spent trying to help me.
Hugs,
Terri