PC won't boot or post

[inutelinside]

I did nothing! I was just doing normal stuff online when the computer freezes on me. I first tried ctrl+alt+del more than once, but it didn't do anything. So I pushed the reset button. The screen goes black, but the computer doesn't beep, and nothing appears on screen. There is power, the fans are on and the lights come on on the disc drives. the light blinks on the monitor, but the computer won't do anything. The power button doesn't do anything, and when I switched it off w/ the surge protector and switced it back on again it still doesn't beep or POST. This happened before about two weeks ago and it came back after I unplugged it and plugged it in again. But this time that didn't work. I even waited for over an hour to see if something needed to cool down or something, but it still didn't work.

 

[Prydonian]

Inutelinside;

Hopefully your CPU didn't fry. You don't say what the system specs are or if you've pulled the CPU heatsink recently (we've all put the heatsink back on 180 degrees out at one time or another. 'Specially easy to do for AMDs) or how old the system is.

But it sounds like it could be a bad PSU. If you have a spare PSU you could put it in and see what happens. If not, unplug the box, pull the cover and remove all boards except for the Video Card. Next, unplug (power and data cables) all drives (CDs, DVDs, hard discs) EXCEPT for your boot drive. Remove all memory modules but one.

Plug it in and power on and see if it boots. If it does, you've got a bad PSU. Most manufacturers put in a PSU that is adequate for the devices they installed, but they don't have much leeway for the additional things we all install.

I've added three SATA drives, two more memory modules and two DVD burners. I also pulled the 300 watt PSU and replaced it with a 600 watt PSU.... Oh, yeah... And two more case fans.

Even if it doesn't boot, you still might have a bad PSU that may be powering the fans and discs but not the MB. Buying a $49 PSU is a lot cheaper than a $300 processor!

Good Luck!

Mike, The IT Guy

Life is too short to drink warm beer....

 

[joedammit]

Hopefully Prydonian is correct, and you didnt fry your cpu. If you have another pc, you can trouble shoot the hardware he listed. I freid a my ram by repeatedly unplugging my machine, so you might not want to do that in the future.

Did you happen to hear you pc making a sound that resembled a ping pong ball bouncing on a wooden table? If it did make that sound, you have a bad HDD (Hard Disk Drive).

I hope this helps you, either to remedy the situation, or rule out your HDD...Troubleshooting a dead machine blows. Good luck with that.

Joe

 

[inutelinside]

I had my computer diagnosed in a computer repair shop and they found blown out capacitors. I guess it's the mobo. I just hope nothing is wrong with my processor and other hardware. Thanks for the prompt responses.