Failure to boot

If your computer is failing to boot, there are few things that your gonna want to narrow down. In most cases, there are going to be lights to indicate that your power supply is actually doing something. The main power switch on the front of the computer will light up if, it's receiving power at all. There should also be a small LED on the mother board for the same purpose. It could still be the power supply, just not as likely.

So if your getting power, the next thing you will want to determine is if your getting any beeps when you first turn the computer on. A all is good code will be, just one beep indicating that the computer passed the post and is booting up. If that is the case and your getting no video, check the gaming section of my site to try and troubleshoot a no display problem. The beep code for no video card is typically one short beep followed by two long beeps. As such, it is a good indication that it may be a defective video card or that it came loose.

In general when there are no post codes or beeps, it ends up being a build up of dust. The dust is connecting the motherboard to the case. So if you take the time, carefully pull everything apart, clean your electronics with air, and put it back together. There is a good chance you will easily fix the problem.

From there, it will be a good idea to try pulling out all of your add on cards, including all of the ram except for one strip. What your trying to accomplish, is to see if there is a short causing the abnormal post codes. It is possible that a card or chip may be defective. Even trying to boot the computer with out a video card may be helpful. It seems like a odd thing to do. However, if you are not getting any beep codes. Then you pull the video card and get the no video card present code. There is a good chance it may be a defective video card.

If your still stuck, there may be something else you could try. If you have a extra power supply or computer laying around, try connecting up the power supply from the other machine to the computer having trouble. It's a great way to eliminate the power supply as the cause of trouble.

As always, if you have any questions on this document or need assistance. Feel free to sign up under the hire a geek section and post your questions.