Strange boot probelm

RiCkItY_ReD

Solid State Member
Messages
6
Hi all, I'd really appreciate any help you can offer with this because I'm stumped!

My computer is a fairly new build; all of the components are about 6 or 7 months old. I've never had any problems until now. About a month ago I turned on the computer and no signal was being sent to the monitor (light remained orange for 'standby' and obviously no image on screen). I thought it may be an issue with the monitor cable or the graphics card but then I noticed that the computer was not booting up in the background either (no beeps, no windows sounds, and the hard drive has a sort of repetitive whirring). After about 5 minutes of mindless attempts turning it on and off, pressing reset, turning the PSU on and off etc. it came on just as normal. The problem didn't occur again until 2 days ago. The same stubborn turning on and off would eventually get me on to my computer but the problem is occurring every time now that I try and boot up the computer.

I have checked all the cables inside the computer to make sure they are properly connected (this amounted to going through each cable in turn and firmly pressing it into its socket). I have taken out the graphics card and replaced it, plugging a different cable from the PSU into it. I have switched the RAM into the other 2 free slots. I have removed the BIOS battery for a minute and replaced it. The thing which has the most significant effect is unplugging the PSU power cord from the back and holding down the power button for a minute. I have heard that this is meant to purge any excess power from the system. This seemed to work the first time. However, now every time I do it, when I switch the computer on it powers up for about a second and then cuts out. What's really weird is that it then starts up again by itself but with the usual problem.

I'm worried that this is going to be a faulty PSU or motherboard, but I'm in denial because they are such new components and I can't afford to replace either of them or to take it to a computer shop.

Thanks for any help you can offer!
 
The parts should be under warranty.

Firstly, if you have any add-on cards (PCI), remove them. Get down to just the bare minimum (1 stick of RAM, CPU, graphics, PSU). Unplug all HDD's and DVD drives. See if you can boot up this way. If you can, plug in each component one at a time until you cannot boot anymore - that's your problem device.

If you still can't boot, I'd look into your PSU or a memory module (or slot). Should be able to warranty the parts.
 
Thanks for the suggestion! The computer has turned on every day since I made the original post. I'm sure that the problem has not fixed itself and I am waiting for it to return any day/week now. It's a little hard to troubleshoot the problem when it isn't showing itself though. When it starts up again I'll try your suggestion - you may be hearing from me again!

Cheers again.
 
Big bump! Right, this is still a problem for me, and I'm now on my knees begging for help. I've spent so much time and money on this it's becoming farcical in a really depressing way.

I've sent the motherboard back under warranty 3 times. The first time it went to the seller they did a BIOS repair and sent it back, still had the problem. The second time I sent it to them they said it was not broken and sent it back. I then took it to a local computer technician, who replicated the problem by trying entirely different components with the MOBO and found the problem did not occur, and when all my other components were put on a different MOBO it worked fine, so he concluded it was absolutely the MOBO. I then sent it back to the manufacturer who did a BIOS update, but it still didn't fix it. I then gave up on the warranty service thinking they were fobbing me off, and bought a whole new MOBO and... the problem recurs!

The issue is intermittent. Some mornings it turns on fine, some mornings it takes a few attempts at swtiching it on and off, and for a couple of weeks it wouldn't turn on at all. It's also guarenteed to move into this 'half-on' state if I leave the computer inactive for a few hours. I have myself tried unplugging everything except the mobo, cpu and ram, so I assume it has to be one of these, but then the technician claims to have tested each of these as well.

When the problem first started I thought it was the PSU (as per the suggestion above), bought a new one, and that made no difference either (sent that back).

Help! What could possibly be going on?
 
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