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Computer won’t boot

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I just put a computer together for my son using my old motherboard & CPU. All I have done is to add the drives in from his computer into mine. When I try to boot it up I get no post beep or video. I have tried switching out the memory chip & checking all the connections & cables & it still won’t boot. What could the problem be? The MB & CPU worked before when I was using it.

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Hi,

Do you get any indication of life at all when attempt to power up the PC (Are there any LEDs alight on the motherboard? Do any fans start spinning?)

If there is no sign of life at all nd you are certain the PSU is connected correctly to the Motherboard, then I would suggest trying the PC with another Power Supply Unit.

Rob

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Thank you for your help.

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Pay close attention to the fan on the power supply, and the LED lights on the keyboard. If the P/S fan starts to turn but stops, the P/S is shorted. If the LED’s flash but don’t stay lit the P/S is shorted. Remove the power to the hard drives, CD’s, DVD’s and try again. Too often in this type of rebuild, you may have not noticed some insulating spacers on the under side of the motherboard, if they are missing it will short the P/S. Be sure the uninsulated standoffs are making a good connections, they are the ground. Aside from being sure you have a good working video card, it can be removed to see if the P/S is working properly, as it may be the fault, holding the P/S off. Good Luck

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Thanks for your help & time.

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I am gettin power, the fans are spinning, & lights come on. I just have no post or video. I did not remove the motherboard or CPU from this case, just added other components such as drives. The video card that is in there was already there before.

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This may have been caused by Electro Static Discharge, or ESD. ESD occurs when people dont take the proper precautions when working inside their computers. This may have “fried” your video card and rendered it useless but it is still detected by the computer during the POST. I recommend that you get a grounding strap which are very cheap (no more than $5 USD for a high quality one) at any computer parts store and then replace the card with a known good video card.

ARA

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Sorry, I always use an ESD strap when working in my computer.

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Start off by removing everything that you added to this system I don’t mean physically remove it but disconnect everything and then see if you have any Video again.

If you do then it’s just a matter of connecting one thing at a time until the system stops working and then you’ll know where the problem is. This could be caused by something as simple as a bad jumper setting or an overloaded Power Supply.

If after disconnecting everything you still get no Video out put then I would suggest that you remove the Video Card reseat it and try again, if that gives you no joy I would be looking at replacing the Video Card with a Known Good one or failing that try that Video Card in another computer to see if it’s working properly.

As this M’Board hasn’t been removed from the case there are very few possible problems, but I would check the [b]Reset Switch[/b] if there is one as these can become stuck in the On position and cause this problem. The system will look as if it’s running but because the reset switch is stuck on it will not actually start the POST process.

Col

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As you didn’t make any mention of what RAM is being used if you have added any I would remove it and try with only what was originally in there or if you have moved that RAM tick/s to another computer try one RAM Stick at a time as it’s possible that you have some incompatible RAM.

Some M’Boards require 2 RAM sticks to be fitted so that the unit can work so if that’s the case here make sure that you are using identical RAM in each slot and you have them in the right sockets.

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Thanks very much for your time & input. I have solved the mystery. It seems my power supply was getting ready to die & did so as I was testing. I replaced it & have a post & video now.

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