Powering up

TheChas is the one to answer these questions. but. bad motherboard is my armchair dx. or maybe bad power supply. do you have voltage switch on power supply correctly set to 110v (not 220)
first thing that happens is motherboard checks to see if power supply feeding good 5v. if not, it shuts off stuff off. try another power supply or try taking all things except motherboard off...

You did not mention the CPU (Intel P4, AMD XP, or AMD64).
If the CPU is AMD XP, I?d say the cause is the CPU fan being installed incorrectly. If the fan is installed backward, the heatsink does not touch the CPU fully, and the system would shut off immediately.

If this is an AMD Athlon based system, it is common to have problems getting that critical first boot.

Here's what I do.
Remove the CMOS battery and unplug the power supply.

Wait at least 1/2 hour.

Plug in the power supply, and boot up the PC.

Enter BIOS setup, and verify that the CPU speed settings were detected correctly.
Change them as needed.

Save changes and exit BIOS setup.

CAREFULLY install the CMOS battery.

Still not booting?
Check the power supply.

Change the fan to a different connector, or a different fan.
Many fans generate too much noise and interfere with the circuitry on the motherboard.

For "most" modern motherboards, you MUST have a CPU fan that reports the fan RPM.

Chas

1. BOTB - Bad Out of the BOX ! Currently you are only talking about the power switch, power supply, mother board, cpu, cpu fan, memory, video, sound, or IDE controllers if integrated into the MB. If you can get into the BIOS find out what is recognized. This will give you a clue as to what the system does not like, could even be the floppy.

1.Check the powerbutton; maybe it stucks
2.Check for short circuits inside
maybe forgot to unscrew a case bottomscrew which makes a short circuit to the mainboard
3.Swap components
a.powersupply
b.detach all devices/cards
power on only with cpu and memory

I would remove all from the case and start again. Often in the rush to get the new system up and running we overlook simple things that can prevent the unit from starting. As mentioned reset the CMOS but follw the procedure specified in the mobo book. Make sure to check things out closely as you reassmeble the PC.

Pay close attention to the instructions, jumper pin settings and where pin 1 is for connectors. There's other good advice offered by the others that have posted. I bet you'll get her going!

I found what the problem was. My partner forgot to place teh CPU cable onto the motherboard would you believe?

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