PC powers on for only 1 second

iamenrique · 09-12-2008, 03:37 PM

Hello, having a bit of trouble i was wondering if someone could help.

I took my PC to work with me today- basically, so I could take the hard drive from another computer we could not access, insert it int my system, and copy the files to my hard drive.

So, when I first installed the second hard drive and attempted to turn it on, the PC powered on for a second(lights, fans) then stopped it would n nothing after that when the button was pressed. If I flipped the power supply off/on again I could turn it on for one second once more. The switch on the back of the Power Supply has a blue light, and that always stays on. I tried going back to 1 hard drive and 1 cd drive, then just the hard drive, then no drives, and it still would not power on.

I walked away for a few minutes, then came back and connected one hard drive and it worked. Then I plugged in the other hard drive and they both worked. I completely forgot about the CD drive an left it unplugged from the PSU.

I just got home and tried to use it, and it pulled the same trick. I tried testing only one component at a time, untill just the motherboard and CPU were left and it would still not power on for more than one second. There aren't any loose screws inside.

Now it makes a squeal when I attempt to power it on. Any ideas?

**wrench97** · 09-14-2008, 06:07 AM

Try reseating the RAM sticks, make sure all the power plugs are seated fully usually a 20 or 24 pin to the motherboard and a 4 or 8 pin to the motherboard, the squeal is usually ram related but could be a loose power cable not supplying voltage, also while your in there check the legs on the cpu heat sink are fully engaged and not loose if it's an Intel cpu.

09-12-2008, 03:37 PM	#1 (permalink)
iamenrique Registered User Join Date: Jan 2006 Posts: 59 OS: Vista x64	PC powers on for only 1 second Hello, having a bit of trouble i was wondering if someone could help. I took my PC to work with me today- basically, so I could take the hard drive from another computer we could not access, insert it int my system, and copy the files to my hard drive. So, when I first installed the second hard drive and attempted to turn it on, the PC powered on for a second(lights, fans) then stopped it would n nothing after that when the button was pressed. If I flipped the power supply off/on again I could turn it on for one second once more. The switch on the back of the Power Supply has a blue light, and that always stays on. I tried going back to 1 hard drive and 1 cd drive, then just the hard drive, then no drives, and it still would not power on. I walked away for a few minutes, then came back and connected one hard drive and it worked. Then I plugged in the other hard drive and they both worked. I completely forgot about the CD drive an left it unplugged from the PSU. I just got home and tried to use it, and it pulled the same trick. I tried testing only one component at a time, untill just the motherboard and CPU were left and it would still not power on for more than one second. There aren't any loose screws inside. Now it makes a squeal when I attempt to power it on. Any ideas?

09-14-2008, 06:07 AM	#2 (permalink)
wrench97 Moderator, Hardware Team Join Date: May 2008 Location: S.E. Pennsylvania Posts: 18,468 OS: Win7	Re: PC powers on for only 1 second Try reseating the RAM sticks, make sure all the power plugs are seated fully usually a 20 or 24 pin to the motherboard and a 4 or 8 pin to the motherboard, the squeal is usually ram related but could be a loose power cable not supplying voltage, also while your in there check the legs on the cpu heat sink are fully engaged and not loose if it's an Intel cpu. __________________ Power Supply and Selection