[akstacey88]

Hi Everyone, I have a PC here that will not boot at all. When I press the power button sometimes it starts up for a split second (cd rom spins, light comes on). Other times its dead, no light no nothing. Could this be the power suppy? I heard that you can turn on your computer at a place other than the button? Can someone give me some details on how I would try this?

Thanks!

 

[Inactive]

it's possible that it could be the power supply. if you have a good one handy to replace then try it. was anything changed hardware wise since you were last at it? since you are not getting a POST screen then something like the CPU not seated right could cause a complete failure to start.

some power supplies have an on off switch on them. look at the back where the PSU is and see if it has one. make sure it's pluged in! swap the power cable with something that is getting power to rule out the cable/fuse.

 

[akstacey88]

Tried a new power supply, still no go. I checked the switch on the back to ensure it was on and that it was plugged into a working outlet. I reset all the RAM, and checked to see that no connections were loose. How can I start the computer by not pressing the power button, can you use a paper clip or something?

 

[Barry_R]

You might try unpluging the cables for all the drives and just boot with the CPU and the Ram. If you have 2 ram sticks try removing one and then boot, if that fails swap the ram sticks and see if the other one works. Also try different Ram slots if you have them.

You can also try to bench the motherboard. This involves taking the board out of the case and placing it on a cardboard box or something that will not short the board when you boot. This will eliminate any shorts to the case and any bending stress to the board by the screws that mount it into the case.
This will also allow you to inspect the board and the mounting of the CPU and heatsink.

 

[dai]

touch the 2 pins the case switch connects to on the m/b to see if it is a faulty switch,is this a new build or a comp that has been running

 

[Inactive]

if you have tried all of the above, about the only other thing i can thing of is an AGP video card not seated right. it happened me once, where it was slightly out of line and the pc would not power up. if it is seated correctly and not working you should get a beeping - a long one with a few short ones (if the onboard speaker is connected). but the pc should power for a short while before shutting down.