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Computer won't boot ... help please

C

CsisOp

n00b
Joined
Jan 16, 2003
Messages
31
Okay, I just moved home from University today, with my computer. I get home, and I set it up (box, monitor, keyb, mouse, speakers), and turn it on.

All sounds good at first, but then my fans start to make funny noises (kind of like they were spinning too fast or had something caught in them). The hard drive access light on my box is flashing, and the lights on the keyboard flash once, but nothing else happens.

The monitor isn't showing a thing, but it's on. The optical mouse is not lit up at all, even though it is plugged in.

I rebooted a few times, with pretty much the same results.

The one concern I have is that the monitor or the box may have come into contact with some moisture during transport (It was raining the whole time, and while I protected them as much as possible, who know what happened ).

I've also had problems with random restarts that some people said might be power supply related, so that might be a problem area (I don't think the fan that sounded strange was the Power Supply fan).

I'm going to go have a look inside the case, though i don't know much about hardware. How do you insure you are grounded again?

I will be eternally grateful to whoever helps me solve this problem.
 
The problem most likely has something to do with the moisture. For the moment, try starting the computer with only the CPU, memory and graphics card in. If that doesn't boot, try replacing the PSU with a friends unit or something. Test it, if it works, you need a new PSU. If it doesn't, it is most likely the mobo, which might have been damaged (by the moisture or the move).

Check for any moisture inside the case, as well as power connections, see if that makes it work.
 
To ground yourself, try to work on a wood floor (or something that isn't carpet). When you open the case, make sure to touch unpainted metal parts of the case (such as the power supply) to discharge static electricity. Or buy a wrist strap, they're very cheap I think.

I would first look at those fans and see if any wires got tangled in them during the move.

Edit: I just want to point out the obvious -- make sure to unplug your case, you don't want any power in that when you're working in there.
 
Originally posted by altazakin
To ground yourself, try to work on a wood floor (or something that isn't carpet). When you open the case, make sure to touch unpainted metal parts of the case (such as the power supply) to discharge static electricity. Or buy a wrist strap, they're very cheap I think.

I would first look at those fans and see if any wires got tangled in them during the move.

Edit: I just want to point out the obvious -- make sure to unplug your case, you don't want any power in that when you're working in there.
Click to expand...

Thanks

And thanks for pointing out the obvious. I don't have much experience with the hardware side of computers.
 
4keatimj, do you know how much moisture would be needed to cause damage? or would it just be a hit and miss type of thing?
 
It would take very little moisture to potentially damage something, but I would worry about the psu first. It's easier to test and it seems to be the likely culprit.

BTW, if you have any moisture worries in the future, just let the comp dry out thoroughly. You could theoretically dump gallons of water into your case as long as it is not receiving any power while there's H2O present.
 
make sure your computer is dryed out as well before attemping to power it up again.. if you think any moister got in... just let it dry out then try it that might be the problem
 
Originally posted by Taurus
This sounds like a dying PSU. Try a good quality PSU
Click to expand...

would the fans still be getting power if the PSU wasn't working? Or would there just not be enough power to run everything?
 
Originally posted by CsisOp
would the fans still be getting power if the PSU wasn't working? Or would there just not be enough power to run everything?
Click to expand...

The PSU could still be giving enough power for the fans to work(had this happen just before my PSU blew) if I turned on my comp the fans would spin, but nothing else would work. So there might(is) current still flowing through the system, or at least in my case there was.
 
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