Help! My computer won't start up!

S

Superhuman

[H]ard|Gawd
Joined
May 19, 2006
Messages
1,037
Ok, so here's the story. For the 4 years I've had this computer, ANY time I've ever unplugged it and opened up the case (to clean dust, change fans/hardware, etc), when I plug everything back in and try to turn on the computer it doesn't start up. Everything turns on and is running fine, but the monitor just stays asleep. Usually if I restart it a few times, the monitor will come out of sleep and the computer will start booting up fine.

But just a couple hours ago, I decided to clean the dust out of my case since I hadn't done so in a few months. I plug everything back in and the same problem happens as usual. But this time, no matter how many times I've restarted the computer, it won't boot. I've restarted/cold booted at least 50 times. I'm kinda worried. Any help is greatly appreciated. My specs are in my sig.
 
Hmmmm ok.....now the monitor is coming out of sleep when I turn it on, but most of the time the screen is blank. I did just see it say something about a CMOS checksum (?) error. Anyone know what that means? What should I do?
 
For a CMOS error, you could reset the CMOS switch -- check out the motherboard's manual to determine how -- and then enter the BIOS upon startup. It should reset all BIOS settings to their defaults, and would hopefully get rid of the checksum error.

Another tactic you could use is to replace the CMOS battery. Most motherboards use a CR2032 watch battery, which can be found at many stores. Replace the battery, reset the CMOS switch, and you should be good to go.

If neither tactic works, then you may want to use some of the (additional) basic troubleshooting steps found in the GenHard FAQ/sticky.
 
Ok, I'll try that out. Thanks!



EDIT: I was almost hoping that it was an non-fixable motherboard issue so I could have a good reason to upgrade LOL.
 
I have seen a bad CMOS battery cause issues like that.

I've also seen bad capacitors cause the same problem. Is it the system in your sig? If so, then the caps are less likely the issue.
 
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