Forum Home
Press F1
Thread ID: 96424	2009-01-10 03:21:00	PC won't power up or boot	straka01 (310)	Press F1

Post ID	Timestamp	Content	User
736871	2009-01-10 03:21:00	A friend has given me their PC to repair as it ceased powering up. It has a Gigabyte motherboard. (Running XP) 1st thing I did was to replace the power supply and battery - both with new ones. When I hit the start button the fans start to spin then stop again - still won't boot. The light on the mouse and a small light on the m/bd both are lit up. I had to remove the heat sink to get the old Power supply out - wonder if this caused a problem? Seems to have gone back in correctly. Any ideas about what may have caused this fault - it may not have been the Power supply or battery of course. I can't understand why it starts to go then just ceases....	straka01 (310)
736872	2009-01-10 03:33:00	Did you put new thermal paste on the heatsink? You might need to pull it off a reseat it as well. Do you get any beeps at all when you turn it on?	gary67 (56)
736873	2009-01-10 03:39:00	No, no beeps at all. I'll try the thermal paste option. I'm not sure I have any left - can I substitute with anything else?	straka01 (310)
736874	2009-01-10 03:42:00	No it's there for a reason	gary67 (56)
736875	2009-01-10 06:23:00	Can someone tell me why a poor connection between the CPU & heatsink causes a PC not to power up? I'll have to get some thermal grease and replace the old stuff tomorrow when the shops are open - but I just wondered why it stops it powering up at all? I would have thought that maybe it would just run poorly.....	straka01 (310)
736876	2009-01-10 07:05:00	A poor themal connection may allow the CPU to get too hot & shut down but maybe not in that short time. Are you sure you plugged everything back in. What was the original fault you were addressing?	Driftwood (5551)
736877	2009-01-10 07:31:00	The original problem was that the PC ceased powering up... I turned it on and that was the case. Mind you, the mouse light still came on.... I thought that wouldn't happen if the P/S was dead? I'm beginning to wonder whether - when/if the power supply died it may have taken the M/B with it - is that a possibility? Cheers	straka01 (310)
736878	2009-01-10 07:48:00	This test is not conclusive BUT as long as the board has an on board Speaker, or a speaker attached remove the RAM completely - Try to start the PC - It "should " beep like crazy indicating no RAM. What ever it does, put the RAM back-- To answer your last question -YES! if a Power Supply blows it can take out ALL the components in a PC - 240 volts in is reduced basically down to 12 & 5 Volts - if by some bad luck a PSU blows and for a split second puts in 240 V into 12 volt components --POOF!!!!! Try also resetting the BIOS - some place should be a CMOS jumper Usually close to the CMOS battery - normally in a 3 pin arrangement, usually pins 1&2 will have the jumper, change the jumper to pins 2&3, then put back to 1&2. You can also remove the battery and leave for a while to reset the BIOS. Try rebooting again. If still not working ---- NOTE: ONLY DO the following if you are confident to do so: If it doesn't what you can also do is take out the Motherboard from the PC, along with the PSU - all the Mother board needs is the PSU/RAM/CPU Keyboard/mouse ( graphic Card if it has one or on board Connector)and monitor attached( dont worry about drives) place the assembly on the table (better on a anti static bag) Locate the pins on the Front Header that the Power switch was attached to, take a flat bladed screwdriver and touch the two pins together - the board should boot - if it doesn't could be faulty. The reason for trying out of the case is just in case something is shorting the Board.	wainuitech (129)
736879	2009-01-10 22:35:00	How do I clean off the old thermal paste with damaging things? It's dry especially around the edges. Far too much was put on originally and it's squeezed out into the fins! Could that have caused problems... ?	straka01 (310)
736880	2009-01-10 23:15:00	Use an old credit card or something of that nature that wont scratch the surfaces. I have found meths & a small paint brush or cotton bud will get the remainder. Make sure it is dry before adding the new paste.	Driftwood (5551)
1