Computer won't boot

[Sufjan]

I'm sorry to post this here but I was afraid no one would see it in the tech section and I really need a fast reply.

I was just using my dad's computer when all the sudden it froze up, so I shut it down. I tried to boot it up again and it won't boot. I know a fair amount about computers, but this is where I'm stuck. When I turn it on, the CPU powers up, the drives spin, I can open/close my cd trays, but NOTHING comes up on the monitor. The monitor is not faulty. Absolutely nothing, I don't get a boot screen,I don't get anything, no bios, nothing. I know quite a bit about computers but I've never had anything like this happen. I don't even know where to begin troubleshooting. What could have possibly happened to cause this?

edit: The case was closed, so I don't see how I could have possibly fried any of the parts inside the machine.

[Tone-Loc]

First of all, how do you know the monitor is not faulty, or the vidcard for that matter?

If you aren't seeing anything, are you hearing anything? Namely, do yuo hear the POST test BEEP? Usually heard anywhere from 10-25 seconds after startup? If you hear the post test beep, do you hear the hard drives churning away?

If you hear all that then either your vid card or monitor is the problem. Got another monitor? Got a laptop or another computer to hook the monitor up to?

[Sufjan]

No beeps, nothing to signify that it's actually loading anything.

I boot it up and I can hear the CD drives spin, I don't know about the HD (why would it just shut down? even so bios would come up)

It's as if somehow every bit of information on the PC was just swiped clean including the bios.

First thing I did was hook up my other monitor to make sure that wasn't the problem.

[Nine]

Have you tried another video card?
Have you tried leaving the computer off for about 30 minutes?
What kind of PSU do you have?
When you say it "froze up" what exactly happened? The whole story.

[Smeg]

Better practice your "I swear I didn't touch your computer" look... :D


If it's not POSTing, Unplug everything from the MB , drives memory, ect. If it still doesn't do anything, it's either teh MB or PS.

[xero]

If it's not POSTing you probably have a bad motherboard or video card. Try changing out the video card for something else (if you've got something on hand) to see if you can get it to POST. If not, then the motherboard is probably gone. As a security measure against other faulty components, check to make sure all the cables are connected properly and make sure your ram modules are fully seated.

I suppose it could be a power supply issue, but I think that's pretty unlikely unless you have an extremely old and/or cheap PSU.

[Nine]

I suppose it could be a power supply issue, but I think that's pretty unlikely unless you have an extremely old and/or cheap PSU.This is disturbingly common. You'd be surprised.

[suicyco]

Most of teh time no BEEP means either bad monitor or fried MoBo. Sorry

[FireWall]

It is most likely your motherboard. It could be your CMOS.

[thrash_head]

Please post more info like what PSU you have, parts, etc...

With the info you have given, we can narrow it down to your video. Now, If your using on-board, just buy a AGP/PCIE/PCI videocard and see if that fixes it. If your using a regular video card, I would also suggest buying a cheap GeForce4 and seeing if that fixes it. Then i would look at the PSU.

[Maf]

I'd say pull the ram from your pc. then try to power on your pc. Does it beep? If it doesn't beep your mobo is most likly dead. Go look for a new one. If it does beep you may beable to fix this. Put the ram back in and try booting again. I've had many cases at work where just re-seating the ram made a computer boot. Also try new ram, if you can, a new psu and a new video card. Those are what normaly cause a PC not to boot normaly. And PSU's are generaly the first to go. Also, if your PC doesn't beep, still try the rest on your PC. Could be one of the others still.

One more thing to try. You see that little watch type battery in your PC? It's mounted on your mobo. Unplug the power from your PC. Take out that battery and leave it out for a couple mins. Put the battery back in and plug in your PC. That almsot never works for this issue but it worked yesterday at work for me. Never hurts to try.

[Janus]

Most of teh time no BEEP means either bad monitor or fried MoBo. Sorry
computers turn on fine without a monitor, so that wouldn't cause it to not beep...

it is most likely bad power supply or motherboard.

[Dion]

Pop your motherboard Battery out with a knife. be careful not to hit ur board. My friend had this exact problem randomly shut off and wouldnt boot again. I did this got it to boot and relized his Ram Voltage was wrong. If you get it to boot. check ur ram voltage in Bios