Comp won't boot!

[Ghisy]

Hello everyone,

I'm a new user here and I have a very serious problem with my comp.
Everything was working ok yesterday then I needed to turn it off.
And now it won't work anymore!
I mean when I try to turn it on, the BIOS won't show, I have no picture at all on my monitor, the comp seems to be trying to check both my drives (dvd-rom and cd burner) over and over again but that's all it does. I tried to unplug everything but my main HDD, the video card and the ram but it still doesn't work.
I asked a few people and they said it should be my motherboard that's, well, dead. But a guy from a comp store said it could be either the board or the processor or the ram or the AC power block!!
I'm kinda lost right now! Any advice?
Thanks a lot!

[r8500]

When something like that happens, I take everything off of the board, except the ram, and the video card, and the cpu/fan. Unhook teh drivers, and such, then try to power it on, and listen for it to post, and watch the screen.

If nothing, try removing the ram, and see if you get an error beep when you try to turn it on again.

Also, remove the video, and the cpu, and try it that way also. If it doesn't error at all, then its probably either the board or the cpu.

[Ghisy]

Originally posted by r8500
When something like that happens, I take everything off of the board, except the ram, and the video card, and the cpu/fan. Unhook teh drivers, and such, then try to power it on, and listen for it to post, and watch the screen.

If nothing, try removing the ram, and see if you get an error beep when you try to turn it on again.

Also, remove the video, and the cpu, and try it that way also. If it doesn't error at all, then its probably either the board or the cpu.

I've tried everything except the last thing.
Removing the Ram didn't make any error beeps.
So I guess it's either the CPU or the MB.
But how can I make sure??

[AllGamer]

do you have another spare mobo or CPU you can use for test?

you can probably get a friend to swap parts with you

[bushmaster]

Start with just the cpu/hsf installed. You should get one long beep indicating memory failure. If you get no beep at all then it's cpu or mobo. But if you get the long beep then try again with memory. If you get long beep then you know fault is in memory. If series of beeps then memory is good and go on to install vid card. If still series of beeps then fault is in vid card.

[hypergeek]

Could be the BIOS chip.

It sounds like your system is not posting. The Post process is the hardware diagnostic routine that is built into the BIOS and on boot up checks to see that the hardware is working properly.

You might want to look into replacing the chip or opening up your rig to make sure its properly seated.

[Ghisy]

Originally posted by hypergeek
Could be the BIOS chip.

It sounds like your system is not posting. The Post process is the hardware diagnostic routine that is built into the BIOS and on boot up checks to see that the hardware is working properly.

You might want to look into replacing the chip or opening up your rig to make sure its properly seated.

I see. Well I'm not sure I can replace the chip, I'm not really good at these things.
And yeah what you describe is, I think, what my system does. There seems to be no post process.
Grrr, this is driving me crazy.
And I'm afraid it's getting way too technical for me

[Rocketmech]

If the drives are being accessed , then its probably posting without video. Does the KB light up? Sounds like the video card isn't working is all. Try reseating it , or try it in another pc ( a friends maybe) .

[Ghisy]

Originally posted by Rocketmech
If the drives are being accessed , then its probably posting without video. Does the KB light up? Sounds like the video card isn't working is all. Try reseating it , or try it in another pc ( a friends maybe) .

The video card works, I've tried in on another comp.
According to my tests, it's either the CPU or the motherboard.
But I can't say which.
I think I'll go to the store tomorrow and ask them to help me cause I'm freaking tired of all this!!
Thanks guys for the help.

[Ghisy]

Originally posted by bushmaster
Start with just the cpu/hsf installed. You should get one long beep indicating memory failure. If you get no beep at all then it's cpu or mobo. But if you get the long beep then try again with memory. If you get long beep then you know fault is in memory. If series of beeps then memory is good and go on to install vid card. If still series of beeps then fault is in vid card.

OK I've tried.
When I remove the memory, I can hear several beeps.
I also tried to reset the CMOS thingy, it worked.
I saw the BIOS and all but when I plugged the hard drive, everything went back to, well, nothing!!
And freaking comp store doesn't have time to look my PC up!! grrr!

[mrrobotto]

Have you tried another Hdd and cables. If it just quit on you and it seems to be posting when you unplug the Hdd then you probably located the source of your trouble. Also, after you reset your cmos did you reconfigure your bios settings? you must do this after a reset of the cmos.

[Ghisy]

Originally posted by mrrobotto
Have you tried another Hdd and cables. If it just quit on you and it seems to be posting when you unplug the Hdd then you probably located the source of your trouble. Also, after you reset your cmos did you reconfigure your bios settings? you must do this after a reset of the cmos.

I haven't tried another HDD and cables, I was thinking about trying that.
I did reconfigure the bios settings (well all I had to configure was the CPU speed and the clock).
More later...

[Ghisy]

Alright, I've tried the followings:
- the CPU on a friend's comp: working,
- my HDD and cables on the same comp: working.
So it means that what's wrong is the motherboard.
I'm gonna get a new one on Monday.
So hopefully everything will go back to normal!
Thank you guys for the help.