PC Basic Troubleshooting ( After I pressed the Power button )

pac_admin Fri May 29, 2009 7:01 am

Nothing happened

* Check mains plug switched on at wall
* PSU may have its own power switch - check this is on
* Check PSU-to-Motherboard cable(s) are correctly connected
* Check front panel power switch is correctly connected
* Check Reset button is not stuck 'in'
* Check mains cable fuse

There was a loud bang (possibly with smoke) at the back of the PC Case

* PSU was faulty or set to incorrect voltage for mains supply system. Replace PSU

PC is on but monitor shows no display and a sequence of beeps emits from the PC

* Check fitting of CPU, RAM, Video card, sound card etc. If necessary, remove and refit these components
* Check the motherboard manual and perform a BIOS reset procedure
* This may indicate a faulty motherboard

PC is on but monitor shows no display and one beep emits from the PC

* Check monitor is switched on at the wall socket
* Check monitor power cable is connected correctly
* Check that the monitor's signal cable is connected correctly to both the PC and Monitor
* Check that the monitor is switched on at its front panel
* This may indicate a faulty video card

PC is on but there are no power and/or HDD lights on the PC case front panel

* Check correct connection of front panel connectors to the motherboard (see motherboard manual)
* This 'may' indicate a faulty Motherboard

PC is on but HDD does not spin up

* Check power connector to HDD is properly connected
* Check IDE ribbon cable is correctly connected to both Motherboard and HDD
* This may indicate a faulty Hard Drive

PC is on but CD-ROM shows no lights/will not eject tray

* Check power connector to CD-ROM is properly connected
* Check IDE ribbon cable is correctly connected to both Motherboard and CD-ROM
* This may indicate a faulty CD-ROM Drive

PC is on but the CPU fan/fans do not spin

* Disconnect the power immediately to prevent damage to the CPU from overheating
* Check fan power cables are correctly connected to the relevant power connector (in most cases, a motherboard FAN connector or one of the PSU power connectors)
* Disconnect the power and carefully spin the fan blades with a finger. If there is any resistance to this movement, this may indicate a faulty fan unit

On boot up, the monitor shows corrupted display

* Check seating of CPU, RAM, Video card, sound card etc. If necessary, remove and refit these components
* Check the motherboard manual and perform a BIOS reset procedure
* This may indicate a faulty Motherboard or Video card

On boot up, display shows incorrect CPU type/speed

* Check the motherboard manual for the appropriate CPU jumper settings (where applicable)
* Check BIOS settings for CPU type (see Motherboard Manual)
* Perform a BIOS reset procedure
* Perform a BIOS update (with an updated BIOS, the Motherboard may support your CPU)
* This may indicate a faulty/old motherboard

On boot up, display shows incorrect RAM total

* Check correct seating of Memory Modules in slots
* In cases of two or more modules, this may indicate a faulty module
* This may indicate a faulty/old motherboard

On boot up, display shows - FDD/Keyboard/Mouse not found (or similar)

* Check correct connection of device described, In the case of the FDD, check its ribbon and power connections
* Check that the BIOS is configured correctly for the device described
* This may indicate a fault with the described device or Motherboard