so my computers been broken for a while it was sorta powering up then everything stopping so I brought a new psu today I plug everything in it starts to work then I go to plug in the HDd becuase I forgot power it down plug it in the go to power it up again and nothing happens when I click the power on button, the motherboard light is on so I know power is getting to it just not sure what's happened. Can anyone help?
Nothing happening
- Thread starter Hazza245
- Start date
mistersprinkles
Active Member
At this point I would change the CMOS battery.
killershark1978
Member
Resetting the CMOS is a good idea at this point as Mister Sprinkles has already pointed out.
Also check your BIOS to see what storage driver settings you are using, IDE, AHCI or maybe even RAID, unless you which drivers you had selected in the BIOS when originally installing windows, just try them all and see which one works
Assuming your are using SATA Hard Drives then AHCI would be your best option, if your going to do a clean reinstall windows anyway from scratch then just make sure you have AHCI selected before you do the re-install booting from your disk or USB drive, assuming you want to keep it simple and don't have need to setup the system using RAID drivers like you would use if you where setting up a data server rather than a home PC.
BTW have you got windows on disk or stick? if not try getting hold of this to see if you can still boot from your disk or stick, the HD maybe salvageable even if the data has been corrupted to the point where you will need to reinstall windows, you may still be able salvage the drive during the reinstallation via deleting all your partitions and running a full format, in fact if you find that setting your storage drives to IDE in the BIOS starts your system and your Drive is SATA, then personally I would do a complete reinstallation of windows anyway just to change the storage drivers to AHCI, once windows is installed there is no going back to change your storage drives from what you had selected when you installed windows, so again insure you have AHCI selected in the bios before you start a re-installation, unless you are in fact still using an IDE drive in which case you have no choice but to use the IDE drivers.
Also the fact your PC is able to "power up" does not prove your PSU is functioning correctly, each rail running to power anything been powered in your system has to be exact, if your rail is suppose to give you 12v then it has to give you that exactly constantly or else you will suffer failures that will make you question every possible component within your system, having wrongfully decided the problem is not the PSU based purely on the fact that your system powers up, when this could easily be blinding you from the real issue if it is the PSU at fault, when although you still have power, or at least think you do, that power is not been regulated by the PSU along the Rails correctly at the constant level of accuracy that every component within your system demands without exception, this been the case your PSU is the problem.
If you take it to an engineer repair shop, you could have then test the PSU for you very easily with a multimeter, such an easy task in fact if you have the right tools that I can't even imagine them charging you for testing it out, especially if you are there willing to buy a PSU from them if needs be, and make no mistake, if the PSU is not regulating the power output correctly you will need a new PSU.
Also check your BIOS to see what storage driver settings you are using, IDE, AHCI or maybe even RAID, unless you which drivers you had selected in the BIOS when originally installing windows, just try them all and see which one works
Assuming your are using SATA Hard Drives then AHCI would be your best option, if your going to do a clean reinstall windows anyway from scratch then just make sure you have AHCI selected before you do the re-install booting from your disk or USB drive, assuming you want to keep it simple and don't have need to setup the system using RAID drivers like you would use if you where setting up a data server rather than a home PC.
BTW have you got windows on disk or stick? if not try getting hold of this to see if you can still boot from your disk or stick, the HD maybe salvageable even if the data has been corrupted to the point where you will need to reinstall windows, you may still be able salvage the drive during the reinstallation via deleting all your partitions and running a full format, in fact if you find that setting your storage drives to IDE in the BIOS starts your system and your Drive is SATA, then personally I would do a complete reinstallation of windows anyway just to change the storage drivers to AHCI, once windows is installed there is no going back to change your storage drives from what you had selected when you installed windows, so again insure you have AHCI selected in the bios before you start a re-installation, unless you are in fact still using an IDE drive in which case you have no choice but to use the IDE drivers.
Also the fact your PC is able to "power up" does not prove your PSU is functioning correctly, each rail running to power anything been powered in your system has to be exact, if your rail is suppose to give you 12v then it has to give you that exactly constantly or else you will suffer failures that will make you question every possible component within your system, having wrongfully decided the problem is not the PSU based purely on the fact that your system powers up, when this could easily be blinding you from the real issue if it is the PSU at fault, when although you still have power, or at least think you do, that power is not been regulated by the PSU along the Rails correctly at the constant level of accuracy that every component within your system demands without exception, this been the case your PSU is the problem.
If you take it to an engineer repair shop, you could have then test the PSU for you very easily with a multimeter, such an easy task in fact if you have the right tools that I can't even imagine them charging you for testing it out, especially if you are there willing to buy a PSU from them if needs be, and make no mistake, if the PSU is not regulating the power output correctly you will need a new PSU.
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mistersprinkles
Active Member
Killershark, he can't get anything on screen. How is he supposed to go into his bios?
Sometimes if the battery is dead you won't get anything on screen. It's worth swapping out to see if it is the culprit. You want a CR2032 battery they are like $2 at grocery stores, pharmacies, hobby shops, computer stores, etc.
The reason I say to try this first is because it's very easy to do, and the battery is $2.
After that you want to look into testing/swapping the power supply which is a costlier proposition because you either need a new power supply (which you likely do not have) or you need to take it to someone to figure that out for you like a technician. Both of these options cost more than $2.
Let us know what happens after you try swapping the battery.
It looks like this and it's on your motherboard
Sometimes if the battery is dead you won't get anything on screen. It's worth swapping out to see if it is the culprit. You want a CR2032 battery they are like $2 at grocery stores, pharmacies, hobby shops, computer stores, etc.
The reason I say to try this first is because it's very easy to do, and the battery is $2.
After that you want to look into testing/swapping the power supply which is a costlier proposition because you either need a new power supply (which you likely do not have) or you need to take it to someone to figure that out for you like a technician. Both of these options cost more than $2.
Let us know what happens after you try swapping the battery.
It looks like this and it's on your motherboard
In all of my 30 odd years of playing around with computers I have never had a computer that wouldn't boot because the BIOS battery is dead. The clock and calender reset themselves but the computer will still boot even if it's only to POST. The OP has put a new power supply in and then, apparently, tried to connect his hard drive whilst the power was still on. His bios chip may have got fried although that is unlikely. More likely the CPU saw a spike when the OP plugged in his HDD and said bye bye. I will agree that the OP needs to get his computer to someone who knows what they are doing. It has really got beyond the point where us "internet techs" can help him now.
killershark1978
Member
There is still a chance that resetting the CMOS could get to the point where you could get into the BIOS, but no harm in changing the battery, in all my years of computing since back to Windows 97, I have had to change the battery on the board once on a really old P3 windows XP build.
Well there wasn't a Windows 97. It went from Win 95 to Win 98. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Microsoft_Windows Anyway that is not the point. Your suggestion that the OP takes his computer to someone who knows what he/she is doing is the OP's next step. Before he does any more damage. As it is he could be looking at another new PSU and, quite possibly, a motherboard.
killershark1978
Member
Maybe thats right, there does come a point where its impossible to define between a fault on the Board or with the PSU without a Multimeter to test the PSU, but I would still try to reset the CMOS first if I where the OP, then should that fail off to have it checked out.
Fact is you could save money at the repair shop if you know specifically that all you want them to do is quickly test the PSU, then following a CMOS reset, should your PSU check out to be fine then at that point if you still can't get the BIOS up I would simply buy a new Board. Should on the other hand the PSU prove to be faulty then you know you need a new PSU whatever so I would start out with just buying a new PSU and hope that its just the PSU thats faulty since its entirely possible that a spike can clean out both the PSU and the board in one swoop, else ether one, but since its much easier to test the PSU, assuming the OP wants to save money doing the repairs himself and has learn his lesson about attaching power rails with the system turned on so not to make the same mistake again, then I think the best course of action is as follow
1. Reset the CMOS (FREE AND EASY)
2. Have the PSU tested in a shop (I know my local shop would do that would do that for free, but I guess its who you know, and why I would buy my parts from there but 5 mins for them to test a PSU not going to cost much you would think wherever you go)
3. If PSU fail = Buy new PSU
3.1 If after changing the PSU still no joy buy a new board as well (this because you had to anyway cos if your at this stage they both fried together)
4. If PSU test pass = Buy new board because thats where you will find your fault is via process of elimination.
And yes there was a Windows 97 for a very short time, except Microsoft recalled it and did a free upgrade straight to Windows 98, ditching all support for 97 forcing all systems to be updated to 98 hence Windows 98 became just a updated version of Windows 97, just like when they went from Windows 8 to Windows 8.1, except there naming system was different back then.
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mistersprinkles
Active Member
I've seen it happen on an old 775 machine.
Don't machines still POST without a CMOS battery at all? Just won't save mobo settings/time/etc.
Please give this guide a read and try anything you haven't already.
http://www.computerforum.com/threads/tech-guide-diagnosing-a-pc-which-will-not-post-or-start.209946/
Please give this guide a read and try anything you haven't already.
http://www.computerforum.com/threads/tech-guide-diagnosing-a-pc-which-will-not-post-or-start.209946/
mistersprinkles
Active Member
Not all of them, depends on the BIOS.
When I was doing an apprenticeship to be a computer technician there was a computer brought into the shop that wouldn't put anything up on screen. Tried a new PSU, new RAM, reseating the CPU. Nothing worked. Put in a brand new battery and BAM! It was alive.
Also, on my old C2D system, when I didn't use it for like 3 years and I tried to fire it up out of curiosity one day, It wouldn't fire up. I changed the battery, and again, bam, it was alive.
These things do happen.
Don't get me wrong. I'm not saying the OP has a dead battery or that it's even likely that he does, I'm saying that it is the easiest thing to check at home for a few peanuts $ before investing in taking it to someone, buying a PSU tester, or a PSU.
When I was doing an apprenticeship to be a computer technician there was a computer brought into the shop that wouldn't put anything up on screen. Tried a new PSU, new RAM, reseating the CPU. Nothing worked. Put in a brand new battery and BAM! It was alive.
Also, on my old C2D system, when I didn't use it for like 3 years and I tried to fire it up out of curiosity one day, It wouldn't fire up. I changed the battery, and again, bam, it was alive.
These things do happen.
Don't get me wrong. I'm not saying the OP has a dead battery or that it's even likely that he does, I'm saying that it is the easiest thing to check at home for a few peanuts $ before investing in taking it to someone, buying a PSU tester, or a PSU.
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