Computer Fails to Boot

R

renaissanceman

New Member
My computer attempts to boot, and gets to various points before it resets and tries to boot again. After second effort, the monitor reads "NO INPUT", but fans in PSU and Case rcontinue to run. Unsure if CPU fan continues, never thought to check that until now, and PSU is out of the case. Anyway, I've checked PSU voltages without load, and all pins in all connectors test correct.

Is it likely I have a bad motherboard?? How would a guy test this theory??

Is it more likely a software Problem?? If so, what would be procedure to fix??

Two days ago I did get to the screen asking if I wanted to use my recover disks, which I did. Afterwards, it did finish booting, and I got to the desk top. Howver, the start bar never appeared, and several programs would not run, such as my dial-up internet connect and window media player. Others did work, such as WORD and Solitare. Start menu never appeared, so I removed power to shut down. Computer has not booted even to BIOS screen since. As a matter of fact, it doesn't show anything on the screen now, only the fans run, and LEDs on case are orange when they should be green...

Any help will be greatly appreciated...
 
renaissanceman said:
My computer attempts to boot, and gets to various points before it resets and tries to boot again. After second effort, the monitor reads "NO INPUT", but fans in PSU and Case rcontinue to run. Unsure if CPU fan continues, never thought to check that until now, and PSU is out of the case. Anyway, I've checked PSU voltages without load, and all pins in all connectors test correct.

Is it likely I have a bad motherboard?? How would a guy test this theory??

Is it more likely a software Problem?? If so, what would be procedure to fix??

Two days ago I did get to the screen asking if I wanted to use my recover disks, which I did. Afterwards, it did finish booting, and I got to the desk top. Howver, the start bar never appeared, and several programs would not run, such as my dial-up internet connect and window media player. Others did work, such as WORD and Solitare. Start menu never appeared, so I removed power to shut down. Computer has not booted even to BIOS screen since. As a matter of fact, it doesn't show anything on the screen now, only the fans run, and LEDs on case are orange when they should be green...

Any help will be greatly appreciated...
Click to expand...

So you checked your power and it is on key. My next step would be to check the board while it is running, is there a green light on the board, are the fans all running? do they cut off? There could be a possible short leading the system to malfunction. I would try the above steps and reboot.
 
OK, we have some new, and to me, surprising info. After re-installing the PSU and plugging-in all applicatable connectors, I got no voltages at all, and no PSU fan, either. I then re-removed the PSU, again used jumper clip on green pin and a ground, and retested voltages. All voltages good. What the ???? Then, without re-installing into case, I hooked motherboard main connector and another 4 pin connector to motherboard(unsure what this plug energizes), and again have no voltage or PSU fan. Help...Please....
 
renaissanceman said:
OK, we have some new, and to me, surprising info. After re-installing the PSU and plugging-in all applicatable connectors, I got no voltages at all, and no PSU fan, either. I then re-removed the PSU, again used jumper clip on green pin and a ground, and retested voltages. All voltages good. What the ???? Then, without re-installing into case, I hooked motherboard main connector and another 4 pin connector to motherboard(unsure what this plug energizes), and again have no voltage or PSU fan. Help...Please....
Click to expand...

Heads up on testing voltages on a computer PSU (and many others for that matter):

Most PSUs will not put out a voltage unless there is a load. The test meter does not constitute a load. You will also need to trip the soft power switch on the motherboard to "turn on" the PSU.


On your main problem: Did you recently upgrade a component of your computer?
 
You got me there, I forgot to hit the front power button. Voltages now read good. I'm with you on the load/no load thing. I'm now going to connect hard drive to MB and PSU, and see if boot problem and usual lock-up problem occurs. Will check voltage to HD under load, as well.
 
Sorry, yes I added a video card several weeks before the boot problem. One of the first things I did was to remove thee card and went back to the on board video...AQlso, I now have the HD connected, and the thing has attained the desk top, but no start menu. It took about 4 minutes to boot, whereas it previously only took app 1 minute. The Hard drive voltage came in at 11.93 under load...
 
renaissanceman said:
Sorry, yes I added a video card several weeks before the boot problem. One of the first things I did was to remove thee card and went back to the on board video...AQlso, I now have the HD connected, and the thing has attained the desk top, but no start menu. It took about 4 minutes to boot, whereas it previously only took app 1 minute. The Hard drive voltage came in at 11.93 under load...
Click to expand...

The voltage is fine - provided that was indeed the 12v lead. :P

Try hitting the Windows key or CTRL-Esc to bring up the start menu.
 
I deserve that, and yes it was the yellow 12v lead. Neither the windows key, nor the ctrl-esc, brought up the start menu. The computer has been on now for about 40 min, on the desk top, without a crash. That's progress, but the start menu problem still remains, and the ultra-slow boot process...
 
renaissanceman said:
I deserve that, and yes it was the yellow 12v lead. Neither the windows key, nor the ctrl-esc, brought up the start menu. The computer has been on now for about 40 min, on the desk top, without a crash. That's progress, but the start menu problem still remains, and the ultra-slow boot process...
Click to expand...

No worries. :)

Does CTRL-Alt-Del bring up the Task Manager still? If so, you can bring up the run command and try running explorer.exe. For some reason that is not launching properly.
 
OK, I'm back from the hospital. I have done a system restore /repair with the recovery disks. That's what has got me to the desktop. The task manager w/ explorer.exe hasn't worked either. I'm trying everything in the above link, though. Thanks for the link, Zatharus.
 
I think I have the taskbar back with the start menu. Am re-starting to see if it will come up automatically. I do still have the super-slow boot. Can you think of a correctable reason for a 4 minute plus boot time?? This is really slow compared to before the reboot and freeze problems arose...
 
My only suggestion at the moment is to defrag your hard drive. Give these two utilities a go: CCleaner and Defraggler. Run CCleaner first to clean up your system. Run the registry cleaner several times until it shows no more errors. Then run Defraggler to defrag your drive. Let me know how that turns out.
 
I apologize for the delay in response. Mother-in-law in hospital and things were a little hectic for a while. I will try those links and get back when finished...
 
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