No beeps, nothing on screen on bootup

[SornyPanafonic]

i think a number of parts might have given out on me here, most notably cpu mobo or main hard drive. the thing is that i get nothing when i try to boot it up, no bios screen nothing. i dont even get any beeps. one time a got about 6 or 7 beeps before i just unplugged it, in hindsight i should have let it run its course but i thought it was going to be continuous. ive tried unpluggin everything, i thought it might be a power thing so i unplugged my fans and my dvd drive but no. i tried bootin up with just my storage hard drive (western 80 gig) but again i get nothing. i removed the batter from my motherboard in hopes of reseting it, but no. the more i think abotu it the more i think it might be a cpu thing. its a amd 2600+ and about 3 or 4 weeks ago i had put i on aggressive setting on my gigabyte motherboard, but i dont see what kind of damage that would do. i have 1024mb ram (2 sticks - 512) runnig on xp. also have a ati 9800 all in wonder.

again absolutely no response from the comp at all. before it gave out it woudl boot up to only freeze or restart without notice. i had trouble sometimes getting it to start, having to unplug it and try again a few times before it would boot up, much like an old car. that hard drive is 5 years old. i dont care for the drive i care about the data on it. i mean its like a $30 drive now.

any ideas or suggestions will be welcome and thanks in advance. i tried looking thru some old forum questions and someone advice putting it in a freezer overnight. im considering do it, in a ziplock wrapped in a towel. maybe throw in the cpu as well? thanks in advance.

 

[SornyPanafonic]

originally had posted this up under storage but im thinking it cant be the hard drive if i get absolutely nothing on screen, i could be wrong, theres a first for everything.

 

[AXXEL]

I know how it feels, i had the same problem with my computer but the worst part was that it was a brand new computer i just built. So imagine how excited i was when i was ready to fire it up but nothing happened no beeps or any BIOS on screen only cold darkness.

Well the problem was that the Mother Board was bad, i got a new one and every thing was fine.:angel:

Also try to clear the BIOS via the MoBo pins if this does not work then

it could be your CPU or MoBo that went bad:hotouch: :dead:

 

[N3051M]

Dudes, if you got no lights or fans (or any signs of life) then that means one thing: no power. The PSU might be shot or there may be something wrong with your cableing (didn't connect something, shorting to the case etc).

Check for as said above:
-Fans spinning?
-Lights flashing/on?
-motherboard light?
-PSU fan?

If no life post away. If life, try setup as instructed, on a non-conductable surface:
-motherboard, outside the PC case without the metal tray (if used)
-CPU/HSF
-Onboard video and audio if possible, or if can't then just use the (external) cards
- PSU unit, connected to the correct holes etc.

You should be able to get to BIOS or something on the screen now. If success then start puting in one component at a time untill you find the problem. If you can't then at least you've narrowed it down to PSU/CPU/Mobo. Then you can start swapping parts to fix it, starting from the PSU (least expensive to troubleshoot) then mobo then CPU...

In Axxel's case, since it was a just-built situation and correct mouting procedures were used then it did come out with just a dodgy mobo. Which brings me to my next question: Is this Pre-built (brand name), Custom built, New build/pc or other (please specify )

Do you remember what you were doing before/during/after it happened?
Do you remember if there was a power spike in your area/house recently?
Environment changes? (hardware/software..)

 

[SornyPanafonic]

no i get the fans spinning, even my hard drives run, both of them, as well as the light on my mobo, aslo the fan my video card runs. i really think its the cpu since it cant be the mobo if everything seems to run, can it? ill put in a order for another one and see if that solves the problem, then again maybe this is a time to do a slight upgrade. hmmm really wanted to wait for vista and more importantly dx10 video cards.

 

[SornyPanafonic]

its an alienware but other than the psu, one of the hard drives (the one i suspected to have failed) and the ethernet card everything else has been changed so i guess custom. well im in the city and during the heat wave we had there were power fluxuations in my room because of some shoddy wiring and the tv and ac draining power. i had some freeze ups on start up and sometimes shortly after start up for a few weeks before this. and actually for a while i had to start it up a few times because i would get no response (unplug and try again) for a while so i did think this was much different. ehh. maybe a new psu is in order as well, the one i have now is 5 years old and 400 watts.

 

[Tedster]

check to see if cpu power is plugged in
check all cables
check any trip switches

 

[N3051M]

Ah, so the specs of the pc are the ones in your profile correct? yeh, i was a bit confused since it had alienware and then custom parts on it...

From what you've told me, its probably the psu that's gone or not giving as much as it could anymore. For that system i reckon get more than 400w and a reliable brand such as antec, coolermaster, enermax etc. The extra bit of cash is worth it. use this calculator to help you find your minimum on your next PSU, then add 30-50watts for some headroom.

I'll explain the reasoning behind all this:

The PSU is the easiest and the cheapest thing to fix so i suggest replacing this first, then testing your rig. And sometimes even if everything lights up but nothing comes to the PC at all it could be because a certain voltage line inside the PSU has stopped supplying power for the motherboard to function properly anymore. Hence why everything works (because 12V is supplied to the fans and the motors to spin etc) but say for example the 3V line is gone, and not powering the chips to start BIOS etc..

The motherboard is next, for example if somethings fried or not operating properly anymore.. If the PSU is a generic/cheap brand and has had a power spike then it could have taken out among (other things) the motherboard with it...

The CPU is the least likely and the most expensive part to replace, so lets leave it as a last option, unless you can bring it to a shop for them to test it at.

Please make good use of the edit button next time, double posting is bad habit unless theres a good reason behind it...

 

[SornyPanafonic]

sorry about the double post, well i will be ordering a new 500-600 watt psu from newegg tonight or tomorrow along with a new hard drive. one question tho, one of the hard drives in my comp right now, the dead one, is used exclusively for storage, and if one were to connect it to another computer would the files show up or would i have to format the damn thing to get it going? just out of curiosity, somethign ive never tried. thanks again, ill let you know if the new psu starts it up.

 

[N3051M]

one question tho, one of the hard drives in my comp right now, the dead one, is used exclusively for storage, and if one were to connect it to another computer would the files show up or would i have to format the damn thing to get it going?

If the HDD is truly dead then, well, its dead..

But lets just assume its still working. Just put in in slave and plug it into the other pc. Simple as that