Dead pc help

[phe0nixblade]

About a week ago I played my computer and then went to sleep, was working just fine. Woke up, tried to turn it on, and it doesn't work. I hit the power button and it sounds like the hdd/fans/mobo/gfx card etc are turning on (I can hear all the noise) but then one of them shuts off and then before the "loading windows" display can even pop up my computer attempts to restart itself and just keeps doing it. Help please. :(

[Izzy]

Is this is a laptop or a desktop?

If it were my computer I'd probably try and replace parts 1 at a time to see if anything fixes it. Which would mean that particular part is broken.

If it is a laptop then try and RMA it if it is on warranty. Maybe use some compressed air to blow some dust out of it to see if it is an overheating issue.

[mr_candy]

Does the bios load? If so could be hardrive fault, you'll know if bios loads because its all the jargon prior to the windows logo, it'll loads all your hardware like graphics,ram, cd drives hardrives etc before the windows logo appears

Worse case it could be many things, faulty ram, faulty power supply, gpu, terrible bios settings.


It sounds like windows has tripped up over it's own feet and as soon as it's reading the hardrive, it's telling it to go to sleep. If that is the case, 2 options clean boot or invest it a new hardrive add a clean install and learn how to recover your files from the first hardrive.


I had this exact same problem a few years ago and though i don't remember how i resolved it i do remember it didn't involve me buying any new parts or touching anything inside the case

[phe0nixblade]

its a desktop, and i already blew all the dust out with compressed air
and idk about the bios the display doesnt have time to turn on before it attempts the restart

[trumaestro]

Hear any clicking or worse, grinding sounds? That's a failed hard drive

Does your motherboard have a little LCD display on it? If it does and it shows a code look it up in your manual. Otherwise plug in the speaker (came with your case) that will beep a code and look that up.

Otherwise, do what Izzy said and start swapping out parts one by one. Start with your hard drive, see if you get to a setup screen of some sort.

A friend of mine had something similar, we think the motherboard died.

[phe0nixblade]

and what if i dont just have extra parts lying around :(

[Kibblre]

Maybe try resetting the bios? Your motherboard should have either a CMOS jumper or a CMOS battery which you can pull/put back in. Probably wait until last to do this though.

[mr_candy]

Could be your gpu seeing as it loads pcie first and the hardrive last if i recall correctly.

Try pulling out your graphics card and if you have onboard, plug a monitor into that.


Idk what a computer does without a graphics card, theoretically it should boot up you just wont see anything. If it does boot up properly then you know it's your gpu, if persists try your ram. Take all but one out, if it persists, try a different one, untill you're done them all/found the offending item.

It's unlikely your motherboard as it's turning on your fans etc but if it is then testing the gpu and ram will mean it still fails, it's easy to test if it's your hdd, just unplug it. Same with cd drives etc just means you wont get past bios but it shouldn't restart if those are the offending items. But if after all that and it still persists, could possibly be your motherboard or power supply and i have no idea how to test them.


Ohh and according to google, also try unplugging everything from your tower it could be a peripheral, so unplug all peripherals , nope? unplug hardrive, nope? unplug GPU, nope? Test your ram, nope? Get to google and expect a lot of reading

[Kibblre]

You wouldn't even get to loading windows if your GPU wasn't connected properly. It would flat out tell you.

[mr_candy]

But it shouldn't, nor should should it restart. It only restarts to protect itself either from heat or faulty hardware.

Heat shouldn't be a problem from a cold start with a headsink attached not after 5 seconds of use

[Kibblre]

My friend built a new computer and didn't hook up his GPU properly. His integrated graphics displayed a screen that told him that it wasn't being recognized.

[mr_candy]

Yes, you just said yourself it wasnt hooked up properly, so it knew something was there it just didn't know what. What you said is something else entirely, plus with onboard graphics card it makes no sense you would be required to have another graphics card installed to boot.

I said take it away, so it wouldn't be there and even if it does display something telling you, that you need a GPU attached to continue, it'll still boot up telling him the gpu is the offending item, that was causing his pc to restart

[Elmerz]

Most likely the mobo if you can hear everything running, I had the same issue.

[phe0nixblade]

Originally Posted by mr_candy

Could be your gpu seeing as it loads pcie first and the hardrive last if i recall correctly.

Try pulling out your graphics card and if you have onboard, plug a monitor into that.


Idk what a computer does without a graphics card, theoretically it should boot up you just wont see anything. If it does boot up properly then you know it's your gpu, if persists try your ram. Take all but one out, if it persists, try a different one, untill you're done them all/found the offending item.

It's unlikely your motherboard as it's turning on your fans etc but if it is then testing the gpu and ram will mean it still fails, it's easy to test if it's your hdd, just unplug it. Same with cd drives etc just means you wont get past bios but it shouldn't restart if those are the offending items. But if after all that and it still persists, could possibly be your motherboard or power supply and i have no idea how to test them.


Ohh and according to google, also try unplugging everything from your tower it could be a peripheral, so unplug all peripherals , nope? unplug hardrive, nope? unplug GPU, nope? Test your ram, nope? Get to google and expect a lot of reading

I have two monitors and I tested both the gfx card and mobo onboard gfx card and still didn't see a display on either. I have unplugged everything from my pc except the power cable and monitor. And ok, thanks, im not at home right now but I will try these other things later.

[Elmerz]

When my motherboard went my fans still worked, motherboards can fry in several different places. Once again, it's probably the mobo.

[phe0nixblade]

question, my pc has a power supply at the back/bottom of the case, has a fan underneath it and little honey comb patterns for airflow right below it but i had it sitting on a carpet cause i dont have a shelf it fits on
if this could have messed up my power supply, would my pc even turn on at all if it was the power supply messing up?

[Izzy]

If the power supply was "dead" then the computer would not turn on. Even it isn't dead it can still turn on even if the fan and vents are being suffocated on carpet. Although this will eventually kill it.

[Pseudo Enigma]

Originally Posted by phe0nixblade

sitting on a carpet cause i dont have a shelf it fits on

10/10 would cringe again

imo sounds like the motherboard might be getting to that point where it's almost dead but isn't actually. I've had a couple computers do this before but I don't know why they do it. It isn't the hard drive though.

do you have a surge protector for the electric socket you use for your computer?