I built my own computer. It doesn't boot. Why not?
This is the crux of the homebuilder's dilemma. You've spent weeks selecting components, ordering them, painstakingly assembling a computer, and now the thing doesn't turn on. But you have no one to turn to since you built it yourself. Generally, the diagnosis is fairly straightforward, it depends on how far the computer gets into the boot process.
Try starting the system with only the following connected: motherboard power, case power switch (or motherboard power switch for ATX), speaker, CPU, memory, video card. Disconnect/remove all other peripherals.
Symptom Probable Causes
======= ===============
No power (power motherboard shorted to case,
supply fan does ATX power switch not connected,
not spin) power supply bad
Power, no video, speaker not connected, motherboard shorted to case,
no POST beeps CPU not seated, m/b power connector reversed
Power, POST beeps, memory improperly seated or wrong type, video card
no video improperly seated or bad. See BIOS manufacturer's
web
site for translation of beep code, or
http://www.pcguide.com/ts/x/sys/beep/index.htm
Power, no beeps, incorrect motherboard jumper settings, incorrect
BIOS
video, no error parameters - select "power on defaults" from BIOS
message setup menu
Power, no beeps, see http://www.pcguide.com/ts/x/sys/booterr.htm
error message for translation of error message
Power, no beeps, disk CHS parameters incorrect, incorrect
translation
"missing operating mode (LBA/ECHS), hard disk not partitioned and/or
system" message formatted, system files missing or corrupt
See the following for a very detailed boot troubleshooting procedure: http://www.pcguide.com/ts/x/boot/quick.htm. Here's another analysis procedure: http://www.computercraft.com/docs/pcanalysis.html
Posted by siva
on 1:19 AM. Filed under
pc problems
.
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