The ever-frustrating PC problems

FruitarGeek

So I know enough of you are IT people to hopefully answer my question.

For a few months my Desktop PC has been giving my issues. The issue is that it wouldn't boot. Everything would be getting power, Like I can see the fans and DVD-rom all powered up, but the PC doesnt actually initiate the boot phase, I can conclude that based on 2 reasons
1) My monitor doesn't turn on, instead it sits on the idle power
2) My GFX (Nvidia 8800GT) has a fan which spins very fast as soon as it gets power, and then slows down (making less noise) once the PC is booting. What happens is that it will continue to spin very fast, which indicated to me that it is not booting.

The problem had been minor. All I would do was simply open up my PC, pull a few plugs, fiddle here and there (nothing serious) and it would work! Almost everytime.

A week ago, same thing happened, so I did what I usually did, and well nothing happened. Only after like 3 attempts did I come right.

Now today is the worsts its been. I literally turned my PC on and off 15 times, changing something everytime, and doing all kind of troubleshooting/maintenance checks. I'm conscerned its going to get worse and worse. Who knows what this issue is, and how I can resolve it?

Just for extra info:
I swapped the Ram around, left one, put the other, different slots. that didnt help
I tried this other method where I hold down the power button for 30-60 seconds with power out. That didnt help
I removed my Bios battery, that didnt help (just reset all my settings now, which is kinda annoying)
I unplugged all power points (including Mobo and GFX etc) and put them back on. That didnt help

My final attempt was literally doing all these things at once. And then my PC turned on. I checked many forums on my phone, but none could help out.

Seventhson

Your monitor is stuffed, properly a capacitater is busted,

I am having the same prob. But Mine comes on after a few hours. getting a new one.

Warren

The type of problem you've described is often related to the motherboard's interaction with CPU, RAM and other add-on cards, or possibly an issue somewhere with the motherboard itself. I used to find non-boot scenarios occuring with badly seated RAM or whatever, but your tests have ruled that out.

Have you tried re-seating the CPU?

EDIT: Also, try re-seating the GFX card, or possibly trying another one (or using the on-board, if available).

Basically look at anything that plugs into the motherboard physically.

Bob-Dubery

If it were booting but the monitor is a goner and so you're not seeing anything then you'd still hear the hard drive "chattering" and see the hard drive light on the case flickering.

If that's not happening then, based on your previous success with shaking wires, I suspect a connector or your PSU has gone belly up.

Tonedef

What I normally do in these situations is to disassemble everything, place the mobo on a magazine and then plugging in everything step by step. Have you got a farty beeper connected? Is it beeping?

FruitarGeek

Seventhson wrote Your monitor is stuffed, properly a capacitater is busted,

No its definitely not the monitor. Its new. Got it a few months back

X-rated Bob wrote If it were booting but the monitor is a goner and so you're not seeing anything then you'd still hear the hard drive "chattering" and see the hard drive light on the case flickering.

Yes. But that wouldn't explain why my monitor would eventually turn on (with no signs poor quality), and also the fact that my Graphics Card's fan wont slow down, which is always does when the PC is booting. That's mainly the reason how I know it to be not the monitor.

@Warren. I still believe it could be RAM, but its hard to say. Ive done all I could with it. If the trouble persists, I will try repositioning all the components again. What that mean I would need thermal paste for the CPU again?

Tonedef wrote What I normally do in these situations is to disassemble everything, place the mobo on a magazine and then plugging in everything step by step. Have you got a farty beeper connected? Is it beeping?

To be honest, I really dont have the patience to take it all out. I'd probably only do that if it gets to extreme situations. But no, my PC makes no beebing noise, which I know means RAM is faulty if it is beeping. I cant be quite certain if the beeper is connected tho, a friend assembled my PC, Im not quite sure where the plug is and where it would go. would have to wait till I get my hands on the manual

Tonedef

Does it make a single beep on bootup under normal circumstances? Another thing, does your mobo have built-in vga? (unused blue connector at the back near the sound and usb ports?)

Bob-Dubery

Tonedef wrote Does it make a single beep on bootup under normal circumstances? Another thing, does your mobo have built-in vga? (unused blue connector at the back near the sound and usb ports?)

Annoyingly the newer ones don't make a beep when running the BIOS. This can be a good thing if you have a missus with supersonic earsight. Now she doesn't always know when you're turning that bloody thing on again.

Tonedef

Well, onboard feepers have always been a rarity, and require a separate feeper.

FruitarGeek

Tonedef wrote Does it make a single beep on bootup under normal circumstances? Another thing, does your mobo have built-in vga? (unused blue connector at the back near the sound and usb ports?)

No Beeb.

And as for built-in-VGA, would that be directly below the mobo's power source? Cause then yes, I have one of those too.

My PC is quite old: AMD Athlon X2 3200+. Mobo ASUS M2N-E, 2x1Gb Ram DDR2, Nvidia 8800GT.

not sure if that will help

RobK

Two things I'd look at - PSU and Graphics card. PSU might be failing and not supplying enough power to the system, specially if the graphics card is one of those that require dedicated power.

Graphics card is failing. Pull the add-on one out and use the onboard and see if you get the same hassle.

Mundane

I'd guess it's your gfx card. Your problem sounds very similar to this one:

http://www.evga.com/forums/tm.aspx?m=336359&mpage=1

FruitarGeek

Mundane wrote I'd guess it's your gfx card. Your problem sounds very similar to this one:

http://www.evga.com/forums/tm.aspx?m=336359&mpage=1

Great thanks

Okay. Im gonna relook at the Graphics card.

Apparently the PC (based on the link given by Mundane) still boots fine into windows, just no display. So If I can turn off my pc using my keyboard (start, right arrow, enter) then I know it must be GFX. I will have to wait for the problem to occur again to give you results. But keep up the suggestions.

Thanks n bunch ye'all

RobK

If your gfx card fan spins up, but doesn't slow down, then your pc is definitely not booting into windows.
See if the card has any led's that would indicate an error. As I said, easiest way to check is to pull the gfx card and see if the pc starts up.

Kalcium

When you removed the ram did you blow the slot? Sometimes the slots get very dusty...i remember we used to have to blow our old nintendo cartridges when i was young...But I also blow my ram when i take it out and then put it back in clean...

On another note, why turn your pc off? My laptop only gets turned off if I take it with me somewhere and the battery dies, otherwise it stays on at home all the time...

G-Man

Your issue sounds identical to the one I had with my 8800GT last year. :'(

I could sometimes re-seat mine and it would come right for a day or 2. Then I would switch on my PC , the GFX card spin up full at stay at max RPM with no boot (As would the CPU fan). I experimented with other power supplies, putting it into my spare machine etc but in the end had to toss it in favour of my 5850. Have you had any rad displays of funky colours that pop up randomly, like an old test pattern on the TV or random blocks etc? It's not always the case, but I have had that happen to both my 6600gt and my 8800gt at different stages and different PCs before the popped.

Maybe find a friend that won't mind you popping it into their PC and see if you have any joy, then at least you ar emaking some head way to finding the problem. It's always a bugger trying to diagnose an intermittent problem though

Good luck