PC Shut itself down and now no power.

[SteveBessant]

About an hour ago my PC shut itself down, and now it won't start back up. A few times over the past few weeks when I go to turn it on there has been this noise, sounds like something is sticking. To resolve this I have been pulling out the power cord and retrying, which has worked fine.

Must admit it isn't a new machine, she's getting on abit now. I have tried a few things but i'm getting no response what so ever from her. Tried a differant power cord but typically that didn't work.

Any help / suggestions would be most grateful.

Regards, steve

[HoustonIT]

Sounds like a bad power supply. Does the fan inside the power supply spin when you first power up? Does anything light up?

[SteveBessant]

Hi Houston,

Each time I try to turn it on I get no response. However, after trying a differant power supply I am now getting a green light on the front of the pc, but again still nothing else. No booting up and the fan doesn't turn, no sound all there is is a constant green light. I'm clueless

Steve

[HoustonIT]

Strip the system down to its most basic components: case, power supply, motherboard, and cpu/fan. When you power it on you should hear a beep code from the absence of memory. If you do not then one of the components is bad. It's rather difficult to troubleshoot further, but in my experience it will be either the motherboard or power supply. CPU's are pretty solid unless they've been cooked.

[sittas87]

Hi Steve
Seeing theres a change as the monitor turns on Ill say youre connection from youre power supply isnt making correct contact with your mobo. have a look at that

[SteveBessant]

Ok done that, no response still.

After doing some more searches one reply was that if it is an Emachine (and it is) when the power supply goes it can take out the motherboard too. I guess i'm off to look for a new tower.... ebay any good? lol :)

[joycee98]

Hello Steve
One of the things you mentioned was it was an old machine. SO there are three things that sometimes get overlooked whith dead machines. 1. Have you took the Heatsink and Fan apart, and cleaned them? As quite a lot of old machines I look at are so full of dust, you can't even see the divides in the heat sink. Sometimes the machine shuts itself down to stop the CPU frying itself. Also the cooling cement that helps dissipate the heat might need replacing too if it has turned brittle.
2. Have you tried changing the CMOS battery?
3. Have you tried Clearing the CMOS with the jumpers, or taking the battery out for a couple of minutes.

[sittas87]

.... ebay any good? lol :)

I guess so.As long as you make a good buy.

[SteveBessant]

Hi, the heatsink and fan are pretty clean.

As for the CMOS I have no idea what that is :$ . I'm more than happy to try those things if you could point out where it is hehe.

Again, thanks for the help. I've enjoyed troubleshooting this :)

[SteveBessant]

UPDATE:

So I tied unplugging everything and plugged them back in, tried putting power to it and am now getting a constant orange light on the front of the machine, stil nothing in terms of powering up and ... well just a light.

[sittas87]

Does you're monitor's power plug, plug into your power supply or directly into the wall's power?

As for the CMOS bettery heres a picture attached

[SteveBessant]

Hi, the monitor has its own power and still seems to work fine. Oh i can see that battery, will try a differant type and reply back. Thanks :)

[joycee98]

Just a Quickie before you run out and try to find a CMOS battery. Make sure it is a Lithium battery, 3 Volt CR232.
Also sometimes the fan is shot, and if that happens then the machine will not start either. So to test the fan try plugging it into where a case fan would be plugged, instead of the CPU fan connector where it is at the moment. Look around your board, generally near where a front case fan would come in, or near the back where a back case fan would connect. There will be somewhere on that board with a fan connector looking exactly the same as the CPU one. Try the CPU fan in that (if the cable will stretch.) If you already have case fans plugged into the board, swap the connection over to see if the CPU fan will run on that. What is the model of the board? It should have a name or number, or both, sitting in between the PCI slots or behind the memory slots. It would be easier to guide you if we knew the board.

[SteveBessant]

Ok things I have tried, I have taken an old power supply from another tower which is giving the orange constant on the front of the pc. The original power supply no longer gives power to either machine (both are same voltage) so I think we can say that is frazzled or?

I have just tried the lil battery from one tower to the dead machine and still nothing.

I think i have found the model of the motherboard i could be wrong but this looks like the right number - 143156 Imperial GV 20030812 (this number was behind the pci slots).

Thanks for all the help so far, ive learned abit :)

[sittas87]

>>Hi, the monitor has its own power and still seems to work fine<<

Hi
When you say the monitor has its own power, does that mean the signal cable (thats the cable with all the male pins for input and two screws on the sid) plugs computer box and kettle plug witch is the power go into the wall and not into the computer box???
If thats so than thats ruled out, and I'm thinking mobo might be oto kappot lanf :(

As for the CMOS battery, they usually last for three to five years. The only time the cmos muct be changed is when there's a massage in youre post indicating cmos problems OR you're time and date inside windows changes everytime

[Quargar]

reseting the CMOS is taking out the big silver battery, but it sounds like something is fried, if you've replaced the power supply, then the mobo is probably fried, maybe the CPU if the fan quit

[joycee98]

Have you actually tried a new CMOS battery, as you do not always get a message in post to say it is at fault. The battery keeps the settings in the bios, and if the battery is completely dead, then there will be no way the machine could boot. Even when you put a new battery in, it would not work immediately. you would have to give it time to get some power into the bios chip.
Have you followed the wiring from the motherboard back to the switch on the front of your machine to insure that it is actually still connected. Sometimes they come loose from the board when you have been checking things, and sometimes the front switch does not connect properly if it becomes loose behind the casing. The front switch is usually screwed to the front internally, but sometimes you find part of it is glued.
If you can't or don't know how to loosen the front, look on the board for the connection pins to the PWR. Not all boards use the same terms. But you should have a set of pins, all bunched together, at the front of the board, where the wires are attached from the front switches and leds. they are set in pairs for: Power, HDD led, Re-Set Led, Sound, and maybe more. If you can spot the power one, which is usually just marked as PWR. take the lead off BUT notice exactly how it goes back on. If you touch the two pins with the tip of a screwdriver gently, the machine would normally start. If you do this be very careful, you must make sure only to touch these two pins to connect them with the screwdriver. If the machine does come to life then it is the front switch on the machine that is at fault. If you are worried about doing this, and you know someone that knows their way around computers they may do this procedure for you.