Member Avatar for kemarS

Hi guys, i have a problem. My computer was working fine yesterday morning. I was using it for a while, then turned it off to go to bed. When I woke up, my sister was using it and it was working fine. However she got sidetracked and left it there idle for a while, so I came back and turned it off. Later when i went to turn it on, it wouldn't boot. The keyboard's LED's don't flash either. I opened the case to see what was the problem and saw that the Hard Drive light was a constant red. It wouldn't go off. So i tried switching the power cable to the drive and it still wasn't coming on. I unplugged the data cable and just left in the power cable and the hard drive got power, but the drive light was still on. Now I have in both the data cable and the power cable; the hard drive gets power, but the drive light is constantly on. Also, when I hold down the power button to power down the system, it doesn't turn off. Help plese...

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  • Latest Post Latest Post by deena_lenore

Dani AI

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Short checklist and next steps to isolate the problem described by (and to follow up on 's simple check).

Start with the case front-panel and a minimal boot:

  • Disconnect every case front‑panel connector (power switch, reset, HDD LED, power LED). After those are unplugged, try powering the board by briefly shorting the two power-switch pins on the motherboard with an insulated screwdriver. If that makes the board behave differently, the case wiring or a stuck switch/LED is the culprit.
  • Remove all nonessential parts: optical and hard drives, extra PCI cards, and all but one RAM stick. Try to POST with CPU, one RAM DIMM and video. Add items back one at a time to find the bad device.

Check the PSU and board-level indicators:

  • If shorting the power pins does nothing, the board or PSU is likely at fault. Swap in a known-good PSU (or carefully measure 5VSB and main rails with a multimeter) — take safety precautions when working live.
  • Attach a PC speaker to the motherboard speaker header and watch for beep codes. No beeps + no keyboard LEDs often points to CPU/VRM/board power problems.
  • Visually inspect motherboard and PSU for bulging/leaking capacitors, burn marks or a burned smell. Those are common causes of sudden no-POST failures.

Other useful quick actions:

  • Clear CMOS (remove battery for a minute or use the clear jumper). Reseat RAM, GPU and power connectors. Try powering with HDD and optical drives completely disconnected; if the HDD LED is still lit when drives are removed, that strongly suggests a front-panel LED short or a motherboard trace holding the line active.

Cautions and likely outcomes:

  • If shorting the header powers the machine but the case button does not, replace the case switch or wiring. If a known-good PSU restores normal POST, replace the faulty PSU. If none of the above helps and there are visible capacitor failures or no power rails, the motherboard is probably the failing component.

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Member Avatar for deena_lenore

Before you begin getting all sorts of different recommendations you might want to describe just what type of hardware and operating system you are having problems with. Is it a desktop with an intel chip running xp or a commodore 64? Is the monitor plugged in and turned on?

Member Avatar for kemarS

Yeah, Intel Celeron D, Windows XP Pro, nVidia GeForce FX 5200, ASUS P4S-800DX motherboard, Seagate 20 GB HDD, 450W Power Supply, Pioneer 8x DVD burner. Yeah, everything's plugged in. I checked more times than I care to remember. I get NOTHING when I turn on the computer. The processor fan starts, the hard drive gets power, and that's it... The keyboard's LEDs don't come on and the BIOS doesn't come up.

Member Avatar for deena_lenore

Before you get carried away with esoteric stuff check the simple things. Did your sister leave a cd or dvd in the drive?

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