Member Avatar for inhomealone87

Hi,

On a bad day I tried to power on my PC. When pushing the power button, it blinked only once and I could see the CPU fan started spinning and suddenly it was stopped. Then everytime I am pushing the power button no response at all. Then I made the power supply off. Then tried again and the same sequence of incident is happenning everytime as I mentioned above.

I was used to try this everyday; and then suddenly on a good day, it was able to boot. I thought may be something was there in the motherboard with loose connection and it is unknowingly/amazingly fixed now. Using for some day, again I observed the same problem as earlier it was.

Now the situation is like I never know if my PC will boot today or not; it is like behaving on its mood.

Please help what may be the root cause or how I can fix this everyday uncertainity.

Thanks in advance.

  • 4 Contributors
  • 3 Replies
  • 2K Views
  • 16 Hours Discussion Span
  • Latest Post Latest Post by rubberman

Dani AI

Generated

Intermittent power-on where the front LED blinks once and the CPU fan spins briefly then stops is almost certainly a hardware/power problem rather than malware. A virus cannot act before the system reaches POST, so 's suggestion is extremely unlikely. The symptom aligns with the observations from and : either the power delivery (PSU or CPU power rail) or a board-level fault (bad electrolytic caps, cold solder joint, or a short) is causing the immediate shutdown.

Recommended diagnostic sequence (power off and unplug before working inside the case):

  1. Disconnect mains, press the case power button to discharge residual charge, and do not open the PSU.
  2. Visually inspect the motherboard for bulging/leaking capacitors, burn marks, or loose components.
  3. Verify the 24-pin ATX and 4/8-pin CPU power plugs are fully seated; a loose CPU power lead commonly produces the described behavior.
  4. Remove all non-essential parts (drives, extra PCI cards); test a minimal configuration: CPU, cooler, one RAM stick, and PSU. Try one stick of RAM in each slot.
  5. Try a barebench (board outside the case) to rule out a case standoff short.
  6. Attach a small motherboard speaker and note any POST beeps. No beeps plus immediate stop usually points to early power/CPU feed failure.
  7. Swap in a known-good PSU or use a PSU tester — swapping the PSU is the fastest, lowest-cost diagnostic. Do not attempt to repair an internal PSU unless qualified.

If bulging caps or visible damage are found, capacitor replacement by an experienced technician can revive the board; for intermittent faults or cold joints, professional rework or board replacement is the safer route. If data is important, remove the drive and access it from another machine before extensive testing. If uncertain about working with mains power, follow and use a qualified repair service.

Recommended Answers

All 3 Replies

Member Avatar for youssefmanm

that a virus

Member Avatar for Rik_

The most common cause of a problem like that is the capacitors on your motherboard, check to see if any of them are domed or leaking. If any are then they need to be replaced.

Member Avatar for rubberman

What Rik said is pretty correct, though it may be a bad solder joint in the power or battery connector. Unless you are a capable electronics technician, take it or send it in for repair by qualified people.

Be a part of the DaniWeb community

We're a friendly, industry-focused community of developers, IT pros, digital marketers, and technology enthusiasts meeting, networking, learning, and sharing knowledge.