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OK I have a 2-yr old comp I bought from Frye's electronics, a unit they built themselves that I cannot get to start up. 2 weeks ago, I had a harddrive problem and when I attempted to have it repaired the shop advised me that I needed the original WinXP startup disks. Long story short is I didnt have them. Neither Fryes nor the OEM would provided them (they pointed the finger at each other) so I dropped $199 to buy XP. The repair shop informed me that I had bad sectors on my disk and they replaced all my data on a new drive installed windows and marked all the bad sectors on the original drive so I can reuse in the future - it's not yet installed however. Cost to repair $359.
:sad:

I used the comp fine for a few days, then today it just stops and reboots. Later, it did it again, but doesnt start back up. I notice my Blue LED is blinking and then eventually turns yellow (never did that before). I try to restart again and nothing. I pull it apart using the sticky here as a guide and noticed that my CPU fan is LOADED with packed in dust/bunnies, so I pull it apart and clean it, and attempt a "bare bones" startup as suggested in the sticky. Still nothing -

My status is: I have power, the fans (3 of them) are all running fine, but as soon as I power up I get the new yellow LED on the face of the comp and my monitor says "Please check signal cable" against a black screen - thats it. Loading my Windows boot CD does nothing - I dont even get to my BIOS screen.

I'm wondering if the new hard-drive may be taxing my power supply too much (300 -watt PS and went from 200G HD to 260 I believe), but then again I ran fine for three days. Possibly the CPU got fried from heat (Intel P4 3.2HT)? The dust on the CPU fan was thick and throughly covered the aluminum heatsink. Or maybe the mother board? Is there any real troubleshooting techniques besides the component replacement method - that gets expensive quick.

Any suggestions? I'm at a loss right now and with over $550 spent to have a non-working comp, I'm tempted to say the heck with it and buy a new one....complete with warranty.

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  • Latest Post Latest Post by benoxph

Dani AI

Generated

A focused, practical checklist to try before spending on parts. This builds on s symptoms and s point about possible CPU failure, but follows a low-cost, stepwise approach so the cheapest fixes get tried first.

  1. Verify the display path. Swap the monitor and cable with a known-good set, and try every video output (onboard vs. PCI/AGP card). A “no signal” screen can be the monitor, cable, or wrong connector, not the motherboard.

  2. Minimal POST build. Power off and unplug, then boot with only motherboard + CPU (with cooler) + one stick of RAM (try one stick in the primary slot) + PSU + video (if there is no onboard). No drives, no USB devices, no extra cards. If that posts, add parts back one at a time.

  3. Reseat and isolate memory. Try each DIMM alone and in different slots. Bad or mis-seated RAM is a very common cause of no-POST.

  4. Reset CMOS. Remove the battery for a few minutes or use the clear-jumper. Corrupt settings can stop POST.

  5. Check front-panel wiring and power. Disconnect the case power switch from the header and briefly short the two power pins to rule out a faulty switch. Verify the 4-pin CPU power connector is firmly attached.

  6. Inspect visually. Look for bulging/electrolyte caps, burn marks, loose standoffs, or a badly seated heatsink. Smell for burnt components.

  7. Test the PSU. Fans spinning isn’t proof the rails are healthy. If possible, test with a known-good PSU or measure +12V/+5V/+3.3V under load. A weak PSU can allow spin but prevent POST.

  8. Listen for beeps / check LEDs. Add a system speaker if needed, and consult the motherboard manual for beep/LED diagnostic meanings.

Notes and cautions: work grounded, unplugged, and avoid bending CPU pins. Dust-clogged cooling usually causes shutdowns first; permanent CPU death is possible but less common than PSU, RAM, or motherboard faults. Borrow parts (PSU, RAM, video card) to isolate cheaply before buying replacements.

Member Avatar for benoxph

your cpu getting fried is a possibility...can u still turn your unit off using the power button after turning it on...if you can't, maybe there's somthing wrong with your motherboard.

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