Computer not turning on? Here's an exhaustive list of possible problems and solutions

Devin Coldewey

Devin Coldewey is a Seattle-based writer and photographer. He has written for the TechCrunch network since 2007. Some posts he’d like you to read: The Dangers of Externalizing Knowledge | Generation i | Surveillant Society | Choose Two | Frame Wars | The User’s Manifesto | Our Great Sin His personal website is coldewey.cc. → Learn More

Thursday, April 24th, 2008

IP35-Pro-Big

I had this problem a few months ago when I was putting together my current PC. First I got a loud system beep and the CMOS display would stop somewhere in the 20s. That turned out to be my video card being improperly powered. Then it would boot and crash hard before getting to the OS. Turned out to be a bad stick of RAM. I’m glad I had my laptop around to look up CMOS codes and stuff, but I wish I’d had this list to check out too.

It starts with the basics (plugged in?) but moves to more advances stuff like clearing the CMOS memory, checking your PSU, and cleaning PCI interfaces. If your computer is not booting at all, this is a great checklist to run down before freaking out.

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