Computer won't boot

b3mor

b3mor

b3mor

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4 Aug 2007
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The family PC is refusing to boot.

It is a purple shirt special, about 18 months old, Compaq SR1639

Bit of background information:

It has been running fine, I keep an eye on temperatures with RMClock etc, no new software has been installed.

When you hit the power button all the fans spin up. Usually when it starts the CPU fan runs at max for a couple of seconds then slows down after POST and it boots. Now the CPU fan runs at max and doesn't slow down. It does not get as far as beginning to load into Windows. I don't think it completes POST.

There are no beeps, I've looked over it (as an enthusiastic novice, but I don't want to start taking it apart!) and cannot see anything that looks fried nor are there any burning smells. It just sits there all fans running.

My first thoughts were fried mobo, CPU overheated, PSU. Could it be the memory? It has 2 x 512 DDR. My knowledge is, shall we say, limited. :o

Any help would be great! :)
 
Tried clearing CMOS? No idea where it is on one of them, but I can find out.

Compaq say...
In case an item was changed in the BIOS, such as the primary display device setting, use the following steps to reset the BIOS back to its default configuration:
Turn on the computer and press the keyboard key that enters the BIOS Setup screen key when the keyboard light comes on. The key to enter the BIOS should be one of the following:
HP and Compaq desktop computers that came with Windows Vista, press F10.
For HP Pavilions desktop computers that came with Windows XP or previous versions of Windows, press F1.
Compaq Presario desktop computers built after 2002, press F1.
Compaq Presario desktop computers built prior to 2002, press F10.
Wait 5 seconds.
Press the F5 key to restore the default settings of the BIOS.
Press Enter to accept the change and wait five seconds.
Press the F10 and then the Enter key to save the changes and exit from the BIOS.
The monitor should now display the first screens received from the computer (the logo screens). If not, find and download the latest BIOS update if one is available for your computer.
If a BIOS update was not available or the monitor is still blank, continue to the next step.


EDIT
Clear CMOS

Turn off the computer and unplug the power cord.
Temporarily set the jumper labeled "JCMOS1" to pins 2-3.

Plug the power cord and turn on the computer.
Hold down the Del key during the boot process and enter BIOS setup to re-enter/reset any custom BIOS settings.


c00420353.jpg


If in doubt with the above..ASK!!!
 
Last edited:
Okay I just tried that and it didn't work. It does the same thing, the fans just go to max and nothing else.

I have tried taking each of the sticks of ram out one at a time, and swapping them around, and that didn't do anything either.

It first did it yesterday after having gone into 'standby' mode having been left alone for a while. When I went to wake it up, nothing (well, except the noise of the fans). Initially I thought it was overheating so I cleared the dust out and kept trying to restart it. It DID start once, with no problems, and got to Windows as if nothing had happened. It went back into 'standby' and has refused to boot since. This makes me think there might be nothing seriously wrong other than a dodgy connection or something (or am I clutching at straws? :p ). Is the small battery on the mobo of any great importance or just stores time etc information that isn't that important.

Thanks for the help. :)
 
The battery keeps the clock right, and also saves the settings in the BIOS.

If you dont have a battery, the PC loses its memory so to speak, and you get messages like "Invalid Configuration. Run Setup or press F1 to continue" etc.
The BIOS can get confused sometimes, hence clearing CMOS allows you to boot.

I'm afraid you have one of those problems that you just need to find by swapping stuff.
Hard to do if you don't have the bits to swap.
You can test a PSU if you have a DMM, but its much harder to test CPU / motherboard.
It's normallt motherboard, but may well be something connected to it.

Trial and error I'm afraid :(
 
Ah well I'll take it down the shop tomorrow and let them have a look.

The thing that is bugging me is the fact it did boot once, if something had died or burnt out I wouldn't have expected it to boot that one time, although even if it is a suspect connection somewhere that probably isn't the easiest thing to find!

I hope the stuff on my USB stick has survived, it was plugged in when it died and I haven't had chance to check the contents yet.

Thanks for your help. :cool:
 
It sounds like a motherboard issue to me. If it's memory or CPU, then the BIOS should try to post, and then tell you that something is wrong or missing. If you don't even POST, then something is wrong with the BIOS and/or motherboard.
 
It was the graphics card. Now replaced with a modest 3D Fuzion 7600GS that will hopefully keep things ticking over for 12 months until it is time for Vista. :p

I guess I should have tried removing the card but maybe the same thing would have happened? All part of learning I guess...

The new card has a fan on it but is very close to a network card in the adjacent PCI slot, can I just move this to one of the other slots to improve airflow without it stopping working? Apologies for the newb question!
 
b3mor said:
It was the graphics card. Now replaced with a modest 3D Fuzion 7600GS that will hopefully keep things ticking over for 12 months until it is time for Vista. :p

I guess I should have tried removing the card but maybe the same thing would have happened? All part of learning I guess...

The new card has a fan on it but is very close to a network card in the adjacent PCI slot, can I just move this to one of the other slots to improve airflow without it stopping working? Apologies for the newb question!
Click to expand...

I assume you mean the network card? (move down a slot)
If I look at the spec for your PC, I get...

Onboard LAN Realtek 8100C


I'm just wondering why it has a PCI one as well?
It's generally OK to move a network card as XP contains most drivers, but I'm wondering why you have one.
I'm thinking this maybe a modem looking at HP's site, that will need drivers.

Glad you got it fixed anyway :)
 
The GFX card was faulty, but it was still sending stuff to the monitor (ie you could see the POST sequence and Windows starting to load)? :confused:
 
No there was no signal getting to the monitor at all. I couldn't see the POST sequence because there was no signal, and I don't think it would POST anyway (because the graphics card was borked), and thus not boot into Windows.

I think the HS on the graphics card came lose, it overheated, and stopped working. I haven't tried using the old card again, but it may still work if I refitted the HS properly, afterall it did boot once.

And yes, you are right, it is a modem. I'll shift it out the way or even take it out completely as it isn't used. :)
 
b3mor said:
Ah well I'll take it down the shop tomorrow and let them have a look.
Click to expand...

Remember to get a second mortgage as the men in purple shirts dont come cheap for pushing a power button on :p
 
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