Boot Up Problem!

[smudger]

I HAVE TO TURN ON MY PC AND REPEATEDLY TURN IT BACK OFF THEN ON AGAIN, UNTIL IT EVENTUALLY STARTS. I DO NOT KNOW WHY THIS HAPPENS. ONCE IT IS ON, IF I HAVE TO RESTART FOR ANY REASON I.E. TO INSTALL AN UPDATE ETC, IT WILL DO SO, BUT FOR SOME REASON IT WILL NOT BOOT UP THE FIRST TIME, WITHOUT (AS I HAVE SAID) REPEATEDLY SWITHCHING IT ON AND OFF, UNTIL IT KICKS IN.
ANY IDEAS?

I AM USING A PENTIUM III
WINDOWS XP PROFESSIONAL

PLEASE HELP.

THANK YOU.

 

[smudger]

WOW,
Thank you ALL very much. the step by step instructions are exactly what i need. I will hopefully be able to buy one tomorrow and fit it.
I will let you know how i get on.

Thanks again.

 

[MH]

No worries m8!!

if you get into trouble give us a shout

MH

 

[smudger]

Just fitted my new PSU. My old one was 250 watt, the new one is 400 watt. Unfortunately it has not improved the problem. I still have to turn the pc on and off several times until the pc eventually kicks in. (boots up)
GRRRRRRRRRRR!!!!
Any ideas please?

Thank you.

 

[polle 37]

mabe its the the batteri on motherboard to controle Bios
i am sorry my English is not so god, but try batteri change

 

[smudger]

Could the battery really cause all this trouble?
I assume you mean the big round silver battery that looks like a larger version of a watch battery?

 

[Spectre]

I had a similar issue with an Abit motherboard a while back, as it was my server for a while it was on almost constantly but whenever I rebooted it took several attempts and was gradually getting worse.

I was ignoring the occasional faint popping and hissing noises from the case but eventually it wouldn't boot at all. On inspection the motherboard was encrusted with a brown residue around the bases of most of the electrolytic capacitors (See picture). I had been letting it run very hot and the MB was second hand and may have been pre-cooked . It is possible to boil the electrolyte out of caps and they have a short working life, the rubber plug had been blown out of some of them too.

The PSU had also been damaged due to excessively starting it up with a load that it didn't like - They have internal protection to a degree.

So depending on your MB, have a good look at it for anything suspicious around the capacitors, these are cylindrical, about 8mm diameter and 20mm or so tall.

 

[smudger]

I have checked the mother board, but i can find no obvious fault? I am getting desperate now! The last thing i want is have to get stiched up by some computer repair shop, but i can't see any other way of getting to the bottom of this?
One other thing, insted of turning the pc on and then off continually until it kicks in. I have tried turning the pc on and just leaving it. It eventually comes on after a long time. I don't know if this is relevant?

 

[cartman1978]

Sounds like what happens to my Pc now and again.

First thing to do is disconnect everything inside your machine apart from the hard disk, turn it on and see if fault persists.

If it does you could check your motherboards manufacturers web site for a Bios update. If that dont work then you might need a new motherboard m8

 

[Spectre]

Well, disconnect everything apart from the hard disk and the motherboard otherwise it definitley would not boot .

Then if the MB and Drive are OK connect each device in turn, powering up each time to identify a suspect one .

 

[MH]

and remove all the memory bar 1 stick in slot 0, if it boots its a mem problem.

If not remove that stick and replace it with another and try again.

its all a process of elimiation

 

[smudger]

Just to be sure, are you saying try to boot without the ram in first? Then try again and put one stick of ram in and boot. Then replace that one with another one and reboot, until i find the one that won't work?

 

[MH]

Yeah, it will not boot,, but is should power up. Which is what you are testing for.

The PC will hang, but if you still have the graphics card in you will still see a boot/bios screen