Re: New computer won't boot

Sofia: First of all, thank you very much for your reply.

Pterocarpous: You're certainly welcome.

Sofia: USBs have power, the pen thingies charge up if I connect them.

Pterocarpous: "pen thingies"? Do you mean pen drives?
What I recommend you do is d-i-s-c-o-n-n-e-c-t any USB devices - in fact, any devices or cables connected to your computer at all other than the monitor, keyboard and mouse. When you troubleshoot a computer, you can be most effective by eliminating as many variables as possible. This is one way towards doing that.

Sofia: The monitor is OK, the power led on the monitor keeps blinking green just as it does when the computer is off, and the monitor NEVER comes to life. The keyboard leds NEVER flash. The computer doesn't even beep when I first turn the power on.

Pterocarpous: The not-beeping on power-up isn't necessarily a problem. Not all computers beep when you power them up. Re: no activity on the monitor or keyboard, This could indicate that the system is not going through P.O.S.T. although the flashing HDD activity LED gives me pause on that conclusion. Do you turn off the monitor just as you do when you turn off your computer? IOW (in other words), has the monitor been off as long as the computer when you attempt to start up the system?

Sofia: The only thing that happens is that I hear the fan (I think it's the fan anyway) and the HDD (I think...) spinning,....

Pterocarpous: If the case is open, I'm not surprised that you can hear a fan spinning. Even w/ the case closed, some systems have very loud fans. It's not unusual to be able to hear your HDD chugging along either. Just as long as it isn't making any clicking, or screeching sounds.

Sofia: ...and there's this red light continuously on on the computer tower (the same light that blinks when the computer is "thinking"). It stays on for a few seconds and then it turns off, afterwards blinking only when I open and close the cd/dvd drives.

Pterocarpous: This is your HDD activity LED. How long does the HDD activity LED flash?

Sofia: ...if I turn the power on IMMEDIATELY after I plug it in...there's something spinning producing A LOT of noise (like a spinning washing machine!) which eventually dies down. This didn't happen at first. However, if I wait a bit after plugging it in and then press the "Power" button, this doesn't happen. Similar situation happened at my previous address, so it's not related to the electrical sockets.

Pterocarpous: This is a most likely a fan going bad. If so, what you're hearing are the fan's bearings failing. When the noise goes away completely, it's not necessarily a good sign. It could mean that the fan has locked up entirely and is not spinning at all or that the bearings have heated up enough to free themselves up enough to start the fan spinning. To narrow down which fan is failing, open up the case and look at the fans inside - preferably while the noise is occuring. You'll find one fan (likely) located on top of a heat sink which is on top of your CPU. Another (at least one) fan is inside your power supply. It may be mounted on the underside of the power supply or it may be at the back of the power supply (facing the back of your computer case). There may be case fans as well mounted at the front, back or side of the case. Sometimes a failing fan is odvious as it is wobbling or noticibly running at low RPMSs (revolutions per minute). If I can't tell which fan is bad, I take a pencil and insert it in the fan blades' path, temporarily stopping the fan from spinning then I let it start up again (remove the pencil). If the fan is bad, this will often induce the noise as it spins back up to speed again. A failing/failed fan can lead to overheating problems. It should definetly be replaced. If the fan is in the power supply, it's easiest to replace the power supply as replacing the fan requires finding the exact sized fan to fit the power supply's form factor and some, usually, soldering.

Sofia: ...(I keep it (the computer) off because of somewhat frequent power peaks and electrical storms...)

Pterocarpous: This is why it is very important that you connect a good quality UPS (universal power supply) between your wall A/C outlet and your computer. Computers are v-e-r-y sensitive to power anamolies and can suffer subtle cumulative damage over time because of power spikes and such. A good UPS will kick in to battery mode when your house power goes out of range (sags, spikes) and will go back on house power once it has normalized. The UPS's software will also perform a clean shutdown of your computer if the house power is off for more than a preset period of time.

Sofia: If I wait for a while and then press "reset" button the computer boots normally... unless it's really cold (like in the past few days)! Already checked all the wire connections, seem to be OK.

Pterocarpous: This is a good observation. You may have a temperature-related problem that, once the device has heated up sufficiently an intermittent or broken connection is made and it begins to work properly. Remember, metal contracts as the temperature is lowered and expands as it is increased. Old hands at narrowing down such a problem use a can of (used to be) freon (purchased at electronics supply stores) and spray suspicous or suspect components to see if cooling the component will induce (or get rid of) an intermittent heat-related problem.

Sofia: Thanks for the advice on ESD precautions, in fact I already did that because I almost always get "shocked" whenever I touch metal, and "shock" people if I touch them (and computers act funny when I'm around - not just mine - displaying "unknown error" at "unknown", freezing, crashing... should I call an exorcist???

Pterocarpous: This is not unheard of. My veterinarian's husband has the same problem. In fact, he's not allowed around computers at work for the same reasons. The same principal holds true though. You should be at the same potential as the electronic component (ideally grounded) b-e-f-o-r-e you touch it. The act of touching the component will result in you both reaching the same potential one way or the other. The problem is, if you are at a different potential initially (holding a charge) than the electronic component, an electrostatic discharge will occur between you and the device in order to equalize the potential. That's when components get damaged.

Sofia: I'll try next to unplug all the drives etc.

Pterocarpous: It may be a red herring in my mind but I'm not convinced your monitor is ok. Is there another computer you can connect it to?

Sofia: OS is Windows ME.

Pterocarpous: Remember about the drivers. You'll need to have them handy if the system doesn't properly detect CCAs you've removed then re-installed later.

Sofia: I'll see what happens after I unplug all unnecessary components and post it here.

Pterocarpous: I am convinced of one thing. The problem is heat (temperature)-related. Allrighty. Go get 'em. Lessee what happens!