Uh. . . PC is borked.

[Auspice]

So, my fiancee just broke her computer today. When you hit the power button the fans spin for half a second then it shuts off. I tried unplugging/replugging everything and the same thing happens. Is the PSU dead or is there something insanely simple I'm forgetting?

EDIT: After a few minutes after I hit the power switch it turned on by itself but all the BIOS settings were wiped so I had to reset everything, weird.

[Cephius]

A motherboard shutting off like that can have a few causes. Could mean the board is dead, processor is overheating, PSU died, or there is a short somewhere. First step would be to unplug everything, take out all but 1 stick of RAM, take out sound/video card and plug in the onboard video and see what it does. Try a different power supply. Check the heatsink installation and make sure the processor isn't overheating (unlikely). Make sure the motherboard isn't making contact with the case at any point, and that all the plugs are in their correct places. If it works, start adding back components in and try to narrow down what the cause is. If not, try a different power supply and see if it POSTs.

[Auspice]

Everything seems to be working fine now. What a POS computer. -_-

[mootsfox]

How old is it?

Specs?

Brand?

[Auspice]

It's a custom built PC that I made back in 2003. It's completely dead ATM and will not turn on at all so I ordered a new PSU from newegg to see if that'll fix it, hope so since I'm not looking to replace her PC right now.

Motherboard - MSI 875P Neo-LSR
RAM - 512x2 mb Crucial PC2700
CPU - 2.66 P4

Guess I'll update in a few days when I get the new PSU.

[mootsfox]

It's a custom built PC that I made back in 2003. It's completely dead ATM and will not turn on at all so I ordered a new PSU from newegg to see if that'll fix it, hope so since I'm not looking to replace her PC right now.

Motherboard - MSI 875P Neo-LSR
RAM - 512x2 mb Crucial PC2700
CPU - 2.66 P4

Guess I'll update in a few days when I get the new PSU.

What PSU did it have/what PSU did you order?

[Auspice]

It's a custom built PC that I made back in 2003. It's completely dead ATM and will not turn on at all so I ordered a new PSU from newegg to see if that'll fix it, hope so since I'm not looking to replace her PC right now.

Motherboard - MSI 875P Neo-LSR
RAM - 512x2 mb Crucial PC2700
CPU - 2.66 P4

Guess I'll update in a few days when I get the new PSU.

What PSU did it have/what PSU did you order?

Had a shitty no name one that came with the tower. I ordered a probably equally cheap one from Newegg for $20:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6817182006

[mootsfox]

It's a custom built PC that I made back in 2003. It's completely dead ATM and will not turn on at all so I ordered a new PSU from newegg to see if that'll fix it, hope so since I'm not looking to replace her PC right now.

Motherboard - MSI 875P Neo-LSR
RAM - 512x2 mb Crucial PC2700
CPU - 2.66 P4

Guess I'll update in a few days when I get the new PSU.

What PSU did it have/what PSU did you order?

Had a shitty no name one that came with the tower. I ordered a probably equally cheap one from Newegg for $20:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6817182006

Rosewill is actually pretty good in terms of PSUs. I was hoping you didn't get something like an Apevia or Aspire.

[Shuemue]

Yeah that should be fine in a P4 as long as it doesn't have a hungry grfx card.

[Auspice]

Yeah that should be fine in a P4 as long as it doesn't have a hungry grfx card.

It's an AGP 6600GT so I hope I'll be fine. It's a pretty barebones system built from the scraps of a PC I built in 2003(sans the video card obviously). Hope the PSU comes tomorrow so I can hopefully get it running again. :/

[Auspice]

Just hooked up the new PSU and the computer seems to boot up fine. Weird thing is, the first time I pressed the power to boot up it did the same thing it used to do; turn on for a second then turn off. I pressed the power again and it booted up fine. Also, my BIOS settings were reset. O_o Hopefully I don't have any other problems.

[Auspice]

Triple post, necrobump, etc

Now the BIOS settings keep resetting every few days. Is that something as simple as the battery on the mobo being dead?

[Cephius]

Triple post, necrobump, etc

Now the BIOS settings keep resetting every few days. Is that something as simple as the battery on the mobo being dead?

Should be yeah. Should be able to pick up a replacement at a local radio shack or walmart, or whatever.

If it keeps happening try downloading the latest bios version from the motherboard manufacturer and reflashing it.

[Norellicus]

Since it wasn't mentioned, the battery *should* be a CR2032 button cell, but check your mobo specs to be sure.