Computer won't boot, but fans will start

[Guest]

About half the time I try to start my computer, it has a booting problem.
The fans will start and the interior neon lite will come on, but nothing else
happens.

I have a laser USB mouse, but the light will not even come on. The monitor
does not come on. The reset button will not work, but I can hold the power
button for a few seconds to get it to turn off.

I havn't done any hardware installs or other software installs. I have done
the recommended Windows updates.

Help!

 

[Malke]

About half the time I try to start my computer, it has a booting
problem. The fans will start and the interior neon lite will come on,
but nothing else happens.

I have a laser USB mouse, but the light will not even come on. The
monitor
does not come on. The reset button will not work, but I can hold the
power button for a few seconds to get it to turn off.

I havn't done any hardware installs or other software installs. I
have done the recommended Windows updates.

Help!

This has nothing to do with Windows. You have failing hardware. Your
power supply could be dying, your RAM, your hard drive, etc. There
isn't any way to tell from your post. Here are some general hardware
troubleshooting steps:

1) Open the computer and run it open, cleaning out all dust bunnies and
observing all fans (overheating will cause system freezing). Obviously
you can't do this with a laptop, but you can hear if the fan is running
and feel if the laptop is getting too hot.

2) Test the RAM - I like Memtest86 from www.memtest86.com - let the test
run for an extended (like overnight) period of time - unless errors are
seen immediately.

3) Test the hard drive with a diagnostic utility from the mftr.

4) The power supply may be going bad or be inadequate for the devices
you have in the system - this isn't applicable to a laptop, of course.

5) Test the motherboard with something like TuffTest from
www.tufftest.com.

Testing hardware failures often involves swapping out suspected parts
with known-good parts. If you can't do the testing yourself and/or are
uncomfortable opening your computer, take the machine to a good local
computer repair shop (not a CompUSA or Best Buy type of store).

Malke

 

[Mike]

About half the time I try to start my computer, it has a booting problem.
The fans will start and the interior neon lite will come on, but nothing else
happens.

I have a laser USB mouse, but the light will not even come on. The monitor
does not come on. The reset button will not work, but I can hold the power
button for a few seconds to get it to turn off.

I havn't done any hardware installs or other software installs. I have done
the recommended Windows updates.

Help!

You motherboard is most likely about to die. Be sure you have good backup.