Will it wont it!?

[Steve]

I've been steadily upgrading my PC with new HDD, new case, new PSU, new
memory. However, recently my PC won't boot first time. In fact tonight was a
real strugle, it took over half an hour to get it to boot, I don't know what
the problem is. It all started before the new HDD, PSU and case, possibly
after the memory upgrade but I'm not sure.

99 times out of a hundred it will not start. I get an orange light on the
monitor but power going to all parts, HDD fans etc, not even the BIOS info
will be displayed on screen. Tonight though when it did show, the BIOS info
was all screwed up on screen, i.e. characters all over the shop.

Anyone have any idea what might be going on? I dont have a PC speaker in the
case so I can't hear if there are any BIOS warnings. I've tried changing the
disks, DVD, GFX card and PSU, to no avail.

Is this the mobo on its way out? or the CPU? Both the last remaining
original parts and both 5 or so years old. Athlon XP 1800+ on a Jetway
867AS.

Cheers,

Steve

 

[Ruel Smith]

I've been steadily upgrading my PC with new HDD, new case, new PSU, new
memory. However, recently my PC won't boot first time. In fact tonight was
a real strugle, it took over half an hour to get it to boot, I don't know
what the problem is. It all started before the new HDD, PSU and case,
possibly after the memory upgrade but I'm not sure.

99 times out of a hundred it will not start. I get an orange light on the
monitor but power going to all parts, HDD fans etc, not even the BIOS info
will be displayed on screen. Tonight though when it did show, the BIOS
info was all screwed up on screen, i.e. characters all over the shop.

Anyone have any idea what might be going on? I dont have a PC speaker in
the case so I can't hear if there are any BIOS warnings. I've tried
changing the disks, DVD, GFX card and PSU, to no avail.

Is this the mobo on its way out? or the CPU? Both the last remaining
original parts and both 5 or so years old. Athlon XP 1800+ on a Jetway
867AS.

What's your power supply like? Is it an old one, or a small one - maybe even
a cheap one? Strange behavior can often be linked to a power supply not
being up to snuff.

Other than that, You'll have to try and take things out and one at a time
switch/add them until you find the culprit.

 

[Hackworth]

I've been steadily upgrading my PC with new HDD, new case, new PSU, new
memory. However, recently my PC won't boot first time. In fact tonight was
a real strugle, it took over half an hour to get it to boot, I don't know
what the problem is. It all started before the new HDD, PSU and case,
possibly after the memory upgrade but I'm not sure.

99 times out of a hundred it will not start. I get an orange light on the
monitor but power going to all parts, HDD fans etc, not even the BIOS info
will be displayed on screen. Tonight though when it did show, the BIOS
info was all screwed up on screen, i.e. characters all over the shop.

Anyone have any idea what might be going on? I dont have a PC speaker in
the case so I can't hear if there are any BIOS warnings. I've tried
changing the disks, DVD, GFX card and PSU, to no avail.

Is this the mobo on its way out? or the CPU? Both the last remaining
original parts and both 5 or so years old. Athlon XP 1800+ on a Jetway
867AS.

If it were me, the very first thing I'd check is the power supply.
Regardless whether it's new or not, it sounds like it's flaky. Try
replacing with a known-good PSU of sufficient output to verify that power is
not the source of your problems.