XP PC reluctant to start after being off for several weeks.

L

LPS-AU

My PC has refused to start operating after a break of several weeks. The
first time it happened was last Oct, after it had not been used for six
weeks. It happened again last Thursday after the PC had not been used for
four weeks.

Both times it eventually restarted and has performed normally afterwards.
Before I pull the box apart and check all the connections (?)
etc. I thought I should make some enquiries from more knowledgeable PC
users.
The PC is about 3-4 year old Aldi Meadion 3.2Mhz with 3GB RAM and running
XP home.
Can't remember the symptoms from the first time but (seem similar) this
time, when the power is turned on the monitor came up with a 'PC going to
sleep' message (as it does if the PC is not used for some time and goes into
power saving mode) and no further screen display. I could initially hear
some hard disk activity and other normal sounds but no amount of
mouse/keyboard operation would wake it up. Disconnected the mouse and
keyboard cables, no change. When I disconnected the monitor I got a message
that there was no signal (or something like that) which at least suggested
that the monitor was working and connected.

After several reboots and having left the PC turned on for various lengths
of time without improvement, the next time I rebooted (had tried reboots and
switch off power and power supply turned off) the PC came to life like
nothing had gone wrong. ;-( The only thing I can think of is that I have a
poor connection somewhere and the prolonged inactivity (no temperature
change?) has made it worse.

Would be grateful for any suggestions.
Cheers.
*********
 
T

TVeblen

LPS-AU said:
My PC has refused to start operating after a break of several weeks. The
first time it happened was last Oct, after it had not been used for six
weeks. It happened again last Thursday after the PC had not been used for
four weeks.

Both times it eventually restarted and has performed normally afterwards.
Before I pull the box apart and check all the connections (?)
etc. I thought I should make some enquiries from more knowledgeable PC
users.
The PC is about 3-4 year old Aldi Meadion 3.2Mhz with 3GB RAM and running
XP home.
Can't remember the symptoms from the first time but (seem similar) this
time, when the power is turned on the monitor came up with a 'PC going to
sleep' message (as it does if the PC is not used for some time and goes
into
power saving mode) and no further screen display. I could initially hear
some hard disk activity and other normal sounds but no amount of
mouse/keyboard operation would wake it up. Disconnected the mouse and
keyboard cables, no change. When I disconnected the monitor I got a
message
that there was no signal (or something like that) which at least suggested
that the monitor was working and connected.

After several reboots and having left the PC turned on for various lengths
of time without improvement, the next time I rebooted (had tried reboots
and
switch off power and power supply turned off) the PC came to life like
nothing had gone wrong. ;-( The only thing I can think of is that I have
a
poor connection somewhere and the prolonged inactivity (no temperature
change?) has made it worse.

Would be grateful for any suggestions.
Cheers.
*********
The first thing you could do is check or replace the CMOS battery. Strange
things start to happen when they get weak.
The second suspect is the power supply. It could be it can't get it up until
the capacitors are recharged after leaking all the way down after the long
vacation (wild guess).
 
D

DL

And if you are in a high humidity area of au it could be that causing
problems with internal connections of the components.
 
J

Jose

My PC has refused to start operating after a break of several weeks. The
first time it happened was last Oct, after it had not been used for six
weeks. It happened again last Thursday after the PC had not been used for
four weeks.

Both times it eventually restarted and has performed normally afterwards.
Before I pull the box apart and check all the connections (?)
etc. I thought I should make some enquiries from more knowledgeable PC
users.
The PC is about 3-4 year old Aldi Meadion 3.2Mhz with 3GB RAM and running
XP home.
Can't remember the symptoms from the first time but (seem similar) this
time, when the power is turned on the monitor came up with a 'PC going to
sleep' message (as it does if the PC is not used for some time and goes into
power saving mode) and no further screen display. I could initially hear
some hard disk activity and other normal sounds but no amount of
mouse/keyboard operation would wake it up. Disconnected the mouse and
keyboard cables, no change. When I disconnected the monitor I got a message
that there was no signal (or something like that) which at least suggested
that the monitor was working and connected.

After several reboots and having left the PC turned on for various lengths
of time without improvement, the next time I rebooted (had tried reboots and
switch off power and power supply turned off) the PC came to life like
nothing had gone wrong. ;-(  The only thing I can think of is that I have a
poor connection somewhere and the prolonged inactivity (no temperature
change?) has made it worse.

Would be grateful for any suggestions.
Cheers.
*********

When it boots, you should hear one short beep (usually).

Describe your beeping pattern when you power up the box.

One short/one long, two shorts, etc...

When your PC boots, can you determine what the BIOS manufacturer is?
 

Ask a Question

Want to reply to this thread or ask your own question?

You'll need to choose a username for the site, which only take a couple of moments. After that, you can post your question and our members will help you out.

Ask a Question

Top