Computer Turns On, Then Off!!

[lablkilz699]

Hi. Okay I have a custom computer that has worked absolutely perfectly until yesterday. I went to turn it on and it turned on, fired up, all that, then about 3 seconds later, it just shut off. WHAT IS GOING ON!

The only thing I could find on a google search and stuff like that is people installing ram or something and then having it give off some static discharge or something?

Does anyone have any suggestions or a definite answer to whats wrong?

If you do please share.

Thanks!!!

[paul9]

check that your power button is not sticking in when you press it. holding it in for a few seconds (or having it jam in) will turn off the power.

[Jester87]

Make sure your powers supply is actually in the on Position, I had the same problem, and that was it, Damn Power supply was off but comp would start for a few seconds then shutoff.

[tony_j15]

welcome to TechIMO! first thing is make sure its not something stupid like the power button sticking or anything like that. try resetting the BIOS. if that dont work, I usually just take it all apart and start putting it back togather piece by piece, turning it on after each piece is added to see if it will work. Takes a while, but guarenteed to figure out if one of the components is failing.

[VHockey86]

Sounds kind of like a FOC (fan-off control). Where if it doesnt detect the processor fan control sensor it turns the comp off after a couple secs. Are there any beeps associated with it turning off? Also, just open up the case and make sure everything appears to power on.

[lablkilz699]

no beeps, every fan fires up. That was actually one of the things i thought to check, i thought i fried my cpu at first cuz the fan wouldnt turn on, but it was actually turning on so scratch that...Power supply in on position....u mean like the " - & O" ?? its on if thats what u mean. the little green light on the mobo turns on and off as i turn on and off the "- & O" switch. The power button...well it dosent appear to be sticking. I plug in my computer, and press it, and it does the turn on and off thing. Then if you try to turn it on again, it wont even do anything...u have to unplug it or turn off power switch, then turn back on and hit the power button to get it to do the tun on then off thing again. Could there be like something inside the power switch that broke or something?? i have no idea. Theres about a 99.9% chance something got hit, or moved, or turned off because i basically shut it down that night, woke up, went to turn it on, and bam, dosent fully turn on...i'll go check the power button right now again...any other ideas guys?? thanks

[dafanman]

lablkilz699,

How bout giving us your system specs

mb brand, type and ammt of ram, power supply brand with 12v, 5v, and 3v outputs per the label on the psu, video card, ect....

Any thunderstorms in the area overnight, power outages?, Is there a surge protector in place?

Laterz,
dafanman

[Brainchild]

The power button...well it dosent appear to be sticking. I plug in my computer, and press it, and it does the turn on and off thing. Then if you try to turn it on again, it wont even do anything...u have to unplug it or turn off power switch, then turn back on and hit the power button to get it to do the tun on then off thing again.

Sounds like the PSU to me.I had one do that same thing and I like to never figured out what it was.Chances are if you just let it set for about an hour it'll fire back up too.

I would swap the PSU.

THT

[lablkilz699]

okay here it is....

Seagate 80 gig. Hard Drive Barracuda 7200.7

Soyo Mobo. (SY-P4I865PE Plus DRAGON 2) I think. If not, its very close to that.

1 stick of 512mb PNY RAM. (PC2700)
1 stick of 512mb Samsung RAM (PC2700)

nVidia Asylum GeForce 5200 256mb

Sony DVD-ROM

Memorex DVD-RW Drive

generic floppy drive

P4 2.8GHz CPU 800 FSB

some generic memory card reader for digital cameras and stuff

350W 12V power supply that came with my case

Aspire Turbo X-Dreamer II (Black)

4 fans I think...


am i forgetting anything???

Thanks for the help, keep it coming!

[rrcn]

I plug in my computer, and press it, and it does the turn on and off thing. Then if you try to turn it on again, it wont even do anything...u have to unplug it or turn off power switch, then turn back on and hit the power button to get it to do the tun on then off thing again.

Because of what you said there, I say its your psu.

[lablkilz699]

im sorry...what does PSU stand for...im lost.

[rrcn]

I'm sorry, your "power supply unit" (psu).

[lablkilz699]

ohh ok, wow i thought u just made a typo and meant CPU. the power supply wouldnt be that big of a deal. im going to my friends house in a little bit, and he says it might be my hard drive or something else that got zapped or something from having my computer on carpet or something??? hes gonna test that out. he said his parents computer did something similar but not exactly the same. hes gonna try it out. i will try a new power supply too.

any other suggestions.

THANKS!

[rrcn]

Your hard drive cannot get "zapped" while inside the computer case. The whole idea of a computer case is for it to act as a Faraday cage and keep unwanted electrical fields and other electrostatic discharges from "zapping" your components.

Besides, its not like your computer is being rubbed against the carpet and creating static charge.

[dafanman]

I suspect power supply.

You should check if your board has a 12v, 4 pin power socket and if so make sure the 12v, 4 pin power from the power supply is plugged in.

Laterz,
dafanman

[lablkilz699]

ok...so u think it just got unplugged from the mobo. or something, correct? or the whole power supply is shot....?

could u give me an idea what to look for? is it a 4 pin cord coming from the power supply to the mobo?

--good point about the "zapping" idea.

THANKS.

[abstractj]

Well, it's my parents computer. It's doing the same thing. Turns on then turns off after 5 seconds. Try turning back on again and does nothing. I will buy a new PSU tomorrow to see if that's the problem fingers crossed...

[Scout05]

Hi ,

I just had this issue with my own computer. It ended up being the power button on the front. The computer repair guy sold me a motherboard , a power supply , and new LED lights before it was discovered. Have it checked before you try anything else. If it turns out to be it you'll save yourself alot of money.

[lablkilz699]

okay i just did a test sorta...i tried turning it on with nothing on the mobo. not even processor, and it did the same thing as usual....so its down to mobo or power supply....

any more help...THANKS

[rrcn]

You need the cpu for the computer to run. The minimum you can have on there is the cpu, motherboard, ONE stick of ram, cpu heatsink and fan, video card (or if it has onboard that'll do), and of course the power supply. You can do it without the video card, but it'll give you an error beep.

The only way to test if the cpu is bad it to get another one, put it in there and fire it up.