Hi All,
A couple days ago we had a quick power outage in the area where I live. I wasn't home at the time. Anyway, when I got home from work, I turned on the computer as I always do. I heard a couple of clicks inside the computer (normal), but no beeps at all. Nothing came up on the monitor. Just black. I turned the computer off and then back on about a dozen times...same result. I turned of the power strip and turned it back on and then turned on the computer...she booted up and everything ran as normal as it did before I went to sleep the night before (except that I had to reset the bios. it usually does that if the power is totally cut from the computer). So, I spent all night on the computer. Shut it off at the end of the night and it shut down fine. The next day, went to work, came home, turned on the computer and the same thing happened. The hard drive light comes on immediately when I turn on the computer, along with the green power light. The cd drive lights flash. Again, there are no beeps. The unusual thing is the hard drive light never goes out. I turned off the computer a half dozen times and then turned it back on again...same result. I turned off the power strip and then turned it back on. Turned on the computer and it booted up. I haven't lost anything on the computer. I'm just having this boot up problem all of a sudden. Anyone have a clue what to look for?
Windows XP Pro
Athlon 1700
Asus V8200
512 DDR Mem
Thanx in advance.
Jimbo

a brief search showed this possible fix & its' rationale:

Unplug the computer from the wall, hold the power button in for 1 minute.

It actually does 3 things -- it resets the bios in a minor way,
removes any static electricity in the system, and it helps reset the
power/connections with the printer, scanner, cable mode, etc...

If this happens again, start tinkering with what you can. Get a new surge
protector or APC/UPS backup, try moving to a different circuit in the house,
switch out the power cords, etc.

Originally Posted by jephree

a brief search showed this possible fix & its' rationale:

I agree that approach is worth a try, I've seen it work before. Good call jephree

Thanx guys, I'll give it a shot. I thought it may have had something to do with the power outage. Maybe when it surged back on it may have damaged something inside to a small degree. Especially the hard drive. Could it be the surge started the hard drive to start crashing? And it's just a matter of time...?
Just a thought.

Once you get it back on, you need to do a thorough Scandisk to check for bad sectors. That is likely to indicate whether your hard drive has a physical fault.

If your BIOS has to be reset every time you cut the power, then it sounds like your motherboard battery is not holding its charge (the battery is there to remember the BIOS settings). Getting a new CR2032 motherboard battery (only a few quid from a good computer shop) may resolve this

FYI
The problem was the CPU. It was bad. Tested all componants and the CPU came up bad.
Thanx for all the help, and I hope this thread helps others.

Thanks for the update

------------------------------

This thread has been Resolved and has been locked to prevent other users hijacking the thread and to help others know which threads have been Resolved and which are still being worked on.

If you started this thread and the problem returns or the case has not been properly Resolved, please send a Private Message to an Administrator or a Moderator of this forum to have the thread opened again. If you have a different problem, please start a new thread.