Solved PCs no longer boot after being moved

[TanyaC]

I moved to Windows 7 PCs from inside my house to my garage. The first one I tried spontaneously powered off and on every couple of seconds. The second one just wouldn't boot at all.

I checked the voltage at the power point, it was within typical residential boundaries. The PS3, Wii and Home Entertainment equipment work fine in the garage (we have the area set up as a "games" area).

So I put the PCs back where they came from and they no longer boot.

Have done the typical stuff;

• Removed and reseated RAM, Graphics card, CPU and heat sink.
• Changed out the power supply with another known good PSU.
• Reset CMOS from the mobo.

One PC has a SSD the other has a spinner.

Damned if I can tell what happened. Any ideas?

thanks
Tanya

EDIT: there are no beeps.

 

[Anak]

Well, you've covered the obvious troubleshooting steps.

At first I thought ESD, but checking the weather in the Melbourne area shows your Relative Humidity to be around 60 to 70% with Rain/showers, so that kind of rules out static and carpeting, maybe. Are you running the air? It could make it dry enough inside your home to cause ESD.

How old are your machines? They may not have been able to withstand the rigors of the move even though you tried re-seating those components. Even newer machines can fail.

I found this thread that will offer more in the way of troubleshooting, it starts at post #2, and you can disregard the reference to lighting it's just plain common sense: http://www.sevenforums.com/general-...o-post-no-beeps-black-screen.html#post1763959
I don't know why the OP deleted his comments so ignore that and follow ignatzatsonic's replies, and Just Plain Erik at the end also has a tip.

More on the POST Test and beeps: Power-on_self-test

 

[TanyaC]

Thanks for your reply Anak,

No air conditioning. Garage is cool, because it's winter, but not really cold.

I got one working again by removing the power supply connectors, then the battery and then resetting BIOS. After that a couple of power on/off and it worked.

The other one is still not booting. There are no beeps.

I saw that post you mentioned. Didn't work.

I have a spare motherboard so I will try that later today.

 

[Anak]

Your welcome.

Winter? Duh, I forgot about the hemispheres.

Good job on getting the one back, and a good idea about the spare motherboard for the other.

Let us know if you have any problems activating the OS. Here's a tutorial: http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/3408-activate-windows-7-online.html There's some good tips in the Note section.

 

[TanyaC]

Thanks Anak.

Activation is not an issue. I am aware the M$ treat new Mobo's as new installations. So I installed the Mobo, and booted off my Hirens' diagnostic CD. Well, I would have if the PC would boot, but no luck. Power comes on makes all the sounds like it's going to boot, but doesn't..

So I put it all back together with the original motherboard. Thought I'd give it one more try, and lo and behold, the silly thing decided to boot up ok.. What a pain :sarc:

I have no idea what I did to make it work. I unplugged everything from the mobo when I was trying to fix it earlier. May be I should just count my lucky stars, and leave it alone in case I jinx it again.

I hate computers

Thanks
Tanya

 

[AddRAM]

Unplugging all the power connectors from the MB and reconnecting them is what fixed it. Don`t know what that actually does but it works.

Glad you got it fixed.

 

[Anak]

Thanks Anak.

Activation is not an issue. I am aware the M$ treat new Mobo's as new installations. So I installed the Mobo, and booted off my Hirens' diagnostic CD. Well, I would have if the PC would boot, but no luck. Power comes on makes all the sounds like it's going to boot, but doesn't..

From all of your previous threads and this one I can tell you're a sharp cookie, but I have to ask an obvious question.....You did have the ram in didn't you? Can you remember if you got a "no memory beep code" from the MB? Just courious.

So I put it all back together with the original motherboard. Thought I'd give it one more try, and lo and behold, the silly thing decided to boot up ok.. What a pain :sarc:

I have no idea what I did to make it work. I unplugged everything from the mobo when I was trying to fix it earlier. May be I should just count my lucky stars, and leave it alone in case I jinx it again.

Unplugging all the power connectors from the MB and reconnecting them is what fixed it. Don`t know what that actually does but it works.

You didn't say how old your machines are, but over the lifetime of a machine the heating up and cooling down cycles causes the wiring and connectors to become hard and brittle and will even cause oxidation between the terminals.
The pins, and male/female crimp terminals will also become loose in their plastic connectors causing poor connections.

I would suspect loose terminals and/or connectors maybe even broken/frayed wiring, just the act of removing and reconnecting the terminals will clean some of the oxidation.

All the jostling started this and your careful re-placement of the wiring and connectors fixed it.

My question is, will you need help taking them back out to the garage, and when do you want me over to start up the barby?

I hate computers

Thanks
Tanya

Your welcome.

Seems to be a necessary evil in today's world, can't live with em', can't live without em'

Glad you got it fixed.

Me to, good job!

 

[TanyaC]

You did have the ram in didn't you? Can you remember if you got a "no memory beep code" from the MB? Just courious.

Yes. I even swapped them around. There were no beeps whatsoever.

You didn't say how old your machines are, but over the lifetime of a machine the heating up and cooling down cycles causes the wiring and connectors to become hard and brittle and will even cause oxidation between the terminals.

All the parts are still under warranty. The oldest part, the mobo which is a Z68X-UD3R is probably the oldest part at just under two years.

My question is, will you need help taking them back out to the garage, and when do you want me over to start up the barby?

The weekend is a good time to fire up the Barby. Weather this weekend is looking like it is going to be nice.

I will actually take one back out to the garage. I want one out there, have everything else working. If it plays up again I'll give you a buzz and you can pop over.

Glad you got it fixed.

Thanks AddRAM.