Solved Windows 7 will not boot - not even to BIOS

[beauparc]

Having to do this post using an old iPad

Went to boot my desktop today and nothing......no boot, no BIOS. Power is on and all fans are running. HDD can be heard spinning for a few seconds, then stops. Cannot boot from Win7 rescue disk, drive spins and then stops. Screen is dead (like no signal) and I cannot enter BIOS.

Machine has been running perfectly for several years. If I could even get as far as BIOS I could figure things out (maybe!)

Could this be caused by a dead CMOS battery?

Any other ideas will be very welcome and gratefully acknowledged.

 

[gregrocker]

Could be a dead mobo. Remove the RAM to see if you get beeps which indicate mobo life.

Unplug everything except DVD drive and try to boot a disk.

Nothing at all on the screen, even momentarily?

 

[Monster212]

sounds like a dead Motherboard to me, like gregrocker take ram out and see if system beeps, also does anything show on the screen at all even if for a split sec.???

 

[beauparc]

Thank you both for your kind replies.

It is early morning here at the moment and I have an urgent appointment on the golf course , so I will try your suggestions later today and report back. Off the top of my head, the motherboard is an old Asus MA78 Pro, so I should be able to pick one up someplace.

Anyway, must dash........since I am club captain this year, probably best not to be late

 

[beauparc]

Sorry, forgot. There is nothing on the screen. It doesn't even blink. Just says "No signal" and returns to blank black.

 

[problemshredder]

first to check is the graphics card. the pc might be just fine but graphic problem made it unable to display anything to the screen. try remove then replug the graphics card.

 

[DavidE]

If replugging the GPU and RAM doesn't help, try using the onboard graphics.
It may be a failing PSU that doesn't have enough life left to power up with the GPU installed.

 

[beauparc]

Right, this is what I have tried based on all your kind suggestions.....

Removed the graphics card and connected to onboard graphics. Nothing.

Removed all RAM modules. No beeps from board, just total silence except for fans.

Removed all HDDs and tried to boot from Win7 disk. Nothing.

Removed and replaced CMOS battery. Nothing.

I am now beginning to agree with Gregrocker that the board is dead. I'll see if I can source another during the next couple of days and, in the meantime will try anything else I can think of.

Thanks again for all your helpful suggestions. I am most grateful.

 

[gregrocker]

If the mobo is within warranty period of one year, Asus Tech Support should replace it for you.

 

[beauparc]

I'm afraid it is well out of date - by about 4 years!! They seem to be very thin on the ground

I should of course have said it is an ASUS M4A78 pro board, not MA78.

I shall keep looking.......

 

[mitchell65]

Is this what you are looking for?
http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/offer-listing/B001P61NY0/ref=dp_olp_0?ie=UTF8&condition=all

 

[DavidE]

What is the Make and Model of the PSU?
A faulty/low quality PSU can take out any number of components.
Can you test the PSU before using it with a new MB?
In my experience a PSU is more likely to fail than a motherboard...

 

[Layback Bear]

With a motherboard and system that old it would be a fine time to build a new computer.

 

[alphanumeric]

This SOP for me in this type of situation.
Disconnect and or remove everything not needed for the PC to post. All you need is power supply, motherboard, CPU with heat sink, one stick of RAM, keyboard and monitor. If the motherboard has onboard video use that. Unplug all external devices except your monitor and keyboard. Unplug any optical drives and the hard drives and remove any add in cards like network, sound and video if not needed. Reset the BIOS to defaults with the motherboard jumper or by removing the CMOS/BIOS battery. Then see if it will post. If it won't double check all your power cables to make sure they are firmly connected. If you are using an add in video card reseat it to make sure it firmly in place. Reseat your RAM too. Then try again. If it does post then you can slowly add devices one at a time until it doesn't and go from there. If it still won't post then its one of the few devices still hooked up. I would suspect the power supply as a likely cuprite. Just an educated guess on my part, I've seen a lot more failed power supplies than failed motherboards.

 

[beauparc]

"Oh, Happy Day"

I am typing this on my main computer.......

Which, thanks to everyone's kind suggestions, is now working again.

And the problem...?

Not too sure, but what I did was this:-

I basically took everything out of the case, cleaned it all and refitted the motherboard (with processor)and power supply. I then started adding things and trying to start. Finally, with everything back in place and about to go down to a friendly electrician for some help. I tried it one more time and the thing booted into BIOS. I set that up, rebooted and Win 7 appeared. I left it to sort itself out (system time was 12.00 on 4th August 2002!!!!) which it did, and everything is working perfectly again.

My most sincere thanks to all who kindly helped me in my hour of need.

I am greatly obliged.

 

[alphanumeric]

Hopefully it keeps on working, glad you got it up and running.