Windows PC Won't Boot or Turn On
There is nothing more hair-raising when it comes to using your home computer than pressing the power button and getting no response from the system. Before you have a little panic attack and start pulling your hair out, take a deep breath and keep reading. This article will give you a few easy tips you can try if your PC won't power on or boot.
There is a high probability that if that happens, you're dealing with a mechanical issue that is very easy to fix. Modern hardware is built to last and the chances of your motherboard just completely dying on you are not high at all, especially if you bought your PC over the last decade.
If you don't get any response from your PC when you press the power button, consider trying these things in order and see if the issue is taken care of.
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Table of Contents
Make sure it’s really your PC and not your monitor
If you don't get any picture on your monitor, first check your PC case to see if you have any lights flashing on the front panel and whether or not you can hear any fans spinning up inside. The most common cause for what looks like a dead PC is actually a loose power or signal cable to your monitor. Make sure this is not the cause of the problem and if it really is not, keep reading.
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Open your case and check all component connections, as well as cables
Make sure all your hardware boards, including your GPU and memory sticks, are all plugged in properly. Check for loose memory stick tabs or wings that are located on both sides of the memory stick as well. Just in case, make sure that your CPU is well secured in place as well. You don't need to have a dead motherboard to fail the system boot. Loose ram or a loose GPU are quite enough.
Power cables generally have a much shorter lifespan than your computer's hardware, whether you believe it or not, especially if you have a complex cable setup that puts strain on the cables. Try plugging in a new power cable and booting with it, before you worry about your power supply unit.
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Check your power supply
If the new cable still doesn't work, the odds are your power supply unit needs replacing. While it's not within the expertise of most people to check whether the power supply unit works properly, you can always take your PC to a service center and have the power supply examined there.
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Check your hard drive
This is the least likely scenario that you can run into, but if you hear beeps from your case and you have fans spinning, your monitor and power cables are fine and you still can't seem to boot up, it might be your hard drive. In this case, it might be best to take the hardware to a qualified technician who can examine and test it out to make sure the drive is really dead or dying.