Computer tower's fan blows air but it won't boot up

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Jasephel

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Jan 1, 2017
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Have a Windows 7 desktop computer that is broken. When I push the power button, the fans turn on and start blowing non-stop, but there is no signal going to the monitor. The power button lights up, but it doesn't actually seem to boot up.
Other times, there will a clicking sort of noise upon startup. Could it be the hard drive? A faulty fan somewhere? I've taken the RAM out and put it back in, and that didn't do anything.
What would cause this problem?
Thanks
 
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Jasephel

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Jan 1, 2017
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Hey, sorry it has taken me so long to reply to your answer. I couldn't log on, because it kept giving me error 500 message. It frustrated me, but then just today I realized that I was on the UK Tom's Hardware, and when I switched to US it worked again! I feel so stupid!
Another stupid mistake that I made was that I plugged my monitor into the wrong VGA port!!! So when I plugged the VGA cord into the correct VGA peripheral, I got something on the screen. There was the Asus splash screen, followed by maybe one or two other screens, one of which said American Trends, but it was all jumbled up and each half of the screen was a mirror of the other. The fan was still running really loud.
Anyways, so I unplugged the hard drive and booted like you suggested, and the fans went back to normal! They weren't pumping air as if they were doing a marathon anymore. So, thank you for the advice!!
When I booted without the hard drive plugged in, the Asus splash screen came up again, and this time the screen that said American Trends was normal; but after that, the screen was black (not off). I let it sit there for a couple minutes, and it didn't do anything, so I shut the tower off. Is this normal without the hard drive in?
I have ordered a Western Digital hard drive off of Amazon, and I will update when it arrives and I swap it in.
 
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Jasephel

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Hello. So I put the hard drive in and booted the tower up. I went into BIOS and checked to see if the hard drive was connected (it was listed under SATA 2, so I assume that it worked). But it is giving me this message: "reboot and select proper boot device or insert boot media in selected boot device and press a key". So what do I do?
thanks
 
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Jasephel

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So do I need to buy a new copy of Windows 7 to do that (if that's even possible)? There was no USB drive back-up from this tower before it conked out.
 
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CountMike

CountMike

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If your W7 was retail version, you don't need to by new ones, just have to find your original key and download W7 from MS. Considering you didn't change motherboard you can download and install same type of windows you have and install it. If it doesn't activate you can call Microsoft to help you with that.
 
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Jasephel

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Aww man, I am not the one that built this PC (the person who gave it to me a while ago ordered the parts and built it himself), so I don't have the original W7 key. I could try to get it from the person who gave the computer to me, but out of curiosity, would I be able to buy a new copy of Windows and install it? And would it have to be Windows 7, or could it be 8 or 10 possibly?
 
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CountMike

CountMike

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W7 is not officially sold by MS any more but could be bought somewhere else, don't know if and how it's available to you but you can download it from MS and it will probably activate if it was OEM too. Easiest way would be if original owner could find the key.
 
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Jasephel

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So, are you saying that I could download Windows 7 from MS website if it was OEM (without buying another licence)? Or are you saying that once I buy another license, I can download Windows 7 from MS if it is OEM?
 
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Jasephel

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As far being OEM is concerned, I don't think it should be an issue, as I can't see myself changing the motherboard.
I've heard that you can still upgrade to Windows 10 from Windows 7 if you use your product key, so in theory I could buy the Windows 7 and then upgrade to Windows 10, correct?
 
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Jasephel

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Alright so I have Windows 7 installed on the tower now, with no problems. Thank you for all of your help CountMike! I turned the computer off for the first time though, and when I tried to turn it back on, it wouldn't (the fans were going but nothing was going to the monitor). But after I went away for a half-hour or so and tried again, it worked. I just restarted it now, and that worked, so I don't know why it did that funny thing. If it does it again I wonder what might be wrong with it?
 
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