Power light on but no HDD light.

bossyman15

May 23, 2012 5:08:11 AM

My computer have been having problems shutting down and restarting and now it will no longer post. When I turn it on the power led comes on and everything powers on but HHD led does not come on and doesn't post. I'm deaf so I can't hear the beeps, sorry.

I tried powering it on with just one stick of ram and dvd drive unplugged. No good. But before that when the computer was still working I ran memtest on each stick of ram and then all sticks of ram together. They all passed the test. Does that mean ram is good in this case?

I even tried taking the computer apart and cleaning and rebuilding it back together again, no good. Is my computer dead?

More about : power light hdd light

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scout_03

Homebuilt system Expert

May 23, 2012 5:14:15 AM

you drive could be out could you have a friend that will test it for you

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bossyman15

May 23, 2012 5:15:45 AM

but should it be able to POST even if HD is not working?

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scout_03

Homebuilt system Expert

May 23, 2012 5:18:54 AM

if there is a short on the hdd it wont post disconnect the hdd from system power and sata cable and see if you got a post for the bios

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bossyman15

May 23, 2012 5:20:43 AM

I just tried that and it still wont post.

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bossyman15

May 23, 2012 5:25:44 AM

Right now I only have video card plugged in. It still wont post.

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scout_03

Homebuilt system Expert

May 23, 2012 5:26:33 AM

shut the power off push the power button to drain capacitor,then remove the battery check if she still give you 3 volts ,if battery is good put her back in reset power try restart

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bossyman15

May 23, 2012 5:31:53 AM

how do I check volts if I don't have multimeter?

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scout_03

Homebuilt system Expert

May 23, 2012 5:35:56 AM

could see at a computer store or have a friend that could test it for you ,but you could try alll the process without testing the battery for now but you will have to remove her and put her back

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photonboy

Homebuilt system Expert

May 23, 2012 5:58:23 AM

Yes. A drive is not required.

You need:
- motherboard
- video card/chip
- Power Supply
- RAM
- CPU and heatsink/fan
- monitor (just to see things)

That's all you should have hooked together if your problem is this bad. I assume by POST you mean you see nothing on the computer screen at all?

Anyway, this is basic troubleshooting:
1) hook ONLY the minimal parts I listed together
2) Can you see the computer booting up (POST?). If you see NOTHING you need to verify the monitor is working.

3) If the monitor works, but POST still fails it's one of those parts. Basically you'd need to SWAP parts somehow to verify everything works which is a pain.

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photonboy

Homebuilt system Expert

May 23, 2012 6:00:03 AM

Battery:
A computer will still POST with no battery or a dead battery. It just won't remember any changes you make.

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bossyman15

May 23, 2012 6:04:47 AM

photonboy said:

Yes. A drive is not required.

You need:
- motherboard
- video card/chip
- Power Supply
- RAM
- CPU and heatsink/fan
- monitor (just to see things)

That's all you should have hooked together if your problem is this bad. I assume by POST you mean you see nothing on the computer screen at all?

Anyway, this is basic troubleshooting:
1) hook ONLY the minimal parts I listed together
2) Can you see the computer booting up (POST?). If you see NOTHING you need to verify the monitor is working.

3) If the monitor works, but POST still fails it's one of those parts. Basically you'd need to SWAP parts somehow to verify everything works which is a pain.

I did try to power the PC with that list. no POST.

Damn it! I don't have much money and I wanted to play Just Cause 2!

Maybe I can borrow some money from my dad and just purchase parts for budget computer if I can't get it to work.

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photonboy

Homebuilt system Expert

May 24, 2012 12:59:10 AM

It's ONE of those parts which is defective, but as I said you would have to swap parts.

Since you apparently don't get an audio BEEP, I doubt it's your CPU. Your RAM was swapped so it's probably not that. Your monitor likely works.

If your graphics card was defective you would probably still see some nice lights and fans starting up on the PSU/motherboard.

In my mind that leaves:
- motherboard, or
- Power Supply

The easiest thing would be to borrow a power supply (or buy a cheap quality Antec or similar on sale at NCIX for under $40).

Statistically speaking it's probably the motherboard though.

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bossyman15

May 24, 2012 2:21:25 AM

photonboy said:

It's ONE of those parts which is defective, but as I said you would have to swap parts.

Since you apparently don't get an audio BEEP, I doubt it's your CPU. Your RAM was swapped so it's probably not that. Your monitor likely works.

If your graphics card was defective you would probably still see some nice lights and fans starting up on the PSU/motherboard.

In my mind that leaves:
- motherboard, or
- Power Supply

The easiest thing would be to borrow a power supply (or buy a cheap quality Antec or similar on sale at NCIX for under $40).

Statistically speaking it's probably the motherboard though.

Well I plan to update my computer (its 5 years old and is showing its age) but instead of buying all parts first I plan to just order PSU first and test that. If not then I will just update my computer anyway.

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