Computer Assistence Please!

[obvious Child]

So my desktop will occasionally decide it doesn't want to POST.

I have to play around with it, sometimes reseat parts and even then it won't POST. I get power to fans and video card, but not to my USB mouse and my monitor stays dark. Sometimes I just let it sit and it POSTs normally.

I'm thinking two things:

Faulty Power Supply
Faulty RAM chip

I can always can get it to POST after enough time of tinkering and when it's running, it's fine.

Ideas? Anyone know of a modern program to test RAM that doesn't require a bootable floppy?

 

[TheGirlNextDoor]

Moderator's Warning:

Moved this to Tech Support where hopefully it will get more attention/helpful answers.

 

[RedAkston]

How old is your computer? Do you have the original memory and the original power supply?

This sounds like it is either memory or the PS, so you are on the right track. The easiest way to test this is to use another power supply to see if it will boot up. If it won't with a good working PS, it is most likely memory.

This happened to me earlier this year and I ended up building an entirely new rig. It was actually my processor that fried (heat sink was so dusty that it locked up), so I went ahead and upgraded to a new mobo, memory, PS, etc...

 

[Simon W. Moon]

iirc memtest can be put on a cd

 

[obvious Child]

How old is your computer? Do you have the original memory and the original power supply?

Built it in October of 2009.

This sounds like it is either memory or the PS, so you are on the right track. The easiest way to test this is to use another power supply to see if it will boot up. If it won't with a good working PS, it is most likely memory.

Oh it BOOTs. It's just fickle about it. That's what's driving me nuts. Some days it's fine, some days it takes me half an hour to get it boot. Could be a small bad sector of RAM that causes the POST to fail, or could be a faulty PSU that doesn't provide power properly all the time.

This happened to me earlier this year and I ended up building an entirely new rig. It was actually my processor that fried (heat sink was so dusty that it locked up), so I went ahead and upgraded to a new mobo, memory, PS, etc...

But did your rig work occasionally? Sounds like if your processor was fried your entire rig was done.

 

[obvious Child]

iirc memtest can be put on a cd

I saw that, but I was hoping there was something that could run within Windows.

 

[RedAkston]

Built it in October of 2009.



Oh it BOOTs. It's just fickle about it. That's what's driving me nuts. Some days it's fine, some days it takes me half an hour to get it boot. Could be a small bad sector of RAM that causes the POST to fail, or could be a faulty PSU that doesn't provide power properly all the time.



But did your rig work occasionally? Sounds like if your processor was fried your entire rig was done.

Yeah, aside from replacing the processor, it was done. I decided to upgrade and was able to do it on the cheap (relatively). You can replace your memory (it's pretty cheap right now) or try booting with a different PS (one that you know is good).

 

[obvious Child]

Yeah, aside from replacing the processor, it was done. I decided to upgrade and was able to do it on the cheap (relatively). You can replace your memory (it's pretty cheap right now) or try booting with a different PS (one that you know is good).

I think it's my PSU. Bad memory should give me a host of other problems, from random crashes and random reboots, none of which I have.