Computer won't power up.

[pcuc2]

My wife's computer has trouble starting...when you push the power button the power light comes on , the CD drive light comes on , and it sits there and does nothing until it restarts and does the same thing again and again until it finally starts up. You can hear the fan in the power supply start but the hard drive light does not come on until it is finally ready to start up. This can take as long as 15-20 minutes. The only change's I have made since it started playing up were to uncheck the restart on all error's box and the boot device priority in the BIOS( it had been set to CD drive as first and I changed it to the hard drive.) The computer has not been moved or had any power surges that I know of....it sit's right beside my own computer and runs off the same power source. Once it finally starts up it runs fin and has no problems. It doesn't do it on every start up either.....My first thought was that it is the power supply....Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks...Dave.

[Sn3akyP3t3]

I don't have any experience with laptop diagnostic cards, but that would be my first recommendation if it were a desktop.  Someone that knows of such a useful device for laptops can chime in hopefully.

Has the laptop had signs of strange behavior prior to this?  Could be overheating, write error problems, any hiccups at all worth mentioning.

My approach is more of a shotgun method since not all symptoms are reported and not all symptoms reported lead to linear and logical solution paths.  Stop at any point when you found the error causing the holdup.  So to start, check the voltage of the power adapter using a multimeter and make sure it is very close to the specs written on the adapter.  I would get a copy of Ubuntu and run the memtest86+ that it comes with.  Let that make 5 full passes to see if the RAM clears testing.  Get a copy of Drive Fitness Test and perform an analysis of your hard drive.  Then use the Ubuntu disk and fire up the "Live CD" feature to see if the OS loads.  Look for errors that may post during bootup that could lead to helpful troubleshooting info.  If Ubuntu loads successfully then the problem is probably with the loaded OS on the hard drive.  In that case then I would suspect malware or a corrupt driver.  Most likely it is malware in the case the OS is at fault.

[Kurtiskain]

I don't have any experience with laptop diagnostic cards, but that would be my first recommendation if it were a desktop.  Someone that knows of such a useful device for laptops can chime in hopefully.

Has the laptop had signs of strange behavior prior to this?  Could be overheating, write error problems, any hiccups at all worth mentioning.

My approach is more of a shotgun method since not all symptoms are reported and not all symptoms reported lead to linear and logical solution paths.  Stop at any point when you found the error causing the holdup.  So to start, check the voltage of the power adapter using a multimeter and make sure it is very close to the specs written on the adapter.  I would get a copy of Ubuntu and run the memtest86+ that it comes with.  Let that make 5 full passes to see if the RAM clears testing.  Get a copy of Drive Fitness Test and perform an analysis of your hard drive.  Then use the Ubuntu disk and fire up the "Live CD" feature to see if the OS loads.  Look for errors that may post during bootup that could lead to helpful troubleshooting info.  If Ubuntu loads successfully then the problem is probably with the loaded OS on the hard drive.  In that case then I would suspect malware or a corrupt driver.  Most likely it is malware in the case the OS is at fault.

Sn3akyP3t3, Where did you get the idea this was a laptop? Laptop power supplies generally dont have fans in them so I would say this is a desktop.

My two cents:

1. Most likely power supply failure, not giv ing enough amps/volts to support a boot untill the internal capacitors have charged sufficiently.
2. Bad motherboard.
3. Failing Video card
4. RAM
5.Other PCI/espansion card.

Is there a local smalltime conputer store you could take the PSU in and ask to get it tested for $5? Most smalltime companies should have a tester.

[pcuc2]

Thank's for the replies....I have disconnected the CD drive and it has not done it for 2 start-ups...(finger's crossed). This is a good start but it doesn't mean too much yet as it seemed to be a random problem. I will leave it for a couple of day's and see if it does it again, if not then I will swap my CD drive and see if it does it to my computer or if her's starts to do it again.  If it does it on my machine then that should mean it is the CD drive and problem solved....I will have to check the drive for firmware up date's and the like before I throw it out tho. If her's start's to do it with my CD drive again then I will try a different SATA slot on her mother board and then start to check memory and go from there...

Thank's again for the replies and here's hoping it is the CD drive.....Dave.

[Sn3akyP3t3]

Sn3akyP3t3, Where did you get the idea this was a laptop? Laptop power supplies generally dont have fans in them so I would say this is a desktop.

Wow!  I stand corrected!  Totally missed those indications.  Of course there is a fan in a PSU.

[pcuc2]

In case anyone is interested...finally fixed this problem...replaced the main board today and (fingers crossed) so far so good.

Just wanted to say thanks to all the replied......Dave.