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I moved my computer about a week ago, and I haven't plugged it in since… I see the power supply lit up, and the mobo is lit up as well, indicating power. However, when I press the button, the fan turns on for a split second, the GPU lights up for a split second, then everything just stops, as if it didn't have enough power to start. Is it possible that it's because I didn't plug it in for a long time and that the capacitors don't have enough charge to start up the machine?

The computer was literally working just fine until I turned it off and unplugged it to move. The move was also just me carrying the computer, and walking across the hall to the new apartment unit.

Any ideas why this is happening?

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You may have bumped something. Check that all hardware components are seated correctly. – Randolph West Sep 6 '11 at 6:17
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2 Answers

up vote 2 down vote

My suggestion is to pull the computer out, get one of those cans of compressed air, unplug all your peripherals and the power cord. Clean out all the dust you can, especially from the fans, vents and drives using the compressed air.

If it is not under warranty any more, open the computer up and do the same with the inside, blowing any and all dust out.

Reseat all the memory (take it out and put it back into the slots carefully).

Check and reseat any peripheral cards, checking to make sure none of them have become loose or crooked.

Check all the ribbon cables and make sure that they are all straight and connected properly to the interface boards for the various drives in the computer, and that these cables are hooked securely to the mobo.

Put the case back together being careful to insure the peripheral cards are in their proper positions.

Replug everything and fire it back up.

Why would this matter? As computers heat up things expand, and when you then take a computer that has been on for a long time, and turn it off ot move it, thus leaving it off for a period, these same boards and chips boards can contract causing the contacts to loose their alignment. There is also the possibility in the moving of the computer that something has become loose.

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I have reseated most of the things before I posted this. Basically everything besides taking the actual mobo out :( I'll try again tomorrow. – hahuang65 Sep 6 '11 at 6:28
If it's not that, the only other possibility which has a user serviceable solution, is that the PS has died. I have replaced a bad ps before, and it's typically not big deal. Of course you have to be willing to spend the money on the chance the ps is the problem, without knowing for sure that is the source of the problem, and in my experience, a ps doesn't die because it was shut off for a while. – gview Sep 6 '11 at 7:59
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A possible reason for the sudden shutdowns may be that your computer's processor is getting overheated.

Check your fan and processor, and if they are placed correctly or not.

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Yup, seems like they are. I'll check again tomorrow. Thanks! – hahuang65 Sep 6 '11 at 6:29
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I highly doubt this is the problem. The computer is not going to shutdown due to heat during the boot process. – gview Sep 6 '11 at 7:54
@gview he says it wont even start booting – 168335 Sep 6 '11 at 8:38
right... which is why I doubt that it's heat related. The computer isn't on long enough. – gview Sep 6 '11 at 9:37
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