Hi everyone, and Happy New Year. I've been having a problem with my HP Pavilion a450y that I bought off the HP website about 4 years ago, and I hope that you'll be able to give me a hand with this!
I performed a system restore a few days ago (restoring factory settings). Ever since, I've been able to turn on the computer, but unable to get to the POST screen.
The light underneath the power button that blinks with PC activity blinks once before staying solid.
Back before I had this problem, the fan used to whir pretty loudly for about one second at the POST screen before slowing down when Windows XP would start up. Now when I turn the computer on, the fan doesn't stop whirring loudly, and I can't even reach the POST screen.
I've tried unplugging the fan, using a different graphics card, and using different RAM, but none of these have solved the problem thus far.
Could it be a problem with the heat sink? Or might it be the processor?
Thanks a lot for your help!