Member Avatar for maxmaxwell

When I turn on my computer, the power light turns on, and I can hear it starting up like normal; but the monitor, keyboard, and mouse make no response. By this I mean, nothing is displayed on the monitor, the laser mouse doesn't turn on, and the lights on the keyboard don't turn on. I've tried switching the monitor keyboard and mouse with others, so they're not the problem.

Also, when I turn it off, the power light (on the computer) stays on. What could be causing this? This happened with no warning, and no major software changes were made before the problem occurred.


System Specs
MB: Pc Chips A11g V1.0
VGA: NVIDIA GeForce 6100
CPU: AMD Athlon(tm) 64 Processor 3800+, MMX, 3DNow, ~2.4GHz
OS: Windows XP
Memory: 1GB Kingston

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  • 2 Years Discussion Span
  • Latest Post Latest Post by N3crobloom

Dani AI

Generated

This looks like a classic no-POST situation for , and the other replies from , and point toward hardware-level failure rather than an OS problem. Below are focused, practical checks and a short diagnostic order that were not fully covered in the thread.

  • Do a true minimal "bench" boot: unplug the machine, remove all drives, optical devices, add-in cards and USB devices. Leave only CPU, one stick of RAM (try each stick in each slot), the power supply, and the integrated video. Fit a system speaker if available to catch beep codes. Power on and note fans, HDD LED, and any beeps.
  • If nothing changes, try a front-panel-header bypass: with power unplugged, disconnect the case power switch wires and momentarily short the two power-switch pins on the motherboard with an insulated screwdriver to rule out a stuck/broken switch. Do this only if comfortable and careful about shorts.
  • Clear residual power and CMOS: unplug, hold the case power button for 15–20 seconds, remove the CMOS battery for 5–10 minutes, then replace and try again. This can clear a bad power-state or corrupt BIOS setting that prevents POST.
  • For the "power light stays on after shutdown" symptom: after unplugging, look for warm or swollen components near the VRM area and check for any visible damage. If comfortable, use a multimeter to confirm the 5VSB rail is present (advanced — only if trained).
  • For intermittent freezes like : when it does boot, immediately check Event Viewer for thermal or driver errors, run memtest86 on each RAM stick, and monitor CPU/GPU temps. Reseating the heatsink and reapplying thermal paste is inexpensive and often helpful.

Cautions: work on a nonconductive surface, ground yourself, and avoid piecemeal guesses if unsure. If the bench minimal test still shows zero activity, the fault is most likely on the motherboard power/reset/VRM side — at that point swapping in a known-good PSU or board (or taking it to a shop for a controlled test) is the most reliable next step.

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Member Avatar for madoverclocker

it sounds like you motherboard isn't posting, i had a similar problem a few weeks ago and it turned out to be blown capacitors in the cpu power supply circuit. if you have a dvm or a power supply tester you should check you psu first, but it's likely that your motherboard has gone.

Member Avatar for cguan_77

when you power on check if the keyboard led's will light up, if it doesn't then it could be a dying mobo.. or try using another a psu the easy alternative

Member Avatar for N3crobloom

I'm having a imilar issue. I'll be playing a game, then my comp freezes and I have to force shutdown. After it turns on, but no display, no bios load up, nothing. After some time it'll boot and say it failed last boot, and I hit f1 and it's working again. This happened after I changed a hard drive out >.<

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