Computer not starting

[AJ Rimmer]

Yesterday I had to reboot my comp and my third harddrive didn't show up, this happens everynow and then but I usually solve it by disconnecting and connecting the molex cable that goes to that harddrive. Yesterday night when I did this however, the computer died, and won't come back on. Nothing happens when I press the power button. This, I thought, seemed like a bad sign. Anyone know what might be the problem?

 

[The Brick]

Sounds like the power supply kicked the bucket.

 

[AJ Rimmer]

Sounds like the power supply kicked the bucket.

Let's hope so. Power supplies are cheap. (comparatively)
Although eventually it did start up again, took a few reboots to start working properly though.

 

[Asus]

Did you mess with the molex plug while the PC was on or off?
Glad it's working now.

 

[AJ Rimmer]

Did you mess with the molex plug while the PC was on or off?
Glad it's working now.

Welll... while it was on...:|

Yeah me too, but it's obviously not a good sign, when I first rebooted it it froze at the windows bootup screen, then after a second reboot it froze at the desktop. This is the third reboot I'm on now and has been running smoothly all day.

 

[MorganFreeman911]

Well now you know not to unplug it when the computer's ON.

 

[huntingbear]

that's a sign that the powersupply is begining to fail and may be taking your motherboard with it when it goes.....take it to a computer shop (NOT GEEK SQUAD!!!!) and have them test the PSU only! NO OTHER SERVICE just test the PSU.

 

[AJ Rimmer]

that's a sign that the powersupply is begining to fail and may be taking your motherboard with it when it goes.....take it to a computer shop (NOT GEEK SQUAD!!!!) and have them test the PSU only! NO OTHER SERVICE just test the PSU.

That's not very realistic in my town.

 

[Barney Fife]

That's not very realistic in my town.

I Guess its time to move to a different town eh? :naughty:

Seriously never mess with PC while power is on or you may fry stuff including your balls. As far as freezing goes, the sky is the limit to find the source, could be irregular current to bad memory timing/bad module, incorrect OC settings, etcetera.

Good Luck.

 

[AJ Rimmer]

When I said I wanted help what I really wanted was for one of you to explain how this was in no way my fault, it was completely unavoidable and it could be fixed without adding any expenses to my already frail economy.

And I tried doing it while the computer was off but when it started the harddrive would still be missing, the only way to get it back was to plug it in again while the comp was running.

Also; A while back I bought some new ram sticks (several months ago) which, when entered into the computer made it freeze and crash within a matter of minutes (and they were of the same type as my other two sticks). Think they might work again if I get a new power supply?

 

[Barney Fife]

When I said I wanted help what I really wanted was for one of you to explain how this was in no way my fault, it was completely unavoidable and it could be fixed without adding any expenses to my already frail economy.

And I tried doing it while the computer was off but when it started the harddrive would still be missing, the only way to get it back was to plug it in again while the comp was running.

Also; A while back I bought some new ram sticks (several months ago) which, when entered into the computer made it freeze and crash within a matter of minutes (and they were of the same type as my other two sticks). Think they might work again if I get a new power supply?

OK it?s not your fault; nevertheless you just don't do it and stick your filthy hands into a plugged Motherboard.
What happened, happen, so how can we fix this?
First, Plug the HDD (While PC is off and unplugged), Plug the PC, boot it and log into your BIOS and check if HDD is posted, if it is, then we're OK, no hardware is damaged, Problem rolls down to the OS and Memories, MOBO is fine.
Now boot OS and see if your HDD is posted, also check your device manager and see if there's any conflictions and unusual stuff, If HDD isn't posted, then we have to test memories. I don't know which Motherboard your using, but see if you have a program called Memtest86 installed into BIOS, if you do, enable it to boot next system boot, and it will perform memory test, let it run for couple of hours and if no error then memories are fine. If you don't have Memtest86, download it here http://www.memtest86.com/ . If HDD doesn't show up in BIOS and OS then you either have power problem in the rail or PSU. Check PC with different PSU, even if the PSU you have is inferior, you can still check it by not plugging most of components just the drive and memory and see if HDD shows up in the BIOS.
I'm betting on either corrupted OS or damaged/dead memory/ies.

Good Luck.

 

[Asus]

Looking at it from a hardware standpoint the only things that make the drive respond would be power and the data path through the IDE cable and controller through the motherboard.

It could be that there is too much load on the power supply for it to properly initialize the drive when booting up. If you have multiple hard drives I would try disconnecting one to test. Then try a different power supply. I would also try a different IDE or SATA cable. I know worn IDE cables can cause issues and you can find them cheap if you need to buy one.

 

[AJ Rimmer]

THe reason I'm buying the Power supply as the prime suspect is I know it's too weak. It's only 350w.