PC not starting after cleaning

I decided to do the annual physical cleanup of my PC today. Got a bit more zealous than usual and so removed HSF and Graphic card and cleaned them properly. I also removed the CMOS battery (my PC wasn't keeping any date/time info b/w restarts) and reinserted it properly.

Now after assembling it back, all components seem to be receiving power (all fans including HSF and Graphic card are running) but the PC is not starting up. The is no beep at all when the system is started and no display comes on. I've already checked the RAM using 3 individual sticks and still the problem persists. Also, the graphic card seems fine too since there is no display from the IGP either. Have I done something to the processor? The TIM seemed fine, perhaps just slightly less than it originally was. Please help.

B

Have you tried resitting the sata cables to the HDD or use a new sata cable if you have one or exchange the sata cable from your ODD. I had the same problem and this fixed the issue.
also check for the 24 motherboard power connector and the cpu connector try resitting them aswell.

If all connections are correct, leave the battery in mobo and short the required contacts to reset bios
Next remove all ram sticks
Blow air over the ram sockets or holders
Clean the gold plated contacts of ram with eraser and put one ram stick in and try to boot

M

if there's no display after the process described above, you may have fixed the Graphics Cable "not so perfect"

@ OP - post your pc config - make sure any pins of cpu or mobos cpu socket is not broken or bent .. re-mount the the cpu and if your mobo has omboard graphic port try using that with only 1 stick of ram without connecting hdd/odd.

btw, when you removed the cpu hsf and claned it did you apply a fresh layer of good TiM ?

Thanks for the replies. The vga cable is all right since monitor stops showing no input after its connected to pc. Also, even without an HDD, the pc should at least get to bios. I'll try blowing air and cleaning the ram sockets. As for the processor, I just cleaned the hsf and didn't touch the TIM. A little part of it may have gotten removed but its mostly there. I'm not sure about reseating the proccessor since i didn't touch it in the first place. And I've already shorted the cmos pins. My config is Athlon ii x4 635, gigabyte 880gm ud2h, 2*2 gb + 1*4 gb ddr3 1333mhz.

Reapply Tim. That will solve your problem mostly

rijinpk1 said:
Reapply Tim. That will solve your problem mostly

well the pc should get atleast to bios, right...it wont get so hot right after bootup and shutdown due to thermal protection

M

^^ agreed.
@OP : try the methods and reply here asap.

kARTechnology said:
well the pc should get atleast to bios, right...it wont get so hot right after bootup and shutdown due to thermal protection

which system board do you have. most boards have a way of telling a no post issue with the help of beeps. Ideally your PC should beep if the ram sticks are not plugged in at all. With no ram the unit will beep, provided you have connected the tiny system beeper/speaker.

If all is well, you rPC will beep or at least give an LED flsah code on the keyboard. If not then you have a lemon board in your PC.

B

well I would really recommend cleaning the ram and graphic card pins with an eraser and then cleaning the ram and the graphic card slots....also what type of display connector are you using if it's a VGA try checking the pins and make sure they are not bent....

bludash said:
well I would really recommend cleaning the ram and graphic card pins with an eraser and then cleaning the ram and the graphic card slots....also what type of display connector are you using if it's a VGA try checking the pins and make sure they are not bent....

won't it make a short "beep" if it boots successfully.

M

^^ exactly..
@OP : post any progress buddy.

B

kARTechnology said:
won't it make a short "beep" if it boots successfully.

well yes it should but OP says there is no beep sound heard
@OP check if the internal speaker connection is alright.

connections are loose and chek if cpu fan is fitted perfectly..

M

the computer boots to atleast the bios , even without CPU Fan, Afaik (I think, this is already mentioned)

B

@OP please post your progress if any....

bludash said:
@OP please post your progress if any....

everybody here seems to be more worried than the OP

M

^^ bcuz he hasn't replied since time..

B

everybody here seems to be more worried than the OP

^^ bcuz he hasn't replied since time..

this

M

^^seeing too many "this"'s on TDF , lately..

Thanks for all the replies people. My PC is back up and running. I reseated the ram and reattached all the cables on the motherboard but it didn't work. As it turns out the connector plug of the 4+4 pin connector had been loosened (probably happened it during the cleaning). So I tightened it and reconnected it and it worked. Thanks for the help everyone.

EDIT : Overclocked base clock from 200 to 215 with a little voltage bump

(too bad when the PC was new it used to go to 219) Will try and take it higher tomorrow

B

Allz well that ends well.... :toast:

SlashDK said:
Thanks for all the replies people. My PC is back up and running. I reseated the ram and reattached all the cables on the motherboard but it didn't work. I just happened to think of replacing the power cable to the motherboard from the psu and so used another one. As it turns out, it worked. The connector plug of the previous cable must have loosened from the cable a bit or something (probably damaged it during the cleaning). Thanks for the help everyone.

EDIT : Overclocked base clock from 200 to 215 with a little voltage bump (too bad when the PC was new it used to go to 219) Will try and take it higher tomorrow

this could be due to psu is getting weaker and how did you exactly changed the psu cable that comes from the PSU and connects with the mobo ( 4 pin / 8 pin EPS or 24 pn power cable ) - I don't think they can be easily changed or you changed the psus AC power cord ?

BTW, which PSU do you have ( brand and model ) ?

Sorry I wasn't able to make myself clear, probably due to the time at which I posted the previous reply. I tightened the plugs of the 4+4 cable and so got the system running and OCed it (thats the edit). PSU is CM GX 550.

Previous reply edited to make more sense

M

@topgear : no. he said :

I just happened to think of replacing the power cable to the motherboard from the psu and so used another one.

not the AC cord.

same question bumped in my mind too, though saw your's posted below. :wink:

^^ asked about every possible thing just to be sure so this can help anyone else having same issue now or in the future.

@ SlashDK - so you used the pci-e 6+2 pin power connector to power up the mobo instead of 8 pin EPS connector ( this mainly powers up the cpu ) .. never heard of anyone doing this as it's not recommended or a very safe method .... anyway, your psu is a decent one though.

topgear said:
^^ asked about every possible thing just to be sure so this can help anyone else having same issue now or in the future.

@ SlashDK - so you used the pci-e 6+2 pin power connector to power up the mobo instead of 8 pin EPS connector ( this mainly powers up the cpu ) .. never heard of anyone doing this as it's not recommended or a very safe method .... anyway, your psu is a decent one though.

Delete

As I said, I didn't boot the PC, just got the beep (so got to know power cable was at fault). Oh and removed that from previous posts and suggest you do too like like kARTechnology just said, we don't want people trying this out.

I think there's no need for deleting the method you've used .. it worked for you and may work for someone else and deleting a method for being it only unsafe can't be an excuse and that's why we get to see lots of rooting, oc, sub zero cooling and custom mod like stuff - all of them are unsafe generally but that does mot mean they should not be even published - if anyone wants to try these at their own risks there's plenty to learn from such things and congrats to you for trying some thing unconventional ;-)

topgear said:
I think there's no need for deleting the method you've used .. it worked for you and may work for someone else and deleting a method for being it only unsafe can't be an excuse and that's why we get to see lots of rooting, oc, sub zero cooling and custom mod like stuff - all of them are unsafe generally but that does mot mean they should not be even published - if anyone wants to try these at their own risks there's plenty to learn from such things and congrats to you for trying some thing unconventional

SlashDK said:
As I said, I didn't boot the PC, just got the beep (so got to know power cable was at fault). Oh and removed that from previous posts and suggest you do too like like kARTechnology just said, we don't want people trying this out.

I didn't meant to say delete like that
But I posted in wrong thread so I Edited to " delete"