Once installed, a motherboard is difficult to gain access to. There are cables, drives, fans, memory and other components that make troubleshooting the switch difficult. While you can keep most of these components in, we recommend at least removing any IDE cables that make it difficult to see.

The image above shows the lower right section of the motherboard. The grouping of pins are where the case interfaces with the motherboard. There will normally either be one solid grouping of wires, which is common in major brand PCs. But in custom computers you will usually see numerous wires, some labled HDD LED, Reset SW, Speakers, PW Switch, etc… Refer to your motherboard manual when connecting these.

We have removed all of the wires to demonstrate how to jump the pins that start the PC. Look for the leads that indicate PW Switch or Power SW and remove them. This will expose two pins. Touch the tip of a flathead screwdriver to these exposed pins and you will normally be able to start the computer.

If the power supply or motherboard is bad, the PC will not start. This technique is often only used when troubleshooting a case switch or benchtesting a computer that does not have a case.

Be sure to excercise extreme caution when poking around inside of a PC with the power connected.

Is the Drive a New Install?

If the drive is new, then we need to take a step back to make sure we’ve installed it properly. The drive will ship wil shorter screws than some of the other components for the PC because the the CD or DVD drive opens and could possible get stuck if improper mounting screws are used. Also, be sure to set the jumpers correctly in the back. If this is the primary device on the IDE cable, be sure to set the jumper at the rear of the drive to Master. If it’s not, be sure to use the Slave jumper position or Cable Select if that is the configuration the first drive is using. Lastly, swap power leads. Disconnect the molex power connector and switch it with another. Although it’s not typical, individual power leads can fail.

Does The Drive Show Up In The BIOS?

Now, assuming we have the IDE cable and power cable correctly attached, let’s enter the BIOS to make sure the device is registering. Depending pn your system, you will need to tap one of the following keys to enter the BIOS setup screen: ESC, F1, F2, F10 or Delete. Once in the BIOS, look for the drive under the Primary IDE or Secondary IDE (wherever you have installed it). If the device isn’t reporting, then we still have a problem with the installation.

Does The Drive Show Up in Windows?

If the drive doesn’t show up in Windows, you’ll need to reinstall the driver. We recommend getting the latest driver version from the manufacturer’s website, but if you must, you can resort to the CD that shipped with the drive. If the drive does not show up in Windows, or if it once did and now no longer doean’t, you may need to reinstall Windows to get it to appear again.

Does The Drive Read A Disk?

If the drive reports correctly in the BIOS, we next need to determin if the drive can read a disk. Put a music CD in the drive (or a DVD if a DVD is the drive in question). Navigate to My Computer and look under the drive letter of the new drive. Can you double click and view the contents? If so, then it can read. If not, examine the disk and make sure there are no scratches or other debris on the disk. If the drive does not read the disk, you may want to invest in a drive cleaner. You can get these at any local computer store. It’s also quite possible the drive’s read lens is mis-aligned and nothing can correct this. If it’s a new drive, return it.

The Drive Reads But Does Not Write

If the drive reads but does not write, you can always try the latest driver. Corrupt driver issues are often the cause of this type of problem. If the drive still does not write, try a different type of disk from a different manufacturer. Some CD and DVD drives are picky about their media. You can also try lowering the recording speed of the drive; this is done in the application software, normally under “options” or “preferences.” Lastly, use a drive cleaner in hopes of clearing the write lens of debris.

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Check The Monitor First

Is the monitor getting any power? The fist thing we’ll check is the LED light on the front of the monitor. It changes color due to the current start of the PC. If the monitor is getting power and if the monitor is connect to a working PC, then the light should be “green.” If the monitor is getting power but not receiving a signal from the PC but is still getting power, then the light will be “amber.” An amber colored light probably indicates a problem with the computer itself. No light means the monitor isn’t getting power and the power transformer on LCD monitors should be tested and replaced. CRT monitors (Monitors more resembling TVs) are ofter less expensive to replace than to service.

Check the brightness and contrast witht the knobs on the front panel. Hey, it happens. Especially if you have kids. If the light on the monitor is green, try adjusting these setting before moving onto anything else.

Next, inspect all of the cables. Start with the power cable and move upward toward the transformer on an LCD flat panel. Make sure the transformer and cable going from the ransformer to the PC are secure. Next, check the video cable going to the PC.

Hear Any Beeps?

If the problem resides within the PC itself, hopefully the computer will be producing a beep code. A BIOS beep code can be looked up and will quickly pinpoint the problem area on the PC. The code may reveal a video card issue, memory or even CPU problems. If your computer is issuing a beep code, please be sure to check our BIOS beep code chart.

If the system boots to the BIOS screen then disappears when loading Windows, you may have a bad driver installed. A driver is a piece of software that tells the hardware how to behave. If a bad video driver loads when Windows boots, then we can try reinstalling a driver from Safe Mode. Tap the F8 key when booting to bring up the boot options screen. Choose Safe Mode. If you are able to see the Windows environment, you will be able to reinstall the driver CD that came with the video card. If you do not have a driver CD, try to determine what video card you have in the system and visit the manufacturer’s website. Download the driver and put it on CD.

Is the Hard Drive Detected?

If this is a new installation of a hard drive, be sure to check the power and jumpers setting first. If the hard drive is not showing up, you first need to confirm that it is getting power and that the Master / Slave / or Cable Select jumpers are set properly. If you are using a Serial ATA drive, jumper setting are not necessary.

Check the BIOS. You will need to tap a certain key to enter the BIOS settings. This is normally either the ESC, F1, F2, F10 or Delete key and is usually indicated on the very first screen when booting the PC. Once in the BIOS make sure the drive shows up in the appropriate place. If this is the Primary drive, is should show up under the Primary Master position. If it does not, then it could be connected to the motherboard incorrectly or the jumpers may be wrong. Also, while in the BIOS, make sure it is set to Auto Detect the drive.

Check the IDE Cable

If you’re using an IDE drive, it can be possible to connect the ribbon cable incorrectly. The ribbon cable will usually have a red or dotted line down one side. This line indicates Pin 1 on the cable. One the hard drive end, this line needs to be closest to the Hard Drive’s power connector. On the motherboard side, this line needs to be at Pin 1 on the motherboard (you may need to look close, but it should be printed on the motherboard).

Is the Drive Making Noise?

A defective drive will often produce unusual clicking or scraping sounds. There are a lot of moving parts inside a hard drive, so if the read / write head, platters, spindle or actuator arm becomes defective it can produce noise shortly before complete failure.

Does the Hard Drive Spin Up?

If the hard drive is not spinning, then it may not be getting power. You may need to listen real close to hear it spin, or touch the side with your finger to feel any vibration. If the drive is not spinning, test the power dongle with a multimeter, or try a different power connector. A power supply will ofter have severl molex connectors not being used. If the hard drive still does not spin up, the drive may be dead.

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To begin, is the power supply working? Just because the computer isn’t powering up, doesn’t mean the power supply isn’t doing its job. Is the fan on the back spinning?

When troubleshooting power supply issues, you first make sure you have the correct voltage set on the rear of the unit. You should see a red switch that can be set to 115V or 230V. Depending on the country you live, this switch will need to be set appropriately. For instance, the Unites States uses 115V. Secondly, make sure you are not plugging into a power strip. Power strips can fail, so be sure to try plugging the power cable directly into a working, properly grounded wall outlet.

If you’ve been working inside the case, check the thin power wires running from the front of the case to the motherboard. These generally plug into the motherboard at the lower right of the motherboard and may be labeled something like “power sw” or “pw switch.” If this wire has popped off, the PSU will not work. To test the switch, you can remove the “power sw” wire and short the pins by touching a flathead screwdrive to the two pins. If the switch is bad, the computer should power up right away. There is also the main motherboard connector, which is the long 20 pin connector. Make sure this is properly secured. Some graphics cards or motherboards also require an addition 4-pin wire connector. If you motherboard requires it, be sure this is plugged in to the appropriate socket.

Use a multi-meter or stand alone power supply tester to check the PSU. To test with a multi-meter, make sure the power supply is plugged in to a power source and that the 20-pin connector is plugged into the motherboard. It’s best if you lay the case on it’s side so you can look directly down on the motherboard. Next, you’ll jam the black lead down into any of the black (ground) wires. Then you can probe each colored wire for the appropriate voltage. If voltage is seriously out of range or does not exist, then the power supply is bad. The colored wires should have the following voltages:

An alternative to the multi-meter is the stand-alone power supply tester. This small device plugs directly into the 20-pin connector of the power supply. It will immediately tell you if the power supply is bad. These are cheap and easy to use.

If you are not getting power, or if your system randomly reboots or develops bizarre symptoms that you cannot nail down, consider swapping in a new power supply. Spending too much time trying to diagnose a flaky power supply could become expensive, as unexpected dip in power can damage other computer parts, such as the hard drive.

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