What To Do When . . .Your PC Won’t Start

We build our lives on expectations. When we flip on a light switch, we expect the room to get bright. When we turn the key in the ignition, we expect the motor will roar to life. When we press the power button on a computer, we expect that the operating system will appear on-screen. And when the expected does not happen, we . . . well, some of us freeze, some of us panic, and some of us gather our wits and prepare to fix the problem. The first step in restoring an expectation is to figure out specifically what went wrong. It’s not enough to say the lights won’t work or the car won’t start or the computer is on the blink. We have to determine whether a light bulb has burned out or a fuse is blown, whether we’re out of gas or the battery is dead, whether a cord is unplugged or the hard drive has crashed. Fortunately, making this kind of determination is rather simple, even when it involves a PC. Finding the specific cause of a failed boot involves some detective work. Take note of everything that happens during the failed boot from the moment you press the power button to the moment the boot routine grinds to a sudden halt. Write these details, including the full text of any error messages you see, on a piece of paper so that you can refer to them later.

No Power At All

As grave as this may seem at first blush, a computer that refuses to start isn’t usually all that serious. Often times, something outside the computer itself is to blame for a powerless computer. Power cord. A loose power cord is usually the problem that prevents your computer from starting. Check each end of the cord to make sure it’s firmly in place. Also be sure to check the cables that run to your monitor. Power supply switch. See if your computer’s power supply has an on/off switch that lets you kill power to the PC without removing the cable. This button, located on the back of your computer, can get accidentally bumped. Surge protectors, outlets, and fuses. Make sure the surge protector is firmly plugged into the wall outlet and that the power button on the surge protector is in the on position. If that checks out, see if the devices plugged into other outlets on the power strip are functioning. If not, the surge protector might be to blame. Another likely culprit is a faulty wall outlet. Plug your computer directly into the outlet, sans surge protector. Ensure that the GFCI (ground fault circuit interrupter) hasn’t been tripped. If your PC still won’t turn on, plug something else, such as a lamp, into the socket to see if it works. Finally, check your fuse box or circuit breaker to make sure there isn’t a blown fuse or tripped circuit. There are also a number of factors inside the computer that could prevent it from starting. Motherboards and power supplies. Most motherboards have a tiny light on them that lights up when the power supply is connected, even if the PC is off. If this LED (light-emitting diode) is lit, your PC is getting power, and your problem lies elsewhere. Power supplies can sometimes go bad, and if you’ve followed our troubleshooting steps to this point, you may have a dead PSU (power supply unit). To figure out whether this is the case, use a power supply tester. Follow the manufacturer’s instructions to check the well-being of your PSU. Power button cables. If you’ve recently
performed any repairs to your system, it’s quite possible that you accidentally pulled the power button cable free from the motherboard. If you spot an unplugged cable, check your motherboard for labels that indicate the prongs that support the power switch. In the event there are no such labels, check your motherboard’s users manual (which are usually
available online).


Error Messages Prior
To Windows Dealing with a PC that seems to be starting up but stops and coughs up an error message before it can load Windows is one of the more frustrating situations a computer user can experience. Fortunately, these messages do have a rhyme and reason. Often (but not always), they indicate a minor problem. Easy fixes. If an error message offers Last Known Good Configuration or Safe Mode, the error has something to do with Windows’ startup. Selecting the former option can solve a world of unknown ills. The latter is a good choice if you’ve recently added new hardware. Make sure there isn’t any removable media, including floppy diskettes, CDs, and thumb drives, in any drive. If you see an error message regarding keyboards, it’s most likely the cable has come loose. Barring that, make sure none of the keys are stuck and that all of the pins in the connectors are straight. If it’s still malfunctioning, try a new keyboard most models are quite inexpensive. Memory and parity errors. These error messages indicate problems with your PC’s memory modules. Remove memory modules and carefully reseat them in another slot. If the computer restarts properly, the slot is likely to blame; if it doesn’t, it’s likely the memory itself is the problem. Unexpected Interrupt In Protected Mode. This is indicative of an incompatible change to your BIOS (Basic Input/Output System). Enter your BIOS setup menu and look for an option to reset the BIOS to its defaults. NTLDR missing. NTLDR (think NT Loader) is the first file that executes during the boot process; it can get moved, accidentally deleted, or corrupted. Restore NTLDR from the Windows XP Setup CD via the Recovery Console. At the command prompt, type cd .. and press ENTER. Enter the letter of your CD-ROM drive (probably D:, unless you have multiple drives) and press ENTER. Type cd i386 and press ENTER. Type copy ntldr c: and press ENTER. Type copy ntdetect.com c: and press ENTER. (Ntdetect.com is another boot file that, when missing, can generate the NTLDR error.) After the copy process completes, type Exit and press ENTER. Your computer will restart.


A Beeping Computer
Should something go wrong during the boot process that prevents the computer from even sending data to the monitor or starting the computer, you need some way to identify the problem. When something goes wrong that causes the BIOS to be unable to start the computer properly, it uses specific patterns of beeps to give you clues to what the underlying problem is. New hardware. It’s easy to accidentally bump something while working inside a computer. Retrace your steps and ensure everything is firmly in place. Reboot your computer. If the beeping continues, remove the new hardware and see if the beeping goes away. Beep codes. There aren’t any standard beep patterns. To make sense of the beeps, you first need to identify your BIOS. The documentation for your motherboard likely contains this information. With this data in hand, search online for the meanings behind the beeps. Many sites offer such information. Defective components. If your problem persists, it’s time to look at replacing the troublesome component. If your beep codes indicate that the RAM is failing, you might need to first figure out which module in particular is the problem, because most computers have more than one memory module installed. Depending on how old the computer is, you should be able to take out the memory modules one at a time and reboot the computer to see if the problem goes away; doing so will identify the problematic stick of RAM. If your video card is the problem, swap it out with a new one and see if the problem continues. Make sure that the video card you choose to troubleshoot or replace yours with is compatible with your motherboard and your operating system otherwise, you will only create new problems. For troubleshooting purposes, it is helpful to have another computer you can borrow parts from. It is best to work through the troubleshooting and be fairly confident of your diagnosis before you run down to the local computer retailer and start buying replacements. If the new parts don’t fix the problem, you may be stuck with parts you can’t return.


Error Messages After Windows Starts
When Windows launches but won’t go any further without locking up or spewing forth error messages, check out the following options. Windows utilities. Repeatedly press F8 (check your PC’s documentation for another option if this key doesn’t work) during startup to launch the Windows Advanced Options menu. Select Enable Boot Logging. When Windows starts, go to C:\WINDOWS, open Ntbtlog.txt, and browse for error messages. Work from Safe Mode to repair any errors you find. Safe Mode. Select Safe Mode from the Windows Advanced Options menu. Safe Mode loads Windows with a minimal set of drives and processes for more effective troubleshooting. Perform some basic system maintenance, such as an antivirus scan and Chkdsk. Reboot your computer. If this fails to solve the problem, go back to Safe Mode and use Add/Remove Programs to uninstall anything you recently added to your system. Also try a System Restore, which will roll the OS (operating system) back to its state at an earlier date. Go to Start, All Programs, and Accessories. Select System Restore from the System tools submenu and follow the prompts. Last Known Good Configuration. If you can’t perform a System Restore from Safe Mode, select Last Known Good Configuration from the Advanced Options menu. Last Known Good Configuration rolls back your Registry and device drivers to the last setting under which your computer shut down successfully. Windows CD. Use your Windows installation disc or system recovery CD. Insert the disc and boot up. You need to press any key in order to boot from the disc. If not, you’ll have to enter the BIOS and set your optical drive as the primary boot option. After setting the optical drive as the primary boot drive, restart your system and try booting into Windows. There’s a difference between a true Windows OS disc and the image restoration discs many manufacturers ship with PCs. If you only have the latter, the following tips may not work. Windows’ repair option attempts to re-create the Registry and restore settings without removing or altering user data. When a repair is available and works as planned, it’s a great way to get a troubled system running again without starting from scratch.Boot into your Windows installation disc or system recovery CD. When prompted to choose between setting up Windows, accessing the Recovery Console, or quitting Setup, press ENTER to enter Windows Setup. Press F8 to accept Microsoft’s license agreements and then press R to Repair the selected Windows installation when prompted.Recovery console. If you have any way to back up your data, do so. Boot from your Windows installation CD (a manufacturer’s restoration CD won’t work). Press R from the Welcome screen. Select your Windows installation if prompted and enter your administrator password.At the command line, delete your existing Registry files by typing delete c:\windows\system32\config\system. Repeat four times, substituting software, sam, security, and default for system, each in turn. Now copy pristine versions of those files by entering copy c:\windows\repair\system c:\windows\system32\config\system. Repeat four times replacing system in both portions of the command with the words software, sam, security, and default. Type exit, press ENTER, and reboot.


A Continually Restarting PC
The continuous reboot problem can have a variety of causes, including faulty or unseated memory modules; out-of-date, corrupt, or missing drivers; software conflicts; overheating components; virus or malware; bad software; or bad hardware. Hardware. Your computer may immediately fail to boot if one of your memory modules is unseated. The memory modules are long, narrow sticks that attach to the motherboard located near the processor and have clips at either end. If one or both of the clips is not closed or laying flat against the edges of the module, press down on the edge of the nearest to the clip. You may have to remove the memory module and reseat it. Restart the computer. Your computer may also immediately reboot if another piece of hardware fails, has a loose connection, or becomes disconnected. Check that power plugs from your power supply are connected to the appropriate components and that those connections are secure. Listen for your hard drive to start spinning. If it is silent, then it may be faulty or disconnected from the motherboard. Also, be sure the fans on your motherboard or graphics card start spinning. If any component seems unresponsive, replace it.

BIOS. If the settings in the BIOS have changed or become unstable, you may need to reset the settings to get your system to boot again. Restart your computer and access the BIOS setup utility. When you have access to the BIOS setup utility, you should see options to Load Defaults, Load Optimized Defaults, Load Fail-Safe Defaults, or something similar. First, try loading the Optimized Defaults. If your computer still fails, re-enter the BIOS and load the Fail-Safe Defaults. If you don’t have a choice, simply load the default settings as described in your computer or motherboard manual. Confirm your choice and allow the system to reboot. You may have to select the Save And Exit option to restart your system. Sometimes, your computer won’t even let you access the BIOS. In these instances, you may have to reset the BIOS using a more hands-on approach The CMOS (complementary metal-oxide semiconductor) memory retains your computer’s BIOS settings but can be reset by moving a jumper on a three-pin header on the motherboard and then moving it back to its original position after a short wait. You’ll have to consult your computer or motherboard manual for specific instructions on how to perform this operation. Restart the computer. Restarting sans error message. If your system is infected with a virus or malware or experiencing system-crippling errors, you may never see error messages that can provide clues as to why your computer continuously reboots. Windows is set to reboot when it encounters a critical error. Disabling this can let you view error messages and on-screen prompts. To change the setting in WinXP, boot into Safe Mode and access the Control Panel. If you’re using Win2000/XP with the Control Panel displayed in Classic View, simply double-click the System icon. If you’re a WinXP user viewing the Control Panel in Category View, click Performance And Maintenance and click System from the bottom of the dialog box. Click the Advanced tab and then click the Settings button from the Startup And Recovery section of the System Properties dialog box. Next, deselect the checkbox in front of Automatically Restart in the System Failure portion of the dialog box. Click OK and click OK again. Close the Control Panel and restart the computer. Now, when your system encounters an error, it will remain on-screen.


The Path To PC Well-being
Whatever the circumstances surrounding a particular boot failure, the important thing is to address the issue immediately. Follow the steps we’ve described here, refer to the product documentation that came with your computer, and contact the computer manufacturer’s support resources for step-by-step guidance in resolving the problem. And take heart: You will get your PC up and running again.