My PC is acting up again. When i turn it on, it lights up for a second, then turns off again. I've checked the power supply, the cords, and shook the PC up already. Sometimes it turns on for about 10-15 seconds, but it doesn't boot. The monitor just turns black, then back to the "auto test" message.

PS: I sometimes turn my PC off by holding the power button down, maybe it has something to do with it.

Hello Castigador Welcome to PCHF

When you say you've checked the power supply, do you mean you have a power supply tester or you tested it in another computer and it works fine?

Does the power stay on, but it just has no video output after a few seconds?

If it powers off after being on for 10 seconds or so, the only thing that makes sense to me is a faulty power supply. If it was a motherboard issue, it would most likely just not power on at all.

Another thing it might be is a problem with the connection between your heatsink and cpu...but that is very unlikely unless you have done something recently involving your cpu. If you didn't apply enough thermal paste or too much thermal paste, your cpu may be overheating.

If the unit stays powered on, but stops showing video after 10 seconds or so, there may be a variety of reasons for that.

Let me know what's up and we will go from there.

I've tried using my power cord on another computer and it works fine. Also, once I do turn my PC on, the fan at the back starts spinning, lights start blinking, LCD board turns on, but thats it. It won't boot
(no usual booting sounds) , won't start up, and the "orange light" won't blink.

The monitor does respond to the PC, it blinks when I turn the PC on, then goes into standby mode. No video at all.

A few hours ago, I'd turn it on, usual stuffs happen, then it would turn off after a second. Now, it's just on. It's not turning off anymore, but it's not booting. Like I said, the fan/lights/LCD are working, but nothing else. And no, I haven't done anything to my CPU lately.

Thanks.

Hmm...that is odd...

If it powers on, then totally goes off after a second, then I'd say the power supply is bad.

If it powers on and everything stays on, but you get no video, then there is another piece of hardware that is faulty. It is possible you have a bad power supply and also bad piece(s) of other hardware.

My usual process to find a bad piece of hardware that is preventing your computer from booting is to unplug all your hardware one at a time until you see your computer boot up normally. If you get everything out and it is just one stick of ram and onboard video that is running and you still don't boot up, then I'd say the motherboard is bad. This is all again going with the assumption your power supply is good.

If you want to start this process, go in this order. After you unplug each piece of hardware, try booting the computer...

1. Hard drive(s)
2. PCI cards (modem, network card, firewire card, etc.) again, one at a time then boot
3. Video card, if you have onboard video that you can use
4. All but one stick of memory. To be totally thorough, you will need to try each stick of memory by itself one at a time

If you unplug all those items and you STILL don't get video, then your motherboard is bad and it's time to shop for a new one.....or computer

Let me know what happens.