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Troubleshoot

Troubleshoot Building a Computer

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Last Updated: May 10, 2008


Write What You've Tried

As painstaking as it is, write down everything you have tried to solve a problem.  It prevents you from trying the same thing multiple times.  It also provides a more accurate description of what was tried/not tried when seeking help from others.


Assemble the Bare Minimum at First

Assemble the bare minimum to get the computer to boot up.  You’ll have fewer things to blame in case it doesn’t boot up.

  • Case
  • Power supply
  • Motherboard
  • Processor (CPU)
  • CPU heat sink and fan
  • 1 memory stick, not 2
  • 1 hard drive, not 2
  • 1 video card, not 2
  • 1 DVD drive, not 2
  • Power/reset/speaker wires from the case to the motherboard
  • Power wires from the power supply to the fans on the case, processor, and/or chipset
  • Power wires from the power supply to the hard drive, DVD drive
  • Power wires from the power supply to the video card (only if required)
  • Keyboard with purple PS/2 plug

Computer Doesn’t Boot Up

About 95% of the time, it’s a wiring or connection issue.  Something didn’t get plugged in, it didn’t get plugged in all of the way, or it got plugged in the wrong place.  Did the memory stick and video card get inserted all of the way down?


Make sure the speaker that is included as part of the case is wired correctly to the motherboard.  The number of beeps during the first part of the boot up process can pinpoint a problem.  Turn the computer off.  Turn it back on.  If there is a single beep about 10 to 30 seconds after the power was turned on, then the BIOS (controller chip on the motherboard) liked the hardware it saw up to that point.  Multiple beeps means there is something wrong.  Consult the motherboard manual to help decipher the number of beeps.  The problem is most likely fixed by one of the items below.


Check for Power

  • Don’t turn on the power if you’ve dropped a screw and can’t find it.  It might short something out and fry the entire computer.
  • Is there an electrical cord from the electrical outlet on the wall to the power supply?
  • Does the electrical outlet on the wall have power?  Some electrical outlets are connected to a light switch on the wall.
  • If you are plugged into a power strip, is the power strip turned on?
  • Will something else like a fan or lamp work if it’s plugged into the same power outlet?
  • Is the power switched turned on the back of the power supply?  Power supplies have an on/off switch (off = 0, on = 1) and they are shipped in the off (0) position. Turn it on (1).
  • Is the power supply connected to the motherboard (20 or 24 pin connector plus a 4 or 8 pin connector next to the CPU), CD or DVD drive and hard drive?  Some power hungry video cards require a separate power connection.
  • Is the CPU fan plugged into the motherboard?
  • Is the case fan plugged into either the motherboard for power or a separate power connector?
  • Is the chipset fan plugged in (if you have a chipset fan)?  The motherboard ships with the chipset fan connected, but you may have unplugged it.
  • Is the video card fan plugged into the video card?  The card ships with the fan connected, but you may have unplugged it.
  • Does the monitor have power?  Is it turned on?
  • If the motherboard has power, then a small green or amber colored light will turn on.  It’s hard to see where the light is located until it turns on.  It’s camouflaged.
  • When you turn on the computer, does everything else turn on?  Does the power supply fan(s) spin?  Does the case fan(s) spin?  Does the CPU fan spin?  Heat sink fan?  Can you hear the hard drive spin?  Does the light on the CD or DVD drive blink?  If it doesn’t, then that device may have a power issue.

Check for Data Connections

  • Is the monitor plugged into the video card?  Most video cards can connect to two monitors at the same time.  It doesn’t matter which connector you use.  It can either be a blue 15 pin plug (VGA) or a white plug with 25 to 30 pins (DVI).  If you don’t see anything on the screen, try plugging the monitor cable into the other VGA or DVI connector on the video card.
  • Is the keyboard plugged into the PS/2 slot (round and purple) or USB port?  Use the USB ports on the back of the computer (USB ports attached to the motherboard) since the USB ports on the front of the case require you to wire them to the motherboard, which may not have been done correctly.
  • Is the mouse plugged into the PS/2 slot (round and green) or USB port?  Use the USB ports on the back of the computer (USB ports attached to the motherboard) since the USB ports on the front of the case require you to wire them to the motherboard, which may not have been done correctly.
  • Is the memory stick inserted all of the way?  Do the two side clamps close all of the way to hold the memory stick in place?
  • Is the video card inserted all of the way?  Does the clamp on the motherboard close all of the way to hold the card in place?  Are the pins on the video card hidden or 80-100% hidden inside the motherboard connector?
  • Is the hard drive data cable connected to the motherboard and hard drive?  The cable is an 80 wire IDE ribbon cable (flat) or red 4 wire SATA cable.
  • Is the CD or DVD drive cable connected to the motherboard and CD or DVD drive?  The cable is an 40 wire IDE ribbon cable (flat) or red 4 wire SATA cable.
  • For IDE (not SATA), hard drives require 80 wire cables and CD/DVD drives require 40 wire cables.

Check for Settings

  • The jumper on the CD or DVD drive should be set to master, not slave.
  • The IDE hard drive should be set to master or single drive, not slave.
  • SATA hard drives do not have a master/slave jumper.
  • IDE hard drives need to be plugged into the IDE channel 0 plug on the motherboard.
  • IDE CD or DVD drives need to be plugged into the IDE channel 1 plug on the motherboard.  If you have only SATA hard drives, then plug the CD or DVD drives into IDE channel 0 instead.  You are supposed to use channel 0 first before using channel 1.
  • Is the SATA hard drive cable plugged into the SATA1 plug rather than the SATA2, SATA3 or SATA4 plug?
  • Are the power/reset/speaker wires from the case to the motherboard attached to the correct pins?  Are the black and red wires matched to the correct pins?

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