ASUS desktop not starting

[wolfsmane]

Hello,

I hope this is the correct forum to post this in.

I have a ASUS Essentio CG5270-BP003 Core 2 Quad Q8300 2.5GHz 8GB 750GB DVD±RW DL Vista Home Premium

This computer is my wifes, barely used. I run regular AV checks as well as Malwarebytes, to keep everything in check.

About a month ago or so, the computer did not load the OS when started. Everything appeared to come on - PSU, fans, whirring and clicking of harddrive(normal sounds) etc, but it just had a blank screen with the power light blinking(monitor) like it had never been started.
I shut it down, waited for a minute, and tried restarting it. Everything loaded fine, computer ran normal. About a week or so, it did it again, the same as before. Shut it down, restarted, and everything ran fine. Ran AV and malwarebytes, and nothing was found.

The end of last week it did it again, but this time, after it starts up, it will stay running for a few minutes, and then just shut off. Screen goes blank, power light on monitor flickering. Everything as far as OS appears to be loading, I can get online, run programs, etc., then it just shuts down. The only thing i'm noticing between when its working fine and when it's not, all the normal clicks and whiring the harddrive makes as it loads the OS, it starts making those sounds and then just goes quiet, the same as when everything is finally loaded.

I would appreciate any suggestions on where to look for the problem.


Thanks

 

[Rich-M]

Probably dying power supply but it could also be heat. I would remove the side which let's more air in and see if the processor fan is running as it should especially at the time when it shuts down. Hopefully it is tight as possible against the processor but more than likley this is a poor quality power supply, used most often by most mfgrs to keep their costs down.

 

[wolfsmane]

Thanks for the quick reply.

To update, the cover has been off for a couple weeks now, since I first looked at it.

All fans are running. Processor fan comes on at fast speed, then slows down once OS loads...when it was still loading. Seemed to tight against the processor.

Also, everything is seeming to get power, but the unit is not loading OS. What I'm trying to say, when I turn it on right now, fans will come on, harddrive starts to make whirring and clicking sounds like it should, then it just quit making any noise....with all the fans still running, but nothing showing on monitor.

Is there a way to test PSU with multimeter, or would it be quicker to just install this extra PSU I have in my closet?

Again, thanks!

 

[Rich-M]

Install the extra one is the best way however one more thing occurs to me, why not run checkdisk, specifically "chkdsk /r" from a .cmd prompt and then restart to run it first.

 

[wolfsmane]

I will try the checkdisk, but how will I do that if I can't get it to turn on?

In the weird event that it actually turns on this time, which it may, I bring up a
cmd prompt, type in chkdsk /r and then restart? Or do I hit enter after entering the
prompt?


Thanks Rich

 

[Rich-M]

Take the plug out and press the power button more than 4 seconds then let the unit sit for about 1/2 hour and try to start again. If that doesn't work then try another psu. Then run checkdsk /r from a .cmd prompt.

 

[wolfsmane]

I had an extra PSU laying around, so to try and save some time, I swapped it out this morning.

Everything turned on just fine, although there was something wishy-washy with the OS loading properly. I just dropped the Windows disk in, did a system repair, and chose to revert it back to an earlier date.

It has been running, and doing necessary updates all day, so it appears that everything is in good working order now.

I really appreciate all the useful info and help that I received here.

Thanks!

 

[Rich-M]

Great that's the best way.