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PC Won't POST, Fans Spin

3K views 3 replies 2 participants last post by  Mr. Freeman 
#1 · (Edited)
Hiya,
Here's what has been happening:
PC won't POST. I can't get to Windows or even the BIOS.
This has been an ongoing, intermittent (on/off) problem which seems to have now become permanent.
There are no beeps when powering on.
I replaced the PSU with a new CoolerMaster one in an effort to resolve the issue. No luck.
I've unplugged almost everything from the motherboard and tried powering on, which includes:
HDD
RAM (2 sticks: 4GB, 2GB)
CD/DVD ROM
Peripherals (including, embarrassingly, the Power button...)
Mobo fan (which is the one that wavers every few minutes)
The only items I did not unplug/disable are the CPU fan and any onboard ones, e.g. integrated graphics.

Some history now:
The PC has been having this problem for some time now, i.e. months. Eventually, it would POST and then go to Windows until Friday. Now, it just sits trying to POST. The motherboard fan will waver from slow to fast every few minutes. (I timed it and the wavering has no exact pattern.)

Side observation:
When removing the 4 gigs of RAM, leaving only the 2 gigs, PC freaked out and turned on and off several times before finally POSTing and going to Windows normally.

Today, I removed the CMOS battery for quite some time, maybe an hour or more. The PC was unplugged when removing it and after so I hit the power button. After popping the battery back in and turning back on, I still get nothing.

Can I turn the PC on with the CMOS battery removed? Do you think it would help at all? Or is this a mobo problem, plain and simple?

Specs:
(As stated only the PSU has been replaced/upgraded.)
HP Pavilion p7-1512
Windows 10
Intel Core i5
6 GB totals of DDR 3 RAM
Intel HD Graphics 2500

For more details, please see this link:
https://support.hp.com/us-en/produc...ries/5330777/model/5351445/document/c03632804
 
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#2 ·
Can I turn the PC on with the CMOS battery removed? Do you think it would help at all?
Yes. Will it help, no.
Most likely a motherboard problem or ram problem. If you have other ram to try, you can install it and see. FWIW that system is now 6yrs old and not really worth putting any money into fixing. If you want to do this as a project, then it would be ok.
 
#3 · (Edited)
It's worth something for sure. I appreciate your honesty and response. I've been coming to the Tech Support Guy forums since... jeez, I think since high school. For some reason though, the other day, when this issue occurred, I posted to two other forums first before finally posting today here. I have yet to receive a response on either of those other forums and yet here I received a response same day and within hours.

That's what I get for "cheating."

Thanks again. I may try a fresh stick of RAM just to satisfy my curiosity.
 
#4 ·
Heya,
I haven't posted because I have yet to be able to acquire free RAM so, before spending money on some ValueRAM only for a test, I wanted to ask a question:
After removing the CMOS battery, I noticed now when I turn on the PC the mobo fan no longer waivers. However insignificant that may seem, does it give any clues into whether this could be exclusively a mobo problem or is there still a chance fresh RAM may rescue the PC from limbo?
I ask because although the rig is old I want to be certain before spending money on a new one and on a SATA adapter to transfer a few files I hadn't backed up before it went kaput.

As always, thank you again for any information given!
 
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