If your computer doesn’t turn on that is a huge problem. It’s hard to fix something that doesn’t even come on. Customers ask us for an onsite computer repair all the time and it means different things to different people. Not turning on could mean it literally doesn’t turn on AT ALL. I mean no lights, no fans, no beeps, nothing. Not turning on can also mean that I can’t get the operating system (Windows) to fully load. If you are speaking with a technical support representative it is important for you to know as much as possible about what the computer is or is not doing when you need the best on-site computer repair help.
Disclaimer: Before doing any troubleshooting of a computer you must understand that there is risk of electrical shock when the computer is plugged in and for a short time after being unplugged. All internal computer components are subject to static charge damage. Make sure you know how to safely perform any tasks before you attempt them. Do your research!
Basic Checks:
- Is the power cord properly plugged into the outlet?
- Is the outlet powering another device that is also off?
- Is the computer connected to a power strip that has a switch which was flipped to off somehow?
- Is the power cord correctly plugged into the computer itself?
- Does the computer have a power switch that has gotten bumped to the off position?
- Tip: if your entire house has no power I think we found the problem.
If you know you have power to the computer and the computer has no lights, no fans, no sounds when you press the power button (or comes on and quickly goes right back off) then you most likely have a power supply failure. There are times that a motherboard will fail and cause the same symptoms. The only way to know for sure is to swap power supplies and see if that resolves the issue. If the issue persists then you may have a bad motherboard instead.
The computer seems to power on but you can’t get Windows to fully load. This one is always a challenge for you or even one of our outstanding onsite computer repair tulsa technicians. A computer goes through a specific set of items when it turns on and it does each of these things in a specific order. If anything along that list is broken, the computer stops the process of “booting up” and “freezes” at that point. In some cases, it will trigger itself to start over and it will repeat the failure over and over again (a boot loop). It’s important to know at which point the computer stops or freezes. Watch the monitor as it boots. Here are the important things to observe and report to your on-site bile computer repair tulsa technician:
No Video Display
If you think the computer seems to power on but you never actually get anything on the screen:
Basic Checks:
- Is the monitor power cord plugged in at the wall and at the monitor? Check the plug on each end. Many times the plug will be just slightly loose and just needs to be pushed back in fully.
- Does the monitor have any lights on it? Check that power button on the monitor. If you still have absolutely nothing on the screen and no lights you may have a failed monitor.
- Is the video cable securely connected on the monitor end and the computer end?
- Is the monitor set to the right input (like a TV). To check it, press the buttons on the monitor to verify the input matches the type of video cable you are using.
- Did a bear break into your house and relieve himself on the computer?
- Grab another monitor and connect it to the pc. If another monitor has the same problem the issue is with the computer. If you need us to bring a monitor for testing we can provide a on-site computer repair tulsa service call to help you.
Monitor comes on but never shows any content
One thing you may not realize is that the monitor has it’s own simple operating system. The monitor may display some limited things whether or not the computer itself actually works. For example, if it’s an Acer monitor, when it turns on, you’ll see an Acer logo and maybe some information about Energy Star, etc. but those are simply the things the Monitor itself is programmed to show. What you want to know is whether the monitor ever shows any content being sent from the computer. If the computer is a Dell and the monitor is an Asus and you see a Dell logo or Dell related text on the monitor then you know you are at least seeing something from the pc. These are just a few tips we have learned over the years of doing an onsite computer repair tulsa.
There could be a failed component that is preventing your computer from showing any content. If you are adventurous you could open the case and disconnect the hard drive, any optical drives, and remove any add on cards to see if the computer will at least load the boot screen. Do not attempt this if you don’t understand the basic risks of electrical shock and static discharge damage. Remember, you must have power, memory, motherboard, cpu, and video for the computer to at least show you something on the screen. If your computer never shows any content from the pc, then you may have one of the following problems:
- Motherboard is bad
- Video Card is bad
- Gremlins have stolen your computers soul
Monitor comes on, shows some content, but never even begins to load Windows
This issue is usually a hardware issue. The million dollar question is what component is causing it? There are very detailed explanations of the boot process on YouTube and online so I’m just going to approach this from a basic perspective. When you turn on the computer, the motherboard is in control until Windows loads. The motherboard wakes up and does a roll call before sending you to Windows. If any key components aren’t present or don’t work right, then the computer will never even get to Windows. The motherboard looks for a hard drive, memory (Ram), keyboard, mouse, video, etc. If the memory has failed then the boot process will stop there. If the hard drive has failed the boot process will stop there. What a Fireytech technician on an onsite computer repair tulsa would do is to read what happened on the screen before the computer stopped. The wording might not make sense to you but a on-site computer repair tulsa tech will understand the clues the computer is giving based on what it saw before the crime was committed.
Monitor Comes on, Windows screen displays but computer never gets to a log in screen or the desktop
Most everything to this point has been hardware. This is when the question of software versus hardware really comes into play. When a computer gets to the point of loading the Windows screen it usually means all the basic hardware tests passed but there could still be an issue with the memory or hard drive. Fireytech can bring a hard drive or sticks of ram for testing with a on-site computer repair tulsa diagnostic visit.
Memory (Ram):
Sometimes the memory will pass the basic boot test but when Windows tries to load into it, the deeper memory problem will prevent Windows from loading. If your computer has multiple sticks of memory you may be able to reduce them down to one and run a boot test with each stick individually. If it loads Windows with one stick of memory but not with the other then you can feel pretty certain that you have a failed stick of memory.
Hard Drive:
The hard drive can cause similar issues to memory failure. It may pass the basic boot up test but when Windows starts to use it to load it fails to work properly. Since your operating system is on the drive and there is usually only one hard drive in the machine it’s hard to troubleshoot this without performing a re-installation of your operating system. Make sure you have a backup of your important files before performing any operating system installation or re-installation. If you don’t have the resources to make a backup in the computers current state, please contact Fireytech to schedule an onsite computer repair tulsa that is the best quality in Tulsa.
Of course with all of these things, if you ever feel that it is beyond your skill set, feel free to call Fireytech for excellent on-site computer repair service. Fireytech performs computer repairs like these every day all day so we can always help you if you get stuck. We are the best source for onsite computer repair in Tulsa!