Thread: Computer wont boot unless reset button is pressed

Can anyone help? I am having trouble trying to boot up my pc from cold, everytime I switch on the screen will not come on untill I press the reset button. And sometimes as many as five time before it will boot.I have run antivirus tools and adaware etc but even if they find anything like spyware etc it makes no difference to the booting process Helpppppppp!! Just a thought I changed the motherboard some time ago,and it has been like this since.Please dont say change the wires round on the board as I have also tried that too.

Hi,

I would say you have a hardware problem, i have had this problem a couple of times once was the PSU and once was the motherboard.
1.I would check you PSU is has enough power for your new motherboard
2.You could try removing the motherboard from the case, and booting it up from outside the case if your confident enought to do that sort of thing, see if that gives you the same problem

thanks

Psu? not sure what you mean by this.Could you explain? I'm a novice in this but willing to learn.

Sorry, PSU is Power Supply Unit, your computer has a PSU in it with a Watt rating (normally you can see your PSU Watt rating by a sticker on the unit), this can be 300W , 400W etc,

if you have upgraded your motherboard it may need a more powerful PSU, it should say in the motherboard manual, or if your not sure let me know the make and model motherboard and i will check for you.

thanks

Hi again, my pc has a 300w psu supply. Pentium3 with AMD k47 athlone 1200kw 256 mb ram, running on win me.
Motherboard Name PCChips M810LR (2 PCI, 1 AGP, 1 AMR, 2 SDR DIMM, Audio, Video, LAN) hope this helps.

Hi,
Sorry for the delay, ive been getting some information for you together.
Im pretty sure now its an inadequate PSU causing your problems.

One thing you might try, to determine whether your PSU is just too weak to get everything fired up on boot, is to unplug everything that you don't actually NEED, just to see if it will POST.

That includes the power leads to all of your case fans, and any other drives (CD, CDRW, DVD, Slave HD, and floppy)
( you can leave your 'ribbon cables' hooked up and please, leave your CPU fan running)

Disconnect any USB devices, and run just one stick of memory.
Basically strip it back to the absolute bare essentials...

It takes more power at boot-up because there is an extra load put on the +12v line
(which also supplies your CPU with it's current)
This is because your PSU also has to 'spin-up' ALL of your drives, and fans.
(and THEY ALL use that same +12v line as your CPU).
That's why hitting the reset button usually works... your drives and fans are already spinning.

If doing any, or all, of the above eliminates your problem, then YOU'LL KNOW that it's a PSU issue, and that's a cheap and easy one to solve!
Much cheaper than new memory, mobo, or CPU.

What are the +3.3v, +5.0v, and +12.0v 'A' ratings, from the sticker on the side, (or top), of YOUR PSU?

Hope that all makes sense and not too hard to understand, let me know if you have any questions.

Hi thanks for that, I have done everything you asked to no avail.I would have thought a 300w psu was powerfull enough to start most pcs up,there is nothing on the side of the psu to suggest the dc status 12v or otherwise. incidently when I eventually get it powered up it still is'nt ok, it freezes regularly.Also when the pc is warmed up,it will re-start perfectly without having to use reset.

Are the definatly no +3.3v, +5v, and +12v 'A' ratings on your sticker on the side of YOUR PSU ??? Could you take the PSU out and have a look all over it, as this info would really help.

thanks

Yes I'll have a proper look, and get back on ASAP.

yes will get back to you asap