# Computer won't start up, clicking sounds?



## Plocknork (Sep 3, 2007)

First off let me say I am absolutely no expert on the insides of computers whatsoever. I'm a fast learner though so lets hope I figure everything out.

While I was on vacation this summer, my mom unplugged y computer beccause it was kind of beeping and stuff and it wouldn't turn off. I got home, plugged it back in and i heard this clicking/beeping sound and the power button was flashing between orange and green really really fast. The fan was still moving, and holding the power button down didn't turn it off. It doesn't start up, doesn't do anything other than what I just said. Screen stays the same as if it were off, though the moniter's button turns green at first then goes to yellow. this computer is a 4-5 year old eMachines computer. eMachines is known for having crappy power supplies is what i've heard, so maybe this is a power problem? I dusted the inside of the computer a bit but didn't get very far at all because the computer duster ran out. I don't know how to tell the info on all the memory, power, ram, whatever. Guess you'll just have to tell me how to. Well that's it.


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## TheMatt (May 9, 2006)

Hi, and welcome to TSF! :wave:

First, to start unplug all hard drives and optical drives from the motherboard. Also, unplug their power connectors. Then see if the same thing happens.


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## speedster123 (Oct 18, 2006)

Do as Matt suggests and follow through with your cleanup, even if you need to purchase another can or two of canned air.
Can you achieve a bios screen/menu?


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## Plocknork (Sep 3, 2007)

I bought more computer duster and cleaned the rest of it. No, I cannot get anything up at all, it's like it's still off except for the unusual sounds and flashing of the power button. I unplugged everything and then tried turning it on. It turned on for maybe 2 seconds then turned off. nothing.


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## TheMatt (May 9, 2006)

Make sure your motherboard speaker is connected and facing the right way. The speaker is polarized, so if it is plugged in but you hear no beeps, turn the connector around and listen again.


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## Plocknork (Sep 3, 2007)

I'm not sure where the motherboard speaker is but i went and made sure everything was plugged in and tried plugging the computer in again. This time it did the same thing as the first time except no sound and the power button was green and sort of flickering. fans are working.


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## TheMatt (May 9, 2006)

Does the BIOS detect the hard disk?


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## smathis1962 (Oct 23, 2007)

okay the clicking could be hard drive problems. If you if the bios will load upppp but then nothing else i would say thats it.
To find your where the casespeake plugs into your board go to the manufacturer site and find out the brand and model of motherboard, thengo to the mainboard manfacturer site and download the manual. It should show you where the casespeaker plugs in. 
also make sure memory sticks and video card are securely in their slots


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## Plocknork (Sep 3, 2007)

I know it's been awhile since I last responded to anything on here, but I got a little more educated with computer hardware and stuff recently and one of my computer tech friends told me that it sounded like a power supply problem. So I changed the power supply but it's doing the same thing. and the bios won't come up. nothing appears ont he moniter. When I say nothing, I mean it's as blank as if it were turned off.


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## jscarey (Sep 6, 2007)

Open the case and remove the hard drive from the rack but keep it connected or reconnect it once removed; usually you have adequate length to the ribbon and power cables to lay it along side the opened computer case. Power the computer up and get up close and personal with the drive to determine if the clicks are coming from it; sometimes if you just rest your fingers on the top of the drive (not the side with the electronic circuit board), you may even feel the tapping if it is the drive making the noise. If it is the drive, buy a new one--make sure you're getting an IDE (or EIDE or PATA) if you have an older computer with the wide ribbon cable or a SATA if you have a more recent computer and you don't have those wide ribbon cables. Play with the old drive if you like; I always disassemble them for the magnets and shiny discs.

If it is not the drive making the clicking, find an adventuresome friend with a computer and put the drive in their computer temporarily as the secondary or slave drive. You can use My Computer (Windows Explorer) to look over the contents and run diagnostics on it. It is unlikely, but it might need to have the operating system (O/S) and software reinstalled; were this the case, you could still get into BIOS on startup before the hard drive is accessed, though.

Just for grins, make sure the RAM is seated correctly in the slots. Snap them out and reseat them or even switch positions if there are two of them. You might even remove one stick at a time and try to fire up the box to see if any signs of life show. But, make sure they are as they should be in place. If you have a local shop, see if they will test the RAM for you. I always give the RAM modules the big eye and a good whiff for any fried chips (they will _not _smell of russet potatoes and vegetable oil).

Now, should the drive and memory check out okay, my guess would be a problem with the motherboard (MB) since you say you've already replaced the power supply (remembering to connect both the big 20-pin connector and the correct little 4-pin connector properly--or you might have just one big 24-pin connector). I have had instances where nothing would stir when the power was turned on for a computer with a bad MB and instances where the fans would whir, but either way the MB was toast.

If you're up for a bit of a challenge, search Fry's or Micro Center for a MB/processor/memory package and replace the bad MB. If you're not up to it or don't want to pay someone to do it for you, get an inexpensive barebones box (no peripherals and no operating system and usually no drives) and install your hard drive and optical drives and any cards you might have installed in the recently deceased box. Read the manual carefully and remember the need for new drivers to cover the MB.


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## magnethead (Mar 18, 2006)

if you have everything unhooked (all drives have power unhooked and the signal cables are unhooked from mobo), does it still click? 

unplug the power supply 20 or 24 pin from the motherboard, and using a piece of conductive material (but don't be touching it directly- you want to be insulated form it), short the green wire to any black wire. don't confuse purple and black or anythign like that. make sure the psu is completely unplugged from everything except like a fan or something so it has a load. That will tell you if the psu is making noise or anything of the sort.


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## Plocknork (Sep 3, 2007)

okay, so shortly after I posted my last message, I went and checked out my computer some more and figured the clicking sound must have been a physical sound of some sort. So I knew it had to be a fan, the hard drive, or the floppy disc drive. It was the floppy disc drive.After I kept it unplugged, I turned the power on again and clicking stopped but that was the only prgreess I made. The fan that cools the cpu is running, and the light by where you plug the power cord into the computer is not steady, it's slowly flashing. 
I'm also trying to fix my sister's computer and the only thing it does when you plug it in is...nothing! It's like my computer with the light by the oplug slowly flashing but the cpu fan isn't running, and no clicking sounds. Seems like maybe they have a similar problem?


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## jscarey (Sep 6, 2007)

Quite odd for two machines to have similar ailments at the same time unless they were both zapped simultaneously. Had any lightning storms in the area of late? Had new carpet installed and bought new leather shoes, too? However, if you take one into the geeks or dogs to be fixed, you'll know what to do to repair the other. Be nice and pay half or be a Democrat and get your sister to pay all.


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