# Computer only sometimes turns on



## mlabre20 (Jul 11, 2008)

A few weeks ago I installed a new heatsink, and ever since that, my computer has only sometimes turned on. When I press the power button, everything comes on, like the fans and gpu, but nothing is ever displayed on the monitor. It takes me 10 or so tries of turning it off and turning it back on before I can get it to work.

When I have this problem, the hdd light never flashes as if the computer is booting up. It flashes on once when I press the power button, like all the other LEDs do, but that is the only time.

I NEVER have this problem if I try and turn on my computer after it has recently been off. I can shut down my computer and then turn it right back on with no problem, but if too much time passes before I try and turn it back on, it won't work



My problem is not necessarily related to the heatsink I installed, because I had to take apart everything in order to get the heatsink in, so maybe I did something wrong when putting it back together.

But the fact that I don't have a problem turning my computer on after recently turning it off (and having my computer still be hot)... could that maybe be a thermal paste issue? 

Any ideas?


----------



## koala (Mar 27, 2005)

Check the 4 heatsink/fan legs are firmly locked onto the motherboard.

Make sure all the power cables from the PSU are connected properly.

Whenever the heatsink is removed from the CPU you must clean off the old thermal paste and replace with new.


----------



## rthomp8363 (Aug 27, 2008)

I have a hard time believing thermal grease when you trying to power it up cold. 

i would reseat the memory in the system

Do you get any beep codes or anything when it doesnt power up?


----------



## mlabre20 (Jul 11, 2008)

rthomp8363 said:


> I have a hard time believing thermal grease when you trying to power it up cold.
> 
> i would reseat the memory in the system
> 
> Do you get any beep codes or anything when it doesnt power up?


How do I reset the memory?

And I get a beep when my system turns on normally, but there are no beeps at all when I have this problem.



koala said:


> Check the 4 heatsink/fan legs are firmly locked onto the motherboard.
> 
> Make sure all the power cables from the PSU are connected properly.
> 
> Whenever the heatsink is removed from the CPU you must clean off the old thermal paste and replace with new.


Don't know about the heatsink legs. I think I will just take everything apart and put it back together again and see if that fixes it.


----------



## koala (Mar 27, 2005)

Reseat, not reset. You need to remove the RAM sticks, make sure the slots are free of dust and the gold fingers on the RAM are clean, then put them back in, making sure the locks are all firmly in position.

The legs clip onto the motherboard. There should be no movement at all if they are firmly locked into position.

Good idea to remove everything and start again.


----------



## mlabre20 (Jul 11, 2008)

What do you recommend I use to clean the gold fingers on the ram? They aren't dirty but I figure why not.


----------



## koala (Mar 27, 2005)

I use a pencil eraser to clean and then wipe with a cloth. If there's any dust in the slots, blow with a can of compressed air.


----------



## mlabre20 (Jul 11, 2008)

edit: nvm


----------



## mlabre20 (Jul 11, 2008)

I got everything back together a turned it on but still have the problem . I left it on for about 6 minutes and then turned it off and then back on and it worked. So something about it being on for a little while makes me not have this problem. What would cause this????


----------



## mlabre20 (Jul 11, 2008)

Ok after taking everything apart and putting it back together, I am not having serious problems. Right after I finished putting everything back together, my computer booted up fine. But after I restarted my computer, it froze as the bios. I tried again and it froze a little after the bios. Sometimes it would start up and say something like "Windows failed to start. This could be because of a recent hardware change" WI would chose to boot with the last known working settings, but it wouldn't work. Finally after a while I got it to boot, but about 2 hours later, I got a blue screen of death, and the only words I caught on it were Memory Management.

Please help I don't know what to do


----------



## koala (Mar 27, 2005)

Test your RAM one stick at a time using a Memtest CD.

Direct link to pre-compiled bootable ISO: *http://www.memtest.org/download/2.01/memtest86+-2.01.iso.zip*

Unzip the file and burn the ISO to CD (as an image, not as data) to create a bootable CD. Reboot and go into the BIOS. Change the boot order to 'CD first', save settings, insert the CD and reboot. This will start the program. Run for one stick at a time (very important, to prevent false readings) for at least 10 passes each.


----------

