Summary: With very few clues folks often ask what might be broken if their computer does nothing. It's a long list, and I'll look at some possibilities.
My son has a computer that is not working. It only has a blank screen. Also the light to the hard drive it not on. Is the hard drive broken? Can I get the computer repaired. Or do I need to buy another one?
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I get variations on this question so often that I just have to address it.
In short: there's nothing close to enough information for me to even hazard a guess what might be wrong. And it's just not a simple yes or no question.
Let me run through a list of some of the things it might be.
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Is it plugged in? Seriously, the information as provided in this and similar questions often doesn't indicate that the computer does anything. As silly as it sounds, I've had some very embarrassed people get back to me when I've suggested that check the power plug.
The power supply could be broken or failing. Even if the fan comes on or some lights light up, there could still be a power supply failure. Or not.
The motherboard could have a problem. It's fairly rare, but the motherboard has many, many components on it which are often vital to the operation of your machine. Some component could fail due to static electricity, a power surge, or many other reasons.
The computer's RAM could fail. Or it could be loose in its socket. With memory a computer will typically not boot at all. But lights might come on and fans might run. Or not.
The hard disk could have failed. Typically you'll at least boot into the BIOS for this one, but there are failure modes that could result in a very dead-looking machine.
Any expansion card could fail in ways that could cause the entire computer to become inoperable.
The video interface could be dead. If your computer's doing something, but you simply can't see it, how do you know it's really there?
The video cable could be unplugged or broken. Same idea: if you can't see it, is it really there?
The monitor itself could be unplugged or broken. Still the same idea. Lights might blink, disks might whir, and your computer might be working, or not.
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I could probably go on.
Hopefully by now you get the idea. If the computer fails to boot with no clues, no lights, no nothing, or even if the fan does run and some lights blink but you still see nothing on the screen, it could be anything. There's no way to know with that little information exactly what might be broken.
My recommendation at this point is typically to take the computer to a technician who can often quickly diagnose where the problem actually lies.
Yes, there are steps that you can try yourself to further diagnose the
problem depending on your level of comfort and expertise. Replacing components
or removing optional components to see if it makes a difference is usually one
way to start (after double checking that you're plugged in, of course
).
But it really depends on your level of expertise. Typically those who ask this question without really knowing what details are important to include are those who'd probably be better served by having someone more knowledgeable actually look at their machine.
Related:
Ask Leo! - Why does my screen go black after the Windows screen when I boot?
Ask Leo! - Why do I get a black screen on my computer after a while?
Ask Leo! - My computer locks up and won't boot. What do I do?
Article C3055 - June 13, 2007
When I start my coputer, the monitor is started with lights and the fan, but there's nothing on the screen. I tried restarting it, and it took me about 10+ times to get it to start the computer. Is it partially broken??
Posted by: Emma at February 20, 2009 4:46 PMi push the power button on my pc and no lights, no sound and no fans will operate i get absolutely no responce, what could it be?
23-Feb-2009
Ok,im tired of my pc.What happened is i build a new pc and the first time i restarted everything work perfrectly.Then it just froze.mouse everything.and after i pressed the restart button the screen doesnt wane come on.
The little green light on my motherboard comes on and my screencard works perfectly on other pc.but when i put it back in my pc(its a radeon x1950xtx) the little two red lights come on for a moment and then go of.
All the fanns is working including my cpu fan.Every thing is working, and i took my ram and placed in a other pc and the ram works perfectly. But the H.D.D LED doesnt come on.and i made sure the front panel plugs is correctly.the power button work and the power LED.But neither the restart or thr light doesnt work.
Please help
Posted by: j.j at April 8, 2009 4:49 AMwell the electricity from my house left while i was on the computer and now i does not start it turns on but it says that it is havind difficuties starting because of a hardware change .....what do i do
Posted by: jocelyn cano at April 25, 2009 3:02 PMwhen i start my computer black image and its always tooot
Posted by: JclydeZ at June 6, 2009 10:51 PMmy computer doesn't respond ! T_T
when I turn on my computer . after the ACER LOGO with " DEL: BOOT blabla F12: blabla " . it says there: disk read error occured press ctrl + alt + del to restart . what shall I do ?
my PC is very new . I bought it last week only .
my PC is Acer Aspire with Core2Quad processor
pls help me
29-Jun-2009
Hey Leo, quick question
I have a problem similar to this one, and I'm sensing it's probably my power supply, but when I boot my computer, my scroll light and ONLY my scroll light flashes on and off. Also, on either power setting in the back, the 'power' light turns on, everything's awesome... then it turns off, and nothing happens. I just wanted to know if the scroll light meant anything, and if putting in a new power supply is most likely going to work?
Posted by: Jon Wrigley at June 30, 2009 6:46 AMWhat do you do if your hard drive was taken out and put back in and your computer doesn't work?
Posted by: Susan Sandberg at July 20, 2009 10:09 AMMy computer was working, i opened it up cheked it out, put it back together and it wasnt working, i opened it up tried to fix it randomly done stuff it was sort of working again and now i switch my computer on the fan starts, the motherboard light comes on the cd rom opens but nothing else works i personally think its the processor. i dont think my computer broke i just dont know what to do.
Posted by: james at October 29, 2009 2:34 AMim having promblem with my windows xp it turns on to the dell logo but it freeze for 5 min sometimes it say's F1 reboot,F2 setup utility or some tiimes it says primary hard 0 disk not found with primary hard disk drive 1 not found
Posted by: jorge at November 18, 2009 9:29 AM