Hard drive will not start up

I was trying to sort out a sound card problem when I accidentally knocked over my tower. I now have power to it but the hard drive will not kick in.
The power unit is on ok and the DVD opens up ok. The monitor is completely blank. I have tried it with another computer and it works ok.

I have checked and re-checked all the leads, pins and connections. I have tried starting it up with everything unplugged from the back and from inside. Everything seems attached OK and there is no visible damage. There are no lights on the keyboard either.



It is a Dell Dimension 4100 and I run Windows XP Home edition

Does anyone have any suggestions please ?

 

The motherboard may have been loose and shifted causing a short or the board has a small crack. Also check that the CPU or memory didn't come loose.

 

To "reset" it, take the battery out for 30 minutes or more.

If no drive LEDs flash when the power button is pressed, that would indicate to a me a CPU problem. You can remove the RAM module/s completely and start it like that, you should get error beeps. If you don't get beeps it is most likely that the CPU has moved in the socket. If you want to try reseating the CPU use the tutorials/instructions for Arcticsilver 5 at their website:
www.arcticsilver.com

Pull out and reseat connections, including any add-in cards, especially the power connectors to the motherboard.

Matt

 

Ok Thanks guys I 'll try those ideas. I may not get back for a while as I am using my computer at work to access my e-mails.

 

OK, I tried all of the above without success. I checked every connection and tried reseating everything. The CPU appears to be ok. I have tried turning the power on and rebooting with everything taken out and putting them back one at a time.

I really fear that it is the hard drive now. I thought it was not starting at all, but actually can hear the high pitch noise as it starts up, but then nothing happens, also the three lights on the keyboard momentarily light up when I turn the power back on, but absolutely nothing on the monitor.

 

You should be able to unhook the hard drive then start the computer and see the Bios screen. If not the motherboard and/or processor may be damaged.

 

No, I tried that thanks, even with the hard drive unhooked nothing comes up on the screen.

 

If the LEDs on the keyboard flash then I think the CPU is OK, the BIOS is checking the hardware.

Whiskeyman is right, a bad HDD will not stop you from seeing the BIOS screen.

It cannot get to the stage of running graphics.

Remove/disconnect everything except graphics, CPU, RAM and keyboard. Try starting. No drives at all (including floppy).

Were there beeps if you tried starting without the RAM?

Hold your finger on one of the keys of the keyboard from pressing the start button. Does it beep?

It could be a graphics problem. Do you have onboard graphics or an add-in graphics card. If you have both, remove the add-in card and run from the onboard graphics.

Matt

 

Yes there were three beeps when I restarted after removing the RAM, This stopped when I put the RAM back and restarted again.


I'll try the other suggestions when I get home . One thing why does my hard drive not sound like it is kicking in completely though ?

Thanks for all the help

 

No still no go. I tried removing everything except the Graphics, Ram,CPU and keyboard and took out all the drives. Re started - still the same.

Also tried holding down a key on the keyboard, no beep. I have an add-in graphics card.

 

The IDE controllers may have gone south on the board. If the board shifted this may have caused a short.

 

Ok thanks. Is there any way of rectifying this ? Or am I looking at a new motherboard ?

 

If it did short out you will need a new board.

 

OK thanks and thanks again for all your help. I have a friend in IT who is on vacation at the moment. I'll get him to check it out when he gets back in a week or so.