What to Do If Your Computer Doesn’t Turn On

Step 1 – External Inspection

The first thing you need to do is to check your PC externally. Don’t try to turn on your computer yet. You will need to follow these step:

• Check if the main power cord is attached to the wall.
• Check if the main power cord is firmly attached to the power supply. (We suggest you to remove it and install it back again.)
• Check if the 115/230 V switch from the power supply is in the correct position, if your power supply has one.
• Check if the on/off switch located on the power supply (on the rear side of the computer) is in the “on” position, if your power supply has one.
• Check if the reset switch on the front panel from your case is stuck. You can check that by pressing it. If you can’t move it, that means that it is stuck, and you need to release it using tools (a small screw driver, an open paper clip, etc.).
• Remove all external cables from your computer, including keyboard, mouse, printer, digital camera, iPod, etc., as well as all other external devices you may have attached to your PC, such as USB drives. Keep only the video monitor cable attached. After this step, the only cables that will be attached to your PC will be the power cord and the video monitor cable.
• Check if your video monitor is turned on. (It should have an LED turned on or blinking, indicating that it is, in fact, turned on.) If this LED isn’t turned on or blinking, check if the video monitor power cord is correctly installed into the wall and if it is firmly attached to the monitor.
• Check if the brightness and contrast settings from your video monitor are adjusted correctly. (We’ve seen several times that the problem was that the screen was too dark but the system was working just fine.)

After performing all these steps, now try turning on your computer. Is it working now? Great! If it isn’t, let’s see what you should do next.